Evaluation of shell side performance and analysis on continuous helical baffled heat exchangers with elliptical tubes

A novel continuous helical baffled heat exchanger with elliptical tubes was proposed.Numerical simulation was used to obtain shell side flow and transfer performance with ANSYS CFX.The shell-side performance was further analyzed based on the performance evaluation criterion diagram and the three-field synergy principle.Results show that in the heat exchanger,its shell-side pressure drop is reduced by 72%—80% and comprehensive heat transfer performance is improved 32%—40%,compared with traditional circular tube heat exchangers.Performance evaluation criterion diagram shows that elliptical tubes can enhance heat transfer and reduce flow resistance,since the structure of elliptical tubes brings a better synergy between velocity field and pressure filed with the synergy between velocity field and temperature field,which is favorable for heat transfer enhancement.