Q1-4 Status of Plate Heat Exchanger Research
Over the past ten years, HTRI has compiled a large bank of heat transfer and pressure drop data for a variety of gasketed plate heat exchangers. These data have been used to improve and verify the generic mathematical models and correlations in the PHE computer program.
Our recent research in plate heat exchangers has concentrated on collecting chevron angles of 32.5°, 47.5°, and 40° (mixed chevron angle). Working fluids include water and propylene glycol/water mixtures of 67.5/32.5 wt% and 95.5/4.5 wt%, yielding data in the laminar, transition, and turbulent flow regimes (10 < Re < 10000). This article provides a description of the HTRI Single-Phase Unit (SPU), previously referred to as the Plate Heat Exchanger (PHE) unit, and discusses experimental data taken on the UFX-26 exchanger with seventy-seven 47.5° chevron-angle plates.