Comparison of Waste Heat Recovery Performances of Plate-Fin Heat Exchangers Produced from Different Materials

Abstract

High amount of waste heat emerging from thermal processes performed in the industry can be recovered by means of equipment such as heat pipes, heat exchangers and heat recovery boilers. In this study, thermal performance of a heat recovery device, which enables air-to-air heat transfer, was examined. For this purpose, cross-flow plate-fin heat exchangers were produced by using three different materials, which are aluminum, polymer and cellulose. With the established apparatus, outlet temperatures with different values were obtained for fresh air and exhaust air. Thermal calculations, were performed with the mathematical model developed by using the Effectiveness- Number of Transfer Unit (ε - NTU) method and their results were compared. It was seen that at the same air rate with the same exhaust air inlet temperature and the same fresh air inlet temperature; when the polymer heat exchanger is used, effectiveness value is 12,6% higher on an average than the aluminum heat exchanger. Similarly, when the cellulose heat exchanger is used, effectiveness value is 14,5% higher on an average than the polymer heat exchanger.