A Multi-Objective Comprehensive Evaluation of Heat Transfer Performance of a Direct-Contact Heat Exchanger

Abstract

Direct-contact heat exchangers have great potential for waste-heat utilization. This study established a multi-objective evaluation model of the volumetric heat-transfer coefficient, entransy dissipation, and uniformity of the temperature difference field of the direct-contact heat exchanger. The optimal operating parameters for the heat exchanger were obtained by experimentally investigating the relationship between the operating parameters and the volumetric heat-transfer coefficient, entransy dissipation, and uniformity of the temperature difference field. The results indicated that the smaller the entransy, the greater the effectiveness of the heat exchanger in the direct-contact heat exchanger. The results also indicated that the volumetric heat-transfer coefficient increased with the increase in the flowrate ratio and initial temperature difference. The study found that entransy demonstrated the smallest dissipation and the largest effectiveness of the heat exchanger when the initial temperature difference was 120 °C and the flow ratio was 6:1. This study has guiding significance for the optimal design of direct-contact heat exchangers.