• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.35-41
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• 2013

Inlet part of a printed circuit heat exchanger has been optimized by using three-dimensional Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes analysis and surrogate modeling techniques. Kriging model has been used as the surrogate model. The objective function for the optimization has been defined as a linear combination of uniformity of mass flow rate and the pressure loss with a weighting factor. For the optimization, the angle of the inlet plenum wall, radius of curvature of the inlet plenum wall, and width of the inlet pipes have been selected as design variables. Twenty six design points are obtained by Latin Hypercube Sampling in design space. Through the optimization, considerable improvement in the objective function has been obtained in comparison with the reference design of PCHE.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.24-31
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• 2018

The mechanical design procedure is studied for the PCHE(printed circuit heat exchanger) with electrochemical etched flow channels. The effective heat transfer plates of PCHE are assembled by diffusion bonding to make a module. PCHE is widely used for industrial applications due to its compactness, cost efficiency, and serviceability at high pressure and/or temperature conditions. The limitations and technical barriers of PCHE are investigated for application to nuclear components. Rules for design and fabrication of PCHE are specified in ASME Section VIII but not in ASME Section III of nuclear components. Therefore, the calculation procedure of key dimensions of PCHE is defined based on ASME section VIII. The effective heat transfer region of PCHE is defined by several key dimensions such as the flow channel radius, edge width, wall thickness, and ridge width. The mechanical design procedure of key dimensions was incorporated into a program for easy use in the PCHE design. The effect of assumptions used in the key dimension calculation on stress values is numerically investigated. A comparative analysis is done by comparing finite element analysis results for the semi-circular flow channels with the formula based sizing calculation assuming rectangular cross sections.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.8-14
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• 2018

Printed circuit heat exchangers (PCHEs) are widely used with an increasing demand for industrial applications. PCHEs are capable of operating at high temperatures and pressure. We consider a PCHE as a candidate intermediate heat exchanger type for a high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR). For conventional application using stainless steels, design and manufacturing of PCHEs are well established. For applications to HTGR, knowledge of longitudinal conduction and deformation of channel is required to estimate design margin. This paper analyzes the effects of longitudinal conduction and deformation of channel on thermal performance using a code internally developed for design and analysis of PCHEs. The code has a capability of two dimensional simulations. Longitudinal conduction is estimated using the code. In HTGR operating condition, about ten percent of design margin is required to compensate thermal performance. The cross-sectional images of PCHE channels are obtained using an optical microscope. The images are processed with computer image process technique. We quantify the deformation of channel with dimensional parameters. It is found that the deformation has negative effect on structural integrity. The deformation enhances thermal performance when the shape of channel is straight in laminar flow regime. It reduces thermal performance in cases of a zigzag channel and turbulent flow regime.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.87-93
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• 2015

Recently, the heat exchangers are requiring higher performance and reliability since they are being used under the operating condition of high temperature and pressure. To satisfy these requirements, we need special materials and bonding technology. This study presents a manufacturing technology for high temperature and high pressure micro channel heat exchanger using Inconel 617. The bonding performance for diffusion bonded heat exchanger was examined and analyzed. The analysis were conducted by measuring thermal and mechanical properties such as thermal diffusivity and tensile strength, and parametric studies about bonding temperature and pressing force were also carried out. The results provided insight for bonding evaluation and the bonding condition of $1200^{\circ}C$, and 50 tons was found to be suitable for this heat exchanger. From the results, we were able to establish the base technology for the manufacturing of Inconel 617 heat exchanger through the application of the diffusion bonding.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.39 no.10
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• pp.779-786
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• 2015

The objective of this study is to propose a new channel shape that improves thermal-hydraulic performance. The existing Zigzag channel has high pressure loss due to flow separation and reverse flow. To improve this disadvantage, partial straight channel is inserted into bended points. Also, the effects of straight channel's length change on heat transfer and pressure loss are analyzed. Thermal-hydraulic performance of the new shape and existing Zigzag channel are quantitatively compared in terms of Goodness Factor. Mass flow rate was changed from $1.41{\times}10^{-4}$ to $2.48{\times}10^{-4}kg/s$. The average volume goodness factor of 1mm straight channel shape was increased by 25% compared to the Zigzag channel.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.1147-1152
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• 2009

The objectives of this paper are to study the characteristics of heat transfer and pressure drop of the zigzag channel PCHE using diffusion bonding technology by numerical analysis. PCHE of five types are designed, which are zigzag channel angle $180^{\circ}$, $160^{\circ}$, $140^{\circ}$, $120^{\circ}$ and $100^{\circ}$. The zigzag PCHE was numerically investigated for Reynolds number in a range of $150{\sim}800$. The temperatures of the hot side were performed at $80^{\circ}C$ while that of the cold side was conducted at $20^{\circ}C$. The results show that the performance of heat transfer rate for zigzag channel $100^{\circ}$ increases about 11.5% compared to that of zigzag channel $180^{\circ}$. On the other hand, the performance of pressure drop for zigzag channel $100^{\circ}$ is remarkably higher than that of zigzag channel $180^{\circ}$, about 1.4 times.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.475-482
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• 2009

The objectives of this paper are to study the characteristics of heat transfer and pressure drop of the zigzag channel PCHE using diffusion bonding technology by numerical analysis. PCHE of five types are designed, which are zigzag channel angle 180$^{\circ}$, 160$^{\circ}$, 140$^{\circ}$, 120$^{\circ}$ and 100$^{\circ}$. The zigzag PCHE was numerically investigated for Reynolds number in a range of 150$\sim$800. The temperatures of the hot side were performed at 80$^{\circ}$ while that of the cold side was conducted at 20$^{\circ}C$. The results show that the performance of heat transfer rate for zigzag channel 100$^{\circ}$ increases about 11.5% compared to that of zigzag channel 180$^{\circ}$. On the other hand, the performance of pressure drop for zigzag channel 100$^{\circ}$ is remarkably higher than that of zigzag channel 180$^{\circ}$, about 2.4 times.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.69-76
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• 2021

Printed circuit heat exchanger (PCHE) is a compact heat exchanger with good heat transfer performance, high structure integrity, and reliability over a wide range of temperatures and pressures. Instead of the traditional zigzag and straight shape channel, the sinusoidal shape channel was adopted in this study to investigate the relation of thermal-hydraulic performance and waviness factors (period and amplitude). The local flow characteristics and the heat flux distribution were compared to verify the effects of period and amplitude on heat transfer performance. As the period of channel becomes shorter, the rapid change of the flow direction can produce high flow separation around the corner leading to the disturbance of the boundary layer opposite wall. The nonuniform distribution of flow velocity appeared around the corner positions can promote fluid mixing and lead to higher thermal performance. An evaluation index was used to compare the comprehensive performance of PCHE considering the Nusselt number and Fanning factor. Based on the simulation results, the optimal design parameters of PCHE channel shape were found that the channel with an equivalent bending angle of 15° offers the highest heat flux capacity.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.113-120
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• 2010

An experimental investigation was carried out to examine the evaporative heat transfer characteristics of R-134a in a micro-channel heat exchanger. The micro-channel heat exchanger used in this study was a sort of plate heat exchanger. Micro-channels were fabricated on the SUS304 plate by the photo-etching process: 13 sheets of plates were stacked and bonded by the diffusion bonding process. The effects of the evaporating temperature, mass flux of R-134a, and inlet temperature of water were examined. As the difference between the inlet temperatures of R-134a and water increased, the heat transfer rate increased. The evaporative heat transfer coefficients obtained in this study range from 0.67 to 6.23 kW/$m^2{\cdot}^{\circ}C$. The experimental correlation for the Nusselt number as a function of the Reynold number and $\Theta$ was suggested for the micro-channel heat exchanger.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.61-66
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• 2011

The performance of microchannel PCHE (Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger) is superior to that of other existing commercial heat exchangers. Further, it is also more efficient than other heat exchangers. Various microchannels, whose shapes are straight (I), Wavy, Beehive, Surf, I-Wavy, I-Beehive, or I-Surf, are computationally modeled in this study. The counter-flow arrangement is used, and the flow characteristics, heat transfer, and pressure drop in the microchannels under various mass flow rate conditions are investigated. The results for I microchannel is chosen as the benchmarks and is compared with those of newly proposed microchannels. It is found that the surf-shaped microchannel is most efficient in improving the overall performance of a PCHE.