Effect of Design Parameters on the Performance of Finned Exhaust Heat Exchanger

This paper describes the results of a DOE (design of experiment) applied to an exhaust heat exchanger to lower the exhaust gas temperature mainly under high load conditions. The heat exchanger was installed between the exhaust manifold and the inlet of the close-coupled catalytic converter (CCC) to avoid thermal aging. The DOE evaluates the influence of the selected eight design parameters of the heat exchanger geometry on the performance of the exhaust gas cooling system, and the interaction between these parameters. To maximize the heat transfer between exhaust gas and coolant, fins were implemented at the inner surface of the heat exchanger. The design parameters consist of the fin geometry (length, thickness, arrangement, number of fin), coolant direction, exchanger wall thickness, and the length of the heat exchanger. The acceptable range of each design parameter is discussed by analyzing the DOE results.

The exhaust heat exchanger successfully decreased the exhaust gas temperature, which eliminated the requirement of fuel enrichment under high load conditions. However, the cooling of the exhaust gas through the heat exchanger may cause the deterioration of exhaust emissions at cold start due to the increment of catalyst light-off time. The light-off time was found to increase by 18 seconds in EC mode test. Hydrocarbon emission was also increased by 0.021g/km though it still meets the Euro-IV regulation. The fuel economy was improved by 7.64% at high speed conditions owing to no fuel enrichment.