Applied Thermal Engineering 159 (2019) 113902

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Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Research Paper

Study of Gasketed-Plate Heat Exchanger performance based on energy T

efficiency indexes
⁎
Juan Sebastián Rincón Tabaresa, Luis Perdomo-Hurtadoa, , José L. Aragónb
a
Grupo de investigación Diseño Mecánico y Desarrollo Industrial, Departamento de Mecánica y Producción, Universidad Autónoma de Manizales, Antigua estación del
ferrocarril, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia
b
Centro de Física Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Boulevard Juriquilla 3001, Juriquilla, 76230 Quéretaro, Mexico

H I GH L IG H T S

• Pinto & Gut model has been used to simulate Liquid-liquid Gasketed-Plate heat exchangers.
• Liquid-liquid Gasketed-Plate heat exchangers have been evaluated using first and second law indexes.
• Room temperature and port connection influence on indexes has been analyzed.
• Current work is a tool to select Gasketed-Plate single-phase heat exchangers.

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The aim of this work is to carry a performance analysis based on first and second law of thermodynamics for
Gasketed-plate heat exchangers some operational configurations of feasible gasketed-plate heat exchangers. To achieve this, 40 simulations were
Second law evaluation done solving the distributed-U differential model proposed by Pinto and Gut, using an adaptive damped secant
Heat exchanger performance shooting method. Heat and exergy transfer effectiveness, dimensionless entropy generation, entropic potential
Entropy generation
loss and energy efficiency index were calculated when both fluids are above and below room temperature, as
Exergy
well as at least one fluid goes across the room temperature. Additionally, four cold fluid inlet port configuration
have been studied. Our main conclusion is that countercurrent configurations have better performance than
parallel flow configurations due to influence of finite temperature difference in equipment and higher NTU are
reached when fluids are above room temperature for the same geometry. Since gasketed-Plate heat exchangers
have applications in different industries, our work constitutes a tool and a guide to select operating and in-
stallation conditions.

1. Introduction different flow configurations including parallel, series, single, multi-

Heat exchangers (HX) are a group of devices that can transfer
thermal energy from one fluid to another due to a temperature differ-
ence between them. Tubular, plate, and extended surface are the HX
main groups classified according to its construction geometries.
Gasketed-Plate Heat Exchangers (PHX), also called Plate-&-Frame heat
exchangers, are equipment that belongs to the plate HX category [1].
A standard PHX consist on a group of corrugated plates for heat
exchanging improvement, which have strategically allocated gaskets
that seals a channel between plates when they are compressed in a
frame. Channels allow the fluids (that enter from the same or opposite
sides of the equipment) to exchange heat, by parallel or counter flow
arrangement, though the plates. Due to this, PHX could reach a lot of
pass, their combinations, among others [2].
PHXs can be found mainly in food and beverage processing in-
dustry, inter alia, pharmaceutical, rubber, petrochemical industries,
and power plants [3]. Its compactness, high heat transfer coefficient,
simple maintenance, low cost, and its easy adaptable heat transfer area
through plate addition or dismounting, make PHX one of the most
common device in all industries [4]. Additionally, PHX requires less
bulky equipment with higher heat transfer surface compared to Shell-&
-Tube heat exchangers [5].
Correct sizing of a PHX is established depending on heat duty re-
quirement and heat exchanger characteristics. Its flexibility and op-
erative advantage contrast with the complexity to formulate a model for
its steady flow behavior [6]. Wolf modeled PHXs as a coupled system of

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: lperdomo@autonoma.edu.co (L. Perdomo-Hurtado).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2019.113902
Received 13 December 2018; Received in revised form 10 May 2019; Accepted 1 June 2019
Available online 04 June 2019
1359-4311/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
J.S. Rincón Tabares, et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 159 (2019) 113902

Nomenclature ϕ plate area enlargement factor, dimensionless

∊ heat exchanger effectiveness, dimensionless
A effective plate heat transfer are a, [m2] ∊e exergy transfer effectiveness, dimensionless
AM empirically adjusted Φ function by Muley for f, di- μ fluid viscosity, [Pa·s]
mensionless ρ fluid density, [kg/m3]
b channel average thickness, [m] ϕ cold fluid inlet port connection
BM empirically adjusted Φ function by Muley for f, di- ω weight coefficient for pressure drop - plate length rate,
mensionless dimensionless.
C heat capacity, [W/K]
CM empirically adjusted β function by Muley for f, di- Superscripts
mensionless
∗
cP specific heat, [J/kgK] dimensionless
Dh equivalent diameter of channel, [m] n Zhang et al.’s factor for heat transfer process in PHX
Dp port diameter of plate, [m]
f fanning friction factor, dimensionless Subscripts
f0 Martin’s parameter 0 for friction factor, dimensionless
f1 Martin’s parameter 1 for friction factor, dimensionless c cold fluid
g gravity acceleration, [m/s2] ch channel
Gc channel mass velocity, [kg/m2 s] i plate heat exchanger channel, inlet
Gp port mass velocity, [kg/m2 s] I hot side
h convective heat transfer coefficient, [W/m2 K] II cold side
k fluid thermal conductivity, [W/mk] g gravity associated
kp plate thermal conductivity, [W/mK] gen generation
L plate length, [m] h hot fluid
ṁ mass flow rate, [kg/s] hy hydraulic
Nu Nusselt number, dimensionless m mean value between inlet and outlet temperatures
p number of passes of each fluid inside the plate heat ex- min minimum
changer, dimensionless max maximum
P pressure, [Pa] o outlet
Pr Prandtl number, dimensionless p plate, port
Q̇ heat transfer rate, [W] w wall
Re Reynolds number, dimensionless ∞ room or ambient
Rf Fouling Factor, [m2K/W]
s channel flow direction parameter, dimensionless Abbreviations
S entropy, [J/K]
Ṡ entropy rate, [W/K] HX Heat Exchanger
T temperature, [K] PHX Gasketed-Plate (and frame) Heat Exchanger
U overall heat transfer coefficient, [W/m2 K] NTU Number of Transfer Units
v specific volume, [m3/kg] NEPL Entropic Potential Loss Number
w effective plate width for heat exchanger, [m] FF Fluid friction
x channel flow direction coordinate, [m]. FTD Finite Temperature Difference
EEI Energy Efficiency Index
Symbols EPL Entropic Potential Loss
ODE Ordinary Differential equation
β plate chevron corrugation inclination angle, [Degrees] CFD Computational Fluid Dynamics
δp thickness of metal plate, [m] HVAC Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning.
Δ increment/decrement

ordinary linear differential equations (ODE) [7] and many solution
methods have been proposed ever since. Wolf [8], Zaleski [9], Settari &
Venart [10], Zaleski & Klepacka [11], and Kandlikar & Shah [12]
worked on the approximated solutions to the system of ODEs, applying
constant coefficients (not temperature dependent fluid properties) or
simplified geometric/operative conditions.
Kandlikar & Shah [12] showed some guidelines for pass arrange-
ments by effectiveness - NTU through different sets of design charts.
They solved the linear ODE coupled system, proposed by Wolf in [7],
using the Gauss-Seidel iterative finite difference method. Their proce-
dure produced results for 0 to 100 plates arrangements and six-pass
configurations. They settled that detailed design calculations are ne-
cessary to decide the best pass arrangement for an allowable pressure
drop.
Zaleski & Klepacka [13], simulated around 150 different config-
urations for gasketed plate heat exchangers by solving the coupled ODE
system. They used fixed thermo physical fluid properties and an ex-
ponential function approximation for the temperature profiles. Zaleski
& Klepacka took into account the plate number influence, fluids ar-
rangement and port connection on average temperature difference,
temperature effectiveness, and logarithmic mean temperature differ-
ence. Their findings about high effectiveness in counter flow config-
urations can be described as their main conclusion. Aditionally, Zaleski
& Klepacka found some important relationships between geometrical,
operational, and thermal variables on PHXs; e.g. the larger the PHX
channel number the lower the heat transfer coefficiens, and if both fluid
pass-number are equal or less than 2, parallel flow PHXs are more ef-
ficient. It is important to highlight that all performance parameters
studied in Ref. [13] were based on the first law of thermodynamics.
Pinto & Gut [2], modeled generalized PHX configurations by means
of a system of ODEs, with constant coefficients, which allows an ana-
lytical solution. They compared the obtained results of the analytical

2
J.S. Rincón Tabares, et al.
solution with the general temperature dependent solution to conclude
that their model is a useful tool to study the PHX performance and
could be used to select the optimal configuration. On the other side,
Qiao et al. [6] developed a generalized flow configurations PHX ana-
lysis model. Their model is capable of handling more than three fluids,
flow maldistribution, single-phase, and deal with phase-change flow.
Quiao et al. model divided the PHX into discrete slices that were de-
termined by successive substitution approach. They concluded that
model’s results matched their own experiments within a 5% error in
heat load so that it is suitable for optimization context. In relation with
these approaches, the first step to rate an equipment is to obtain a PHX
model in order to simulate the behavior of fluids under certain geo-
metry and operating conditions.
Heat exchanger effectiveness, proposed by Kays & London [14], and
exergy transfer effectiveness proposed by Wu et al. [15], are examples
of rating parameters that expose hidden information from additional
calculations based on the quantity of energy and the quality of energy,
respectively.
Sammeta et al. [4] used the results of CFD simulations over a 9
channel PHX to create ∊ − NTU and θ − P performance charts (first law
approaches), to change the fluids heat capacity ratio for series-parallel
and series counterflow flow configurations. Their results show that
series counterflow PHXs have the best performance and that the heat
capacity ratio has no influence on performance curves.
Khairul et al. [16] proposed a coupled analytical - experimental
procedure to measure exergy destruction and exergy transfer effec-
tiveness on a corrugated PHX. They used a counterflow PHX with hot
water and multiple volume concentration of cold metal oxide nano-
fluids solution to obtain the necessary data to calculate thermodynamic
average temperature and exergy loses from both fluids. Khairul et al.
noted that an increment on flow rate of the working fluid results in a
higher pressure drop and pumping power. Additionally, cold fluid na-
noparticles concentration increased the exergetic heat transfer effec-
tiveness.
Wenterodt et al. [17] presented a second law analysis through ir-
reversibilities and the entropic potential concept for an arbitrary energy
transformation process. They applied the entropic potential concept to
a single-phase PHX with 45° “fish bone pattern” plates, where required
data for theoretical analysis was obtained from a CFD simulation. Al-
most 2000 simulation results of a simplified model showed that an
optimum value for minimum entropic potential loss or energy deva-
luation number could be reached for specific Reynolds numbers.
Nilpueng et al. [18] presented some experimental results on water -
water PHXs that worked over 25°C , showing chevron angles, surface
roughness, and working conditions impact over PHX thermo-hydraulic
parameters, and thermal performance factor. They concluded that op-
timal values of thermal performance factor were obtained for 30°
chevron angle.
Tan et al. [19] studied the PHX performance, using the Nusselt
number and friction factor, changing chevron angle, corrugation aspect
ratio, and plate segments for laminar and turbulent flow. They found
that increment in chevron angle and corrugation aspect ratio is a good
way to enhance PHX performance but also the trade-off between heat
transfer, and pressure drop could be considered in equipment design.
Recently, Zhang et al. [20] proposed a new criterion to grade energy
efficiency on a PHX based on the overall heat transfer coefficient and
pressure gradient ratio called Energy Efficiency Index (EEI). Zhang
et al. stated that “EEI can quantitative test the performance of plate heat
exchangers and hence can grade them in terms of energy efficiency”,
relating EEI directly with the first thermodynamics law but also con-
cluded that it can match with second law of thermodynamics too. PHX
with EEI ⩾ 206.12 are high efficiency equipment and exchangers with
EEI ⩽ 176.35 have low energy efficiency following their approach.
Real-life operating conditions are those working parameters (geo-
metrical and thermo-hydraulic) based on realistic context which are
used on equipment simulation to produce feasible results for industry
3
Applied Thermal Engineering 159 (2019) 113902
[21]. Thus, room temperature (HX surrounding temperature) and fea-
sible pressure drop are two variables to take into account in HX rating
and designing to represent a realistic context. Martinaitis & Streckiene
[22] analyzed the HX-room thermal energy direction influence over
exergy efficiency, concluding that best performance could be reached
for a desing away from room temperature. In addition, Martinaitis et al.
[23] proposed a piecewise exergy efficiency function to overcome a
variable room temperature condition for a HVAC (Heating, Ventilating
and Air Conditioning) system, through Marmolejo & Gundersen [24]
work. Martinaitis et al. concluded that their approach is suitable when
reference surroundings temperature is above, across, and below of the
involved fluid temperatures in the HVAC. In adition, the approach
showed in [23] could be applied to obtain optimized designs when
surroundings reference temperature changes during the operation day.
On the other hand, pressure drop on PHX is a function of mass flow
rate through channels; likewise mass flow rate is directly related to
velocity inside them [2]. HX velocity should be established maintaining
a balance between, pressure drop, pumping power, fluid fouling, and
pipelines or ducts erosion [1]. Based on these facts and fluid char-
acteristics, there are recommended limits and optimal velocity values
for PHX, based on actual operating conditions. Baek et al. [25] pro-
posed a fouling removal procedure applying 1 m/s and 1.25m/s to
chilled water - air bubbles mix inside PHX channels. Bani & Peschel
[26] presented a study where velocity was increased from 0.30m/s to
0.42m/s on a CO2 - water plate cooler to reduce fouling in plates.
Changain et al. [27] proposed that there is not theoretical justification
to clean PHX using 1.5m/s for cleaning solution and stated that whey
protein soil could be removed using the same solution at 0.175m/s .
Goode et al. [28] established that there are more fouling on PHX from
vapor on wort boiling system when velocity was 0.07m/s to 0.14m/s .
Higher flow velocity procedures have more removal efficiency for
shampoo fouling, using a velocity domain from 0.14m/s to 0.47m/s .
Finally, experimental data obtained by China Standardization Com-
mittee on Boilers and Pressure Vessels, cited by Zhang et al. [20], re-
ported actual PHX velocity operational range from 0.1m/s to 1.0m/s .
The purpose of this work is to analyze feasible PHXs by particular
first and second law performance indexes, which take into account real
operation conditions, velocities, and surroundings temperature effect.
Indexes have been individually analyzed, following the same thermal
domain size (Number of transfer units, NTU). In order to obtain accu-
rate values for the energy gains and losses of the selected efficiency
indexes, the ODE set proposed by Gut & Pinto [2] has been solved using
an stable and convergent approach. Stability and convergence are very
important to future works on thermo-economic model optimizations.
Thermodynamic and hydraulic fluid properties have been evaluated as
a function of the internal temperature profile (main source of in-
stabilities and convergence delays in the model solution) in order to
understand indexes values through the different PHX configurations.
Thermal size variation has been simulated adding and/or removing
plates to PHX as it is carried out in a real industrial operation. Due to
room temperature effect over the second law based indexes, different
cases where fluid temperature profiles are above, below or, crossing
room temperature have been studied. Our results constitutes a new tool
to select, evaluate or characterize new designs and/or installed single-
phase PHXs at real operating and surroundings conditions, which affect
the energy efficiency for these kind of important devices.
2. Methodology
2.1. Plate heat exchanger model
In order to obtain an accurate temperature profile for a single-phase
PHX, the Gut & Pinto [2] and Quiao et al.[6] approaches have been
studied. Qiao et al. model has been tested and compared to Gut & Pinto
model results. For same single-phase application, both models yield
similar estimations (less than 1% of difference) for outlet temperature
J.S. Rincón Tabares, et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 159 (2019) 113902

and differences around 4% for heat duty as can be seen in Fig. 1. Gut & (turbulent or laminar flow).
Pinto model is chosen as temperature profile estimator due to its higher The pressure drop expression (from [2]) showed in (5), takes into
computational speed (see Table 1) than Quiao et al. model. Calculations account three main mechanical energy losses: heat exchanger core fluid
were carry out using a MATLAB ® R2017b software in a desktop com- friction, movement between plates, and the gravitational effect (ΔPg ). In
puter with Intel Core i5-7500 @ 3.40 GHz processor and 8,00 Gb of order to improve the friction factor calculation accuracy in the pressure
RAM memory on Windows 10 OS. It is important to mention than drop analysis, Eq. (4) has been replaced by Eq. (6)[33]. Eq. (6) em-
contrary to Qiao et al. model, Gut & Pinto one cannot deal with phase- pirical relation implies a dependence between plate friction factor,
change flow. Despite that Qiao et al. model is a stable and robust ap- chevron angle, plate enlargement factor, Reynolds number and limit
proach, it is indeed slow, as themselves realize [29] and as can be seen layer effect. For these calculi, all properties have been computed at the
in Table 1. average temperature of each fluid.
2
2f (L + Dp ) pGc2 ⎞ ⎛ Gp ⎞
2.1.1. Gut & Pinto approach insights ΔP = ⎜⎛ ⎟ + 1.4 ⎜p ⎟ + ρg
¯ (L + Dp), for sides I and II,
The model presented by Gut & Pinto [2] has been selected to obtain ⎝ ¯ h
ρD ⎠ ⎝ 2ρ¯ ⎠
the temperature distribution for each PHX fluid. Based on this model, (5)
simulations for generalized configurations as well as to solve a coupled
system of differentials equations with constant or temperature-depen- ⎧⎡ 5 5 1/5 −0.22
dent coefficients can be carried out. In addition to Gut & Pinto’s model,
fluid properties like heat capacity, thermal conductivity, density, visc-
⎪⎢
f= ⎣
( )
30.2
Re Dh
+ ⎛ Re 0.5 ⎞ ⎤
⎜
6.28
⎟

⎝ Dh ⎠ ⎦
⎥
·
β 0.83
( ) ·( )
30
μ¯
μw
Re Dh < 1000
⎨ −0.22
osity, and thermal expansion coefficient have been calculated as a
function of temperature inside the PHX using the empirical correlations
⎪
⎩
AM (Φ)·BM (Φ)·Re DChM (β ) · ( )
μ¯
μw
Re Dh⩾1000,
(6)
of Yaws [30] and T-dependent coefficients or distributed-U model.
where ΔP is the total pressure drop of the equipment, L is the plate
The coupled set of ODEs for PHX can be written in a general form as:
length, Dp is the plate port diameter, p the fluid pass number inside the
dTi s w ΦUi − 1 s w ΦUi plate heat exchanger, Gc the channel mass velocity, Gp the port mass
= i (Ti − 1 − Ti ) + i (Ti + 1 − Ti ),
dx ṁ i c Pi ṁ i c Pi (1) velocity, ρ̄ is the average fluid density, and g is the gravity acceleration.
AM (Φ), BM (Φ) and CM (β ) are empirically adjusted functions for Φ and
where, for each channel i between plates inside the heat exchanger, T is
β , proposed in [33], limited to chevron angle between 30 and 60 de-
the fluid temperature, x and s are the coordinate and parameter of the
grees, the most common surface pattern for PHX.
channel flow direction parameter, respectively, w is the effective plate
width for heat exchanger, Φ is the plate area enlargement factor, U is
the overall heat transfer coefficient, ṁ is the flow rate of the fluid mass 2.2. Plate heat exchanger performance measurements
and cP is the fluid specific heat at constant pressure.
Taking into account that heat transfer coefficients and fluid prop- Based on thermodynamic first law, the energetic behavior of a HX
erties in (1) are T-dependent, the differential equations system are can be understood as the quantity of energy that goes from hot to cold
solved numerically. Consequently, an iterative “shooting method” has fluid, limited by fluids properties, flow arrangement, and geometry [1].
been proposed to solve the problem, following the approach present in On the other hand, a second law energy analysis is directly related to
Ref. [31]. The solutions scheme is presented in Fig. 2. In addition, for irreversible processes inside the HX as finite temperature differences,
each iteration, the new approximation should be recalculated using a fluid mixing, phase change, and/or fluid flow friction. Factors as geo-
combination of different upgrades, for the sake of algorithm speed and metry, fluid-flow arrangement, and surroundings conditions are the
stability [31]. These upgrades include a one-step adaptive damped se- main entropy generators in a HX [24]. Changes in the aforementioned
cant iteration, using only the numerical Jacobian matrix main diagonal factors cause an energy quality drop, reducing the available amount of
obtained from previous approximation. Variable coefficients for the energy for heat transfer [3]. Performance measurements are necessary
system of ODE includes the following global U for each control volume to evaluate operational PHX configurations where most of them require
(two consecutive plates and the contained liquid between them):
−1
1 1 δp
Ui = ⎜⎛ + + + RfI + RfII ⎟⎞ ,
h
⎝ i h i+1 k p ⎠ (2)
where h is the convective heat transfer coefficient, δp is the metal plate
thickness, kp is the plate thermal conductivity and R are the fluid
fouling factor for sides I and II, respectively. The theory of Martin [32]
implies that the momentum transfer is similar to the heat transfer in
plate heat exchangers, so empirical models presented in Eq. (3) for the
Nusselt number, Nu, and Eq. (4) for the friction factor, f, have been
taken from Ref. [3].
1/6
hDh μ¯
Nu = = 0.205Pr 1/3 ⎜⎛ ⎟⎞ (f ·Re D2 h sin(2β ))0.374 ,
k ⎝ μw ⎠ (3)

1 cos(β ) 1 − cos(β )
= + ,
f (0.045tan(β ) + 0.09sin(β ) + f0 /cos(β ))1/2 3.8f1 (4)
where Dh is the equivalent diameter of channel, k is the fluid thermal
conductivity, Pr is the Prandtl number, μ̄ is the mean temperature
viscosity, μ w is the plate-wall temperature viscosity of the fluid, f is Fig. 1. Differences between Gut & Pinto [2] and Quiao et al.[6] approaches in
Fanning friction factor, Re Dh is the Reynolds number, β is chevron heat duty predictions for 8, 16, 36, 48 and 60 number of channels. Heat duty
corrugation inclination angle. Parameters f0 and f1 are proposed for values predicted by both aforementioned approaches (upward triangle). Zero
Matin [32], and depend on the viscous flow regime inside each channel difference li.ne (solid line).

4
J.S. Rincón Tabares, et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 159 (2019) 113902

Table 1 exchanger optimization than other methods. Additionally, Guo [36]

Computation time comparison between PHX models. proposed another performance parameter based on entransy dissipation
Pinto & Gut Quiao et al. at 30 slices concept that reflects the degree of irreversibility caused by flow im-
balance. The entransy dissipation is a controversial concept that was
Channel number Time [s] Time [s] criticized by Kostic [37], Bejan [38], and Sekulic et al. [39], showing
that this concept is neither novel or general performance tool in energy
8 10.30 32.36
16 15.81 139.98 efficiency analysis. On other hand, recent studies in entropy generation
36 29.10 475.65 for HX have explored novel criteria where the theoretical entropy
48 37.72 827.92 generation is compared to the experimental measured entropy gen-
60 47.20 1256.25 eration and their differences is called Virtual Entropy Generation
[40,41]. This criterion provides a way to improve experiment relia-
bility.
models to represent hot/cold fluids temperature profiles.
In order to obtain useful energetic performance tools for a PHX, five
Many authors have proposed performance measurements using
theoretical energy efficiency concepts have been evaluated to quantify
their own notion of HX efficiency [24]. Bejan [34], proposed a general
its thermal behavior. Effectiveness [14], non-dimensional entropy
criterion for rating heat exchangers performance called “Number of
generation [3], exergy transfer effectiveness [15], energy efficiency
entropic production units”, to quantify the inverse relation between ΔT ,
index [20], and entropic potential loss number [17] were chosen as
and ΔP , and irreversibilities in the heat transfer processes. Another
promising criteria for energy efficiency analysis. All these five indexes
attempt to obtain a general performance expression was proposed by
are based on theories by Bejan [42,34]. Selected parameters have been
Guo et al. [35], arguing that field synergy number, which relates ve-
compared against the NTU. It is important to highlight that changing
locity field and heat flow, could be more useful in Shell-&-Tube heat

Fig. 2. Proposed procedure for distributed U model of Gut & Pinto [2].

5
J.S. Rincón Tabares, et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 159 (2019) 113902

NTU values is equivalent to add or remove plates in the heat exchanger. T

∫Ti o mċ P (1 −
Po
T∞
T ) dT + ∫
Pi
ṁ ⎡v − (T − T∞ )
⎣
( ) ⎤⎦ dP
∂v
∂T P
∊e = .
ThiorTci Pi + ΔPg
2.2.1. Heat exchanger effectiveness-NTU
∫TciorThi mċ P (1 − T∞
T ) dT + ∫
Pi
ṁ ⎡v − (T − T ) ( ) ⎤ dP
∞
∂v
∂T P
⎣ ⎦
The effectiveness ∊ (or heat exchanger effectiveness), as well as the (11)
NTU, are first coupled in the NTU-∊ method, which is a simplified way
to design heat exchangers and to measure its performance, based on the
relative quantity of energy that goes from hot to cold fluid, compared to 2.2.4. Energy efficiency index
the enthalpy change rate of the fluid with small heat capacity rate An additional performance measurement studied here is the Energy
[3,43]. For the present analysis, ∊ and NTU have been calculated using Efficiency Index (EEI), recently proposed by Zhang et al. [20]:
Eq. (7) (adapted from Ref. [2]) and Eq. (8) (taken from Ref. [3]), and U
EEI = ,
adapted to the model in Ref. [2]. Using (8), NTU has been calculated for ΔPII n

each channel and, according to Shah [3], the total NTU for the PHX is
( ωI
ΔPI
L
+ ωII L ) (12)
the sum of each single channel NTU. where ω is a weighting factor for pressure drop - plate length rate over
each side of the PHX. The exponent n is a factor that characterizes heat
̇ P |Ti − To |
mc
∊= , for sides I and II, transfer process for different PHXs. Zhang et al. [20] propose n = 0.31,
Cmin ΔTmax (7)
based on a less fluctuation criterion against channel flow velocity.
The performance measurement (12) was specifically proposed to
UA 1 1 L
measure the performance in single phase flow plate heat exchangers.
NTU =
Cmin
=
Cmin
∫A UdA = Cmin ∫0 U (x ) w Φdx ,
(8) EEI tries to relate the PHX performance, in terms of energy efficiency,
with the second law efficiency [20]. This approach shows an apparent
where Cmin is the smallest heat capacity rate between fluids limiting the
connection between the energy losses related to fluid friction in each
heat transfer, and A is the effective plate heat transfer area. The charts
fluid, the equipment geometry, and the energy transfer potential in-
presented here were obtained by adding new plates (equivalent to a
volving all heat transfer phenomena between both fluids. In this work,
NTU increase). In this case, the minimum and maximum number of
the overall heat transfer coefficient has been obtained as the mean of all
channels were fixed as 8 and 60, respectively. These values were re-
distributed heat transfer coefficients in Gut & Pinto’s model.
stricted by the relation between damping and computational cost to
achieve numerical convergence [31].
2.2.5. Entropic potential loss number
The performance measurement used in this work is the Entropic
2.2.2. Dimensionless entropy generation Potential Loss Number (NEPL ) proposed by Wenterodt et al. [17]. This
Shah [3] proposed also an expression to compute a dimensionless index indicates how bad a process or component might be, in terms of
entropy generation S ∗ for heat exchangers, as the ratio between the the energy quality reduction by the entropy generated during the
entropy generated and the largest heat capacity rate Cmax . In this work, equipment operation. Moreover, its value represents the fraction of
S ∗ is associated to the sum of two main sources of irreversibilities in a entropy discharged to the surroundings once the heat transfer process is
̇ , between the equipment and fluids,
PHX; they are the fluid friction, SFF carried out.
̇ , among fluids. The sources of
and the finite temperature difference, SFTD The ratio between irreversibilities and transfered heat is given by
entropy are shown in (9) and (10), respectively.
̇ T∞
Sgen
̇ NEPL = ,
SFF ∗
= SFF =
ṁ ΔP ln(To/ Ti )
· , for sides I and II, Q̇ (13)
Cmax ¯ max To − Ti
ρC (9) ̇ and Q̇ are the total entropy generation and the heat trans-
where Sgen
ferred from hot to cold fluid, respectively.
̇
SFTD ∗
= SFTD
Cmax 2.3. Operation conditions
C ⎡ TII , i ⎞ ⎞ ⎤ + ln ⎡1 + Cmin ∊ ⎛ ⎛ TI , i ⎞ − 1⎞ ⎤.
= min ln ⎢1 + ∊ ⎛⎜ ⎛⎜ ⎟ − 1⎟
⎥ ⎢ ⎜⎜ ⎟ ⎟⎥
The fixed operative conditions used in our simulations are shown in
Cmax ⎝ ⎝ TI , i ⎠ ⎠⎦ Cmax ⎝ ⎝ TII , i ⎠ ⎠⎦
⎣ ⎣ Table 2; they are similar to those used in Ref. [2] but for a water-water
(10) system. As mentioned in Section 1, for both fluid inlet temperatures we
considered the three possibilities for surrounding temperature effect,
namely, all above (a) or below (b) surrounding temperature, and one or
2.2.3. Exergy transfer effectiveness both fluid temperatures crossing it (c) at some point in the PHX. To
A different approach to the performance measurement is the exergy ensure the heat transfer process and to study (a), (b), and (c) cases, inlet
transfer effectiveness, ∊e , which is the relation between real exergy fluid temperature difference and three different cold fluid inlet tem-
transferred to objective fluid against its theoretical maximum [15]. This peratures were fixed using values of 20 K, 30 °C, 2 °C , and 15 °C re-
definition takes into account the surrounding temperature as can be spectively.
seen in (11). Marmolejo & Gundersen [24] and Martinaitis et al. [23] The geometry of the equipment used in our simulations is shown in
discuss each exergy transfer situation related to operational tempera- Table 3. This geometric parameters set is similar to the used by Gut &
tures above, below or across surrounding temperature. The thermal Pinto in [2], but with the commercial characteristics recommended for
energy exchange, between the heat exchanger and the surroundings, PHX in Ref. [20] and diagonal flow channels.
decreases the HX performance (specially on cryogenic HXs) [44]. Also a
HX working close to room temperature tends to produce low exergy Table 2
efficiency values [22]. Additionally, variations in reference surround- Operative conditions.
ings lead to changes on energy and exergy transfer direction [23].
Side Fluid ṁ [kg/s ] Rf [m2K/W ]
When the surrounding temperature is above or below of the hot and
cold fluids, the Eq. (11) can be applied, but if surroundings and HX I Hot water 1.30 1.7 × 10−6
T
fluids temperatures cross each others, the terms 1 − T∞ and T − T∞ in II Cold water 1.30 1.7 × 10−6
Eq. (11) change their sign [24].

6
J.S. Rincón Tabares, et al.
Table 3
Plate characteristics.
Parameter L [cm] w [cm] b [mm]
Value 74 23.6 2.7
While studying PHX behavior, Zaleski & Klepacka [13] found that
two-pass/two-pass-flow yielded better performance than other mul-
tiple-pass configuration. This has been chosen as starting point to
analyze cold fluid inlet port impact on PHX performance. The inlet
ports studied in this work are shown in Fig. 3. The four positions are:
parallel flow, next to hot fluid entrance (ϕ = 1), at the same side but in
the opposite end of the frame (ϕ = 2 ) and, in counterflow, in front of
(ϕ = 3) and diagonal (ϕ = 4 ) to hot fluid entrance in the PHX.
The simulation algorithm (see Fig. 2) requires a velocity condition
to obtain feasible configurations. This condition is the mean velocity
value inside each channel, calculated at inlet conditions for each fluid.
Velocity limits were fixed from 0.1m/s to 1 m/s according to [20]. To
describe real life operational conditions, this same assumption has been
chosen in order to avoid an unreal pressure drop triggered by high mass
flow rate, related to speeds higher than the upper limit and low heat
transfer coefficients at lower speeds [1].
3. Results
As it was already said, cold fluid connection port and surroundings
temperature have been analyzed through first and second law perfor-
mance in order to determine their influence over industrial PHXs.
Typically, HX behavior is discussed based on NTU, which is influenced
by geometry, heat transfer, and operating conditions (Eq. (8)). How-
ever, for fixed operating conditions and uncontrollable U values, NTU is
entirely governed by geometry and temperature changes. Fig. 4(a)
shows the relationship between actual geometry change and NTU, so
this chart is crucial to turn NTU in an actual industrial easy controllable
discrete PHX parameter.
3.1. Heat exchanger effectiveness-NTU
It should be noticed that for applications that are above or crossing
room temperature, for all simulated indexes and under the same geo-
metric parameters, a PHX working below T∞ reaches the lowest NTU.
Common applications where fluids are above room temperature have
larger thermal size. Hence, as it was shown in Ref. [3], equipment with
the same geometric parameters does not neccesarily produce the same
Fig. 3. Fluids connection port and route in plate heat exchanger: a) ϕ = 1, b) ϕ = 2 , c) ϕ = 3 d) ϕ = 4 . Solid line: hot fluid, dashed line: cold fluid.
Applied Thermal Engineering 159 (2019) 113902
Dp [cm] β Φ δp [mm] kp [W/mK]
5.9 45° 1.17 0.7 17
NTU. Therefore, three room temperature cases showed in Fig. 4(b)
overlap, as it was expected since ∊ is not affected by room temperature
because it is a first law performance indicator.
For the particular case ϕ = 3, the fluid comes out with the 80 per-
cent of the maximum possible theoretical energy transfered according
to the first law of thermodynamics. As shown in Fig. 4(b), this equip-
ment configuration has the best performance based on effectiveness,
with a tendency to improve its value as soon as the thermal size of the
equipment is increased. Effectiveness improvements are reflected in a
better heat transfer from the hot fluid to the cold under any operating
conditions.
As seen in Fig. 4(b), the ϕ = 1 configuration reaches its theoretical
asymptotic behavior near to NTU = 2 , while the asymptotic value is
reached for ∊ = 0.5. It contrasts to ϕ = 3 and ϕ = 4 , which tend to in-
crease their effectiveness for NTU values larger than 2. On the other
hand, the ϕ = 2 effectiveness tends to decrease as the NTU increases.
An important fact arises when the ϕ = 2 configuration reaches its
maximum performance for small equipment, when NTU = 2 (see
Fig. 4(b)). From this value, ∊ decreases as the size of the plate heat
exchanger is increased. This similar behavior was studied in Ref. [12],
where the temperature effectiveness slightly decreases when NTU in-
creases. It is important to highlight that our calculations for ϕ = 2 are
more noticeable than calculations presented in Ref. [12], inasmuch as
our approach is based on non constant thermo-physical fluid properties
and a rigorous PHX design method. As seen in Fig. 3(b), this behavior is
directly related to parallel flow pattern and ∊ dependence on tem-
perature difference that decreases through the PHX.
3.2. Exergy transfer effectiveness-NTU
Exergy transfer effectiveness (see Eq. (11)) highly depends on T∞,
and it must be highlighted that exergy destruction, associated with heat
transfer and irreversibilities from or to surroundings, could be useful or
useless depending on the PHX aim. If there is an energy increasing
requirement for a fluid, the energy quality loss could be beneficial to
reach the equipment objective [3], otherwise it is futile or counter-
productive.
This index is shown in Fig. 5 for hot fluid and Fig. 6 for cold fluid. It
7
J.S. Rincón Tabares, et al.
Fig. 4. a) Plate amount in PHX vs. NTU. Above room temperature (upward triangle), Crossing room temperature (cross), below room temperature (downward
triangle) b) Effectiveness vs. NTU. ϕ = 1 (star), ϕ = 2 (triangle), ϕ = 3 (circle), ϕ = 4 (square).
has a high dependence on the direction in which the heat is transferred
between both fluids as well as between fluids and the surroundings
[15,24]. The greater values of exergy transfer effectiveness are reached
for the hot and cold fluid when both fluids are above (Fig. 5(a)) and
below the room temperature (Fig. 6(b)), respectively. This is a normal
behavior proposed in Ref. [24] and depends on the gap between the
fluid inside the PHX and the reference state.
For the cases represented in Figs. 5 and 6, the configuration with a
ϕ = 3 connection displays better performance with either hot or cold
fluid, and transmits most of the exergy to the target fluid. Thus, in-
creasing the size of the equipment positively affects its performance
according to the definition in Ref. [15].
The Figs. 5(a) and 6(a) show cases where both fluids are above the
surrounding temperature and dissimilar behaviors between the possible
types of connections are observed. The ϕ = 1 and ϕ = 4 configurations
reach an asymptotic operational value for both the hot and cold fluids.
On the other hand, when both fluids are below the room temperature
(the (b) cases of Figs. 5 and 6), remarkable differences between port
configurations are found when the thermal size is increased. Cases
where fluids crosses the room temperature are shown in Figs. 5(c) and
6(c); port connections different from ϕ = 3 show similar performance
behavior when exergy effectiveness reaches a constant value, despite
that the thermal size is increased. Also it should be observed that the
ϕ = 3 connection shows a tendency to increase its exergy effectiveness
as well as to reach better performance than the other port configura-
tions.
Parallel flow connection port, ϕ = 2 , has the worst performance in
Fig. 5. Hot fluid ∊e vs. NTU for: a) both fluids above room temperature, b) both fluids below room temperature, c) at least one fluid crossing room temperature. ϕ = 1
(star), ϕ = 2 (triangle), ϕ = 3 (circle), ϕ = 4 (square).
8
Applied Thermal Engineering 159 (2019) 113902
terms of exergy transfer effectiveness for hot and cold fluids. Its energy
quality is seriously degraded when the size is increased. The ϕ = 2
greatest performance is achieved for small PHX equipment (around
NTU = 2.0 ) as it can be seen in Figs. 5(b) and 6(b); from this NTU value,
a downward trend is shown.
From all the above, we conclude that the exergy transfer effective-
ness index allowed us to determine the influence of surroundings
temperature and port connection in the PHX performance. Thus, it is
recommended to connect PHX streams following ϕ = 3 configuration
and to take advantage of the room temperature when both fluids are
above or below of it.
3.3. Dimensionless entropy generation rate-NTU
In Section 2.2 it was mentioned that the finite temperature differ-
ence is the main component in the PHX second law performance. As it
was shown in Section 2.3, the operating conditions were established
with a maximum temperature difference between fluids of 20 K , re-
gardless of this condition, entropy generation may vary depending on
port connection and the room temperature influence. The PHX con-
figurations using feasible fluid velocities do not generate entropy at
same rate as the generated by the differences of temperature. Lower
velocities, through the flow channels, are directly associated with the
pressure drop, as shown in Eq. (9). However, depending on the selected
connection, temperature difference mainly occurs at the inlet of the
PHX in ϕ = 1 and ϕ = 2 cases. These port configurations have the
greater entropy generation rates when compared to the other ports
J.S. Rincón Tabares, et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 159 (2019) 113902

Fig. 6. Cold fluid ∊e vs. NTU for: a) both fluids above room temperature, b) both fluids below room temperature, c) at least one fluid crossing room temperature. ϕ = 1
(star), ϕ = 2 (triangle), ϕ = 3 (circle), ϕ = 4 (square).

connections (ϕ = 3 and ϕ = 4 ). Increasing the equipment size increases

the entropy generation almost at constant rate. Fig. 7 shows the di-
mensionless entropy generation rate for the different port connections
as well as the room temperature influence. For the configuration with
ϕ = 3, the temperature difference is less than 20 K (the maximum al-
lowable, ΔT , in this work), along all the PHX seen in Fig. 3(c), so the
lowest dimensionless entropy generation rate is reached by the con-
figuration with ϕ = 3.
The equipment with the fluids below room temperature, have
higher entropy generation rate, compared to those with fluid tem-
peratures above than room temperature, as it can be inferred by com-
paring Figs. 7(a) with 7(b). The energy discharging through the sur-
roundings leads to lower entropy generation rates than the case when
surroundings generate an energy surplus.
Additionally, Fig. 7(b) shows that the cold fluid inlet location does
not influence the entropy generation for small values of NTU. Large
PHX thermal size enhances differences between the inlet port connec-
Fig. 8. T∞ influence on EEI. Above room temperature (upward triangle), across
tions. This similar behavior has been observed for the ∊e index.
room temperature (cross), below room temperature (downward triangle).
Therefore, the ϕ = 3 case presents the best performance in terms of
entropy generation rate and it can be improved by adding plates. Both
mentioned indexes have the same effect for the temperatures con- energy efficiency PHXs (due to Zhang et al. criteria EEI < 176.35). En-
sidered with respect to the room temperature. ergy Efficiency Index has a downward trend as the size of the equip-
ment increases as it is shown in Fig. 8, which is a natural consequence
of the first law. If the fluid thermo-physical properties were assumed
3.4. Energy efficiency index-NTU independent of temperature and pressure, then the three lines shown in
Fig. 8 will overlap.
It must be highlighted that the location of the cold fluid inlet con- It is understood that heat transfer and pressure drop have to be
nection on EEI index has no influence at all, but this index is influenced weighted up in order to balance the inverse proportionality of heat
by the cases concerning the room temperature, as expected by the U transfer rate and dissipation in HX, but EEI is not necessary a good
and ΔP dependence on fixed geometric and operative parameters (in- indicator for HX design. Its physical formulation takes only into account
duced by viscosity, heat capacity, and density fluctuations). According a first law criteria as it has been based on Nusselt number and friction
to Zhang et al. [20], all configurations simulated here are rated as low

Fig. 7. Dimensionless entropy generation vs. NTU for: a) both fluids above room temperature, b) both fluids below room temperature, c) at least one fluid crossing
room temperature. ϕ = 1 (star), ϕ = 2 (triangle), ϕ = 3 (circle), ϕ = 4 (square).

9
J.S. Rincón Tabares, et al.
factor ratio. Despite that Zhang et al. [20] conclude that EEI shows a
good agreement with the second law, it is clear that Eq. (12) relates
only first law criteria and the exponent n cannot be physically related
with the second law. As it was mentioned, Zhang et al. chose the n
exponent by trial and error (instead of by an optimization approach),
reaching a 0.31 final value. This n exponent of 0.31 presents a low
variation along their velocity domain (EEI fluctuates inasmuch velocity
changes) respect to an “efficient” average value of EEI. The correlation
between EEI and exergy efficiency presented in [20], lacks from phy-
sical basis, and it seems to be a fortuitous numerical coincidence.
3.5. Entropic potential loss number-NTU
The entropic potential is increased by energy exchange process
between fluids and the surroundings of the PHX, as it was shown in
Section 2.2.5. Also, in Fig. 9(b) it is observed that transfer processes
from the surroundings to the system increase the irreversibilities rate.
For all cases related to the room temperature cases, measured with
NEPL , the ϕ = 3 equipment tend to generate the lowest amount of en-
tropy when heat transfer between fluids occurs. Counter-current con-
figuration disfavor the temperature difference entropy generation as
well as the ΔT reduction when both fluid energy exchange is accom-
plished in large thermal size, as it is shown in Fig. 3. Using this index,
we can find a minimum value (NTU = 2.2 ) for port connection with
ϕ = 2 , where this behavior is related with the gradually reduction of
heat transfer for parallel configuration, when thermal size is increased.
Additionally, this type of connection is not recommended for equip-
ment with many plates, as a consequence, it would be losing to the
surroundings more than 3.2% of the heat that will be transmitted be-
tween the working fluids.
The ϕ = 1 connection reaches an asymptotic value of the entropy
generation potential by heat transfer of 3.2% for both fluids above room
temperature (Fig. 9(a)), 3.9% for both fluids below room temperature
(Fig. 9(b)) and 3.5% for some of the fluids crossing the room tempera-
ture (Fig. 9(c)). This implies that adding plates to the heat ex-
changer,does not change the relationship between the entropy released
to the surroundings and heat transferred, in PHX where NTU ⩾ 3.5.
Based on all here studied indexes, counterflow configurations (ϕ = 3
and ϕ = 4 cold fluid connection ports) have better first and second law
performance than parallel flow configurations (ϕ = 1 and ϕ = 2 cold
fluid connection port). The ϕ = 3 configuration can exchange more heat
with less irreversibilities generation, and tending to expel less entropy
to surroundings. On the other hand, ϕ = 2 has the worst performance
despite that the heat transfer area is increased; we discourage its use
whenever possible. According to the cases related to the room tem-
perature, the energy quality is better preserved when both fluid are
above room temperature. It is supported by higher thermal sizes, higher
exergy transfer between fluid and less lost heat to surroundings.
Nevertheless, PHX goal must be considered to act on PHX performance
Fig. 9. NEPL vs. NTU for: a) both fluids above room temperature, b) both fluids below room temperature, c) at least one fluid crossing room temperature. ϕ = 1 (star),
ϕ = 2 (triangle), ϕ = 3 (circle), ϕ = 4 (square).
10
Applied Thermal Engineering 159 (2019) 113902
improvement because surroundings are an uncontrollable system that
could be used as an extra energy source or sink.
4. Conclusions
A performance analysis of first and second thermodynamic laws was
carried out for over 40 configurations of plate heat exchangers. Based
on its performance, it is concluded that counterflow ϕ = 3 connection is
the best configuration for a plate heat exchanger against other kind of
port connection. The less efficient, in terms of energy quality in the
plate heat exchangers, are those with ϕ = 2 connection port because
they generates the greatest irreversibilities from finite temperature
difference.
Based on the heat transfer effectiveness definition, ϕ = 2 cold fluid
inlet port configuration has an uncommon behavior because this con-
figuration does not have an asymptotic value when the thermal size of
the equipment becomes larger. Instead, it has a maximum performance
for a NTU = 2 . On the other hand, an asymptotic value has been
reached for ϕ = 1 and ϕ = 4 cold fluid inlet port configurations when
almost one fluid crosses the room temperature. This contrasts to ϕ = 3
configuration, where ∊e increase its value instead. Exergy efficiency
tends to decrease for ϕ = 2 in the remaining two room temperatures
cases.
From Fig. 7(b) we conclude that no difference between connection
ports, in terms of dimensionless entropy generation, is obtained in a
PHX with lower NTU values. When the size of the equipment is in-
creased, there are strong differences between parallel (ϕ = 1 and ϕ = 2 )
and counterflow (ϕ = 3 and ϕ = 4 ) configurations as well as when al-
most one fluid crosses room temperature are observed.
Energy efficiency index is not affected by cold fluid port location or
room temperature. Application of IEE index for PHX energy efficiency is
not recommended due that in this case the relation between first and
second thermodynamic laws is missing.
Entropy potential loss number is a good tool to qualify the energetic
performance of a PHX. This ratio, between irreversibilities and real heat
transfer from hot to cold fluid, takes into account the geometric, fluid
thermal properties, friction effects, and surroundings conditions. We
recommend the use of the entropy potential loss number in the en-
ergetic objective functions, for optimizing the heat exchanger design.
Applications with fluids below room temperature in PHX have the
highest chance to discharge entropy to surroundings. With these con-
figurations, fluid friction component for pressure drop as well as the
direction of heat transfer between surroundings and fluid have a greater
impact for the heat transfer process.
This work constitutes a tool and a guide to select the operating and
installation conditions for single-phase PHX. Also could be useful to
choice PHX configurations according to room conditions of any place.
In this work an energetic first and second thermodynamics law per-
formance approach was used, without including the cost performance
J.S. Rincón Tabares, et al.
for manufacturing, operation and/or maintenance of PHX, that could be
computed based on the results of the simulations and adding cost in-
dexes, as proposed by Bejan [42].
Acknowledgments
Juan Sebastiàn Rincón and Luis Perdomo-Hurtado would like to
thank to Universidad Autónoma de Manizales for support the research
project grand [504-074]. JoséLuis Aragón acknowledges financial
support from UNAM-DGAPA-PAPIIT through grand [IN110817].
Appendix A. Supplementary material
Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in the
online version, at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2019.
113902.
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