STG-18 Using Perforated Plates to Improve Flow Distribution in X Shells

K. J. Farrell

2013

Perforated plates, screens, or other porous structures can be used to control flow. The flow through a perforated plate is mainly affected by the porosity and plate thickness, and to some degree, the hole diameter, hole edge radii, Mach number, and Reynolds number. For an X-shell heat exchanger, we can use a resistance network to determine the nonuniformity of the flow through each of the ten control volumes defined by the Xist incrementation scheme. To optimize the flow distribution, we can also determine the most effective size and number of nozzles, the height under nozzle, and various distribution plate configurations.