Constructal tree-shaped parallel flow heat exchangers

The paper reports the performance of balanced two-stream parallel flow heat exchangers, in which each stream flows as a tree network through its allotted space. The two trees are in parallel flow, and are arranged like two palms pressed against each other. The relationships between effectiveness and number of heat transfer units are developed for several parallel tree flow configurations: (i) constructal dichotomous trees covering uniformly a rectangular area, (ii) trees on a disk-shaped area, and (iii) trees on a square-shaped area. In configurations (ii) and (iii) each stream flows between the center and the periphery of the area. Configurations (i) and (ii) are trees with minimal resistance to fluid flow. Configuration (iii) is designed by minimizing the length of each duct in the network. The performance of the parallel flow configurations is compared with the performance of counterflow configurations. The future use of dendritic heat exchangers in devices with maximal heat transport density is proposed.