Effects of Manufacturing Tolerances on Regenerative Exchanger Number of Transfer Units and Entropy Generation

Abstract

A prime concern with the design of ultra-compact heat exchangers is the impact on performance of flow channel variations due to flow channel hydraulic diameter variations caused by manufacturing tolerances. This paper uses analytical methods to show that as the standard deviation in flow channel sizes, caused by manufacturing tolerances in a rotary regenerative exchanger, is increased compared to the average flow channel diameter the effective number of transfer units decreases. Depending on the operating conditions, the entropy generation number either increases or decreases with increasing flow channel size variations. These findings extend previous findings that showed that flow channel variations cause lower pressure drops and effectiveness.