Experimental analysis to predict the performance of a plate fin heat exchanger at cryogenics temperature

The objective of this study is to provide experimental data that could be used to predict the effectiveness and performance of a plate fin heat exchange for low-temperature conditions. In this study, plate-fin heat exchangers are tested with a variation of the mass flow rate. Such heat exchangers have high fin density and offer narrow passages for the fluid flow, which often leads to a significant pressure drop. An experimental setup is made in the laboratory to test the plate fin heat exchanger at cryogenic temperature. In this setup, compressed nitrogen gas will be passed through the plate-fin heat exchanger as a hot stream. The hot stream gas will be passed through a liquid nitrogen coil heat exchanger to cool the high-pressure gas. The cold gas is then passed as a reverse stream of the plate fin heat exchanger. The experimental setup is mounted to the measurement instrument like RTDs, Pressure gauge, Differential pressure gauge, Orifice plate flow meter, etc. The effectiveness of heat exchange will be calculated from the measured temperatures directly from the experiment. Also, the temperature drop will be obtained from the analyses. The effectiveness and temperature drop data are also obtained through numerical analysis and validate it with experimental results. © 2018 Lavoisier.