Chair of Fluid Process EngineeringUniversity of Paderborn

INTHEAT, Veszprém, July 08, 2011

Activities of Makatec GmbH & UPB

Dipl.-Ing. Mark Piper

Spiral plate polymer heat exchanger

Chair of FluidProcess Engineering

INTHEAT, 08.07.2011

Spiral (metal) plate heat exchanger (SHX)

Characteristics Application: recuperators, condensers, reboilers

Flow arrangements: counter-current and cross flow

Pressure limitation: pmax ≈ 20 bar

Thermal limitation: due to hermetic seal requirement

Typical HTC-Values: 700-2500 W/m2K ( for liquid-liquid systems)

Heat transfer area: up to 400 m2

- 2 -

VDI-Wärmeatlas, 8th Edition, Springer-Verlag 2006 Kuppan, T.: HEAT EXCHANGER DESIGN HANDBOOK. Taylor & Francis Group (2000)

Photo from: Martin, H.; Wärmeübertrager. Georg Thieme Verlag, 1988

Chair of FluidProcess Engineering

INTHEAT, 08.07.2011

Spiral (metal) plate heat exchanger (SHX)Advantages Compact design Perfect counter-current flow Small driving temperature differences for heat transfer Turbulent regime at lower Reynolds numbers than in plane channels (curvature

effect) Low fouling

Disadvantages Pressure limitation Thermal expansion and deformation of the plates at large temperature

differencesDesign Method is based on correlations e.g. Nu=f(Re,Pr) or LMTD correction factor, and

ξ=f(Re).

- 3 -

Kuppan, T.: HEAT EXCHANGER DESIGN HANDBOOK. Taylor & Francis Group (2000) Martin, H.; Wärmeübertrager. Georg Thieme Verlag, 1988

Chair of FluidProcess Engineering

INTHEAT, 08.07.2011

Makatec GmbH polymer SHX

Makatec SP-1600 Materials:

Pressure hull: PU (Polyurethane) or epoxy-resinSpacers: PP (Polypropylene)Film (0.1 mm): Polymer depends on application

Application: liquid-liquid heat exchangers (HX) for aggressive fluids

Flow arrangement: counter-current flow Pressure limitation: 6 bar Thermal limitation: 75 °C (greater possible 100 °C) U-Value (1500 l/h): 1660 W/m2K Heat transfer area: 0.71 m2

- 4 - Deliverable D3.1. FP7-SME-2010-1 262205/INTHEAT.

Chair of FluidProcess Engineering

INTHEAT, 08.07.2011

Makatec GmbH polymer SHXAdvantages Application for corrosive and aggressive fluids HTC-values comparable to conventional plate heat exchangers Reduced investment costs Low weight Very thin polymer film (0.1 mm)

Disadvantages Currently low volume flow (dimensions limited by the currently available

manufacturing tool) Pressure difference across polymer film must not exceed 3 bar Max. pressure limited to 6 bar. Relatively large pressure loss. Temperature limitation

Design Currently no reliable calculation method available!

- 5 -

Chair of FluidProcess Engineering

INTHEAT, 08.07.2011

Working principle of the SP-1600

- 6 -

Problem: Heat transfer characteristics unknown design methods not available

Empirical correlation for the friction factor developed by Schock & Miquel (1987), Da Costa et. al (1994). Comparison possibilities!

Schock, G.: Miquel, A.: Mass transfer and pressure loss in spiral wound modules. Desalination 64 (1987), p.339-352 Da Costa, A.R.; Fane, A.G.; Wiley, D.E.: Spacer characterization and pressure drop modelling in spacer-filled channels for ultrafiltration. Journal of Membrane Science 87 (1994), p.79-98

Chair of FluidProcess Engineering

INTHEAT, 08.07.2011

Experimental apparatus at Makatec GmbH

- 7 -

Flow developing region

51.5 cm 50 cm 50 cm

Water inlet Outlet

28 cmMeasurement points

Currently: Measurement of pressure loss for different spacer geometries

Future: Measurement of heat transfer for different spacer geometries

Chair of FluidProcess Engineering

INTHEAT, 08.07.2011

Work done – average measurements on Makatec SHX

- 8 -

500 700 900 1100 1300 1500 1700 19000

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

pressure drop / volume flow

cold side warm side

volume flow (l/h)

pres

sure

dro

p (m

bar)

500 700 900 1100 1300 1500 1700 19000

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

U*A / volume flow

volume flow (l/h)U*

A (k

W/K

)

≈ 1410 W/m2K