Experimental comparison of performances of three different plates for gasketed plate heat exchangers

In this study, an experimental set-up for testing chevron type gasketed plate heat exchangers is utilized to investigate the thermal and hydraulic characteristics of three different plate geometries. The experiments are performed using various number of plates, several flow rate and inlet and outlet temperature values so that the Reynolds numbers (300-5000) and Prandtl numbers vary for all the plates that have 30 degrees of chevron angle. Plate-specific correlations are derived for Nusselt number and friction factor by using the experimental results. (c) 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.