Design optimization algorithm for plate heat exchanger

Abstract

As there are a large number of variables affecting the performance of the plate heat exchanger and its complex geometry, the design of these types of heat exchangers is difficult. Unlike other types of heat exchanger on which design procedure data is available, the designing of plate heat exchanger is a monopoly of certain manufacturing companies. This makes the problem worse. The objective of this paper is to optimize the design of plate heat exchanger by reducing its number of plates. A simple mathematical model is introduced to achieve it. Also a program was defined for determining the optimal solution based on the mathematical model for given operational constraints. The model determines the pressure drop and heat capacity of a plate heat exchanger in single and multipass state. The optimal solution is compared to the answers of CAS200 commercial software. The results show that the effect of the start plates, end plates and transverse distribution in optimal solution is considerable. The accuracy of the answer of case studies was checked by comparing solution with the correct answer using CAS200 software. The results shows that for a small number of plates due to the effect of the start and end plates and transverse distribution, the heat capacity of PHE is less than the excepted value, thus resulting in negative percent of error.