Study of flow distribution and its improvement on the header of plate-fin heat exchanger Original Research Article

In order to enhance the uniformity of flow distribution, an improved header configuration of plate-fin heat exchanger is put forward in this paper. Based on the analysis of the fluid flow maldistribution for the conventional header used in industry, a baffle with small holes of three different kinds of diameters is recommended to install in the header. The flow maldistribution parameter S is obtained under different header configuration. When the baffle is properly installed with an optimum length, with stagger arranged and suitably distributed holes from axial line to baffle boundary, the ratio of the maximum flow velocity to the minimum flow velocity drops from 3.44–3.04 to 1.57–1.68 for various Reynolds numbers. The numerical results indicate that the improved header configuration can effectively improve the performance. The conclusion of this paper is of great significance in the improvement of plate-fin heat exchanger.