How can turbulent heat transfer in plate heat exchangers with complex geometries, such as herringbone or chevron patterns, be modeled in Flownex? Standard heat transfer correlations such as Tube Inside (Dittus–Boelter) or Tube Inside (Gnielinski) may not accurately represent the heat transfer characteristics, particularly for two-phase flow applications. What approach can be used to model these geometries more appropriately?
For plate heat exchangers with specialized geometries such as herringbone or chevron patterns, standard tube-based heat transfer correlations may not provide sufficient accuracy because they do not account for the enhanced mixing and flow behavior created by these plate structures.
A recommended approach is to use the "Script Defined h" option available on the Plate Heat Exchanger component in Flownex. This allows users to implement custom heat transfer correlations that are specifically developed for the plate geometry, flow regime, and operating conditions being modeled. By defining a custom heat transfer coefficient correlation, users can represent the thermal performance of complex plate patterns more accurately than with the built-in generic correlations.
This approach is particularly useful when specialized empirical correlations, experimental data, published research, or validated design methods are available for the specific plate heat exchanger configuration being analyzed, including two-phase heat transfer applications.
For application-specific guidance or assistance with implementing custom correlations, a support case can be created to discuss the modelling requirements in more detail.