EVALUATINGTHEPERFORMANCE

OFAHANDCRAFTEDHEATEXCHANGER
MECH402GroupProject
LABORATORYREPORT

By:

DougField
CameronGedenberg
BrianKelly
GregNeudorfer
BenPadgett

December12,2014
MechanicalEngineering
WashingtonStateUniversityVancouver

Abstract:
Theobjectiveofthisexperimentistodesignandtestaheatexchangerwhileadheringto
specificationsforsizeandmaterial.Thegroupchosetobasethedesignonacrossflow
exchangerlooselybasedonductingdesignsfoundincurrentHVACequipment.Inthe
calculationsthegroupanalyzedheattransferaswellasthepotentiallossofheatthatwould
incur.
Intheexperimentthevolumetricflowrateoftheethyleneglycolwassetbetween1and3
L/minwhiletheairvelocitywasbasedonavariablefrequencydrivebetween20and60Hz.
Basedonempiricalresultstheeffectivenesswas0.312,about70%ofthetheoretical,thefin
arraysurfaceefficiencyis95.6%andanoverallheattransfercoefficientwas29.89 mW2K .
Introduction:
Aheatexchangerisadeviceusedasamediumbetweenfluidsoftwodifferent
temperaturesandfrequentlyusedasaheatingorcoolingdeviceinalargersystem.Acommon
applicationofaheatexchangercanbeseenintheautomotiveindustryasawaytomaintainan
enginesproperoperatingtemperature.Anotherfunctionaheatexchangercanbeusedforisto
assistincoolingacentralprocessingunit(CPU).Inthisexperimentthetemperatureandflowof
boththehotandcoldfluidsisobservedasitpassesthroughtheheatexchanger.Thepurposeof
theexperimentistocalculatetheoverallheattransfercoefficient,effectiveness,andoverall
surfaceefficiencyinordertojudgetheperformanceofthedesignedsystem.
DesignMethodology:
Basedontherequirementsoftheproject,andtheenvironmentusedfortesting,itwas

decidedtomimicthedesignfromtwocommonmethodologiesusedtocoolcomputersystems,
forcedairconvectionandliquidcooledheatsinks.Lookingatfigure1,theheatexchanger
designentailsusingmultiplefins,whicharespacedverytightly,andhaveacopperpipe,
containingwater,runningthrougheachfin.Thisdesignmaximizesthesurfaceareaofthecopper
pipethusallowingtheheatfromtheCPUtodissipatethroughthefinsinaveryefficientmanner.
Additionally,thefollowingdesignconstraintswerefollowedtoassuretheheatexchangerwould
fitinsidethewindtunnelandexperimentationoftheheatexchangerincludedafullrangeof
data.Fabricationlimitationsinclude:onlyallowedtouse24inx24inx1/32insheetaluminum,

thefullyassembledfootprintcannotexceed10inx10in,theUtubecopperpipeshavea1/2in
outerdiameterwhichtheheatexchangermustattachto,andnoothermaterialsmaybeusedto
attachtheheatexchangertothepipe.Flowlimitationsinclude:maximumairflowof6m/s
between20Cand65C,andtheethyleneglycolflow,providedbyaPolyScience6000series
chiller,withmaximumflowrateof15L/min.

Figure1.Acommonheatsinkusedtocoolacentralprocessingunit(CPU).

TheideaofthealuminumsleevesintheXHXdesigncomesfromnecessitybecausethe
finscouldnotbepermanentlyattachedtothecopperpipe.Thealuminumsleeveutilizesthe
abilitytokeepeveryfininplacewhilemaintainingcriticalspacing,andcanstillberemoved
fromthecopperpipes.Anotherproblemistheinconsistentcontactbetweenthealuminum
sleevesandthecopperpipes.Thermalpastewasusedtoreducetheinconsistencybetweenthe
two.

GoverningPerformanceEquations:

1. =
2. o = 1
3. U =

1exp(NTU(1+Cr))
1+Cr
Af
A (1

q
AT LM

Effectiveness

f ) OverallSurfaceEfficiency

OverallHeatTransferCoefficient


Assumptions:
Finefficiencywasfoundassumingfinswerecircular.
Contactbetweenfinsandsleeveissolid.
Builtwithperfectfinspacing.
TestsystemusesKtypethermocouples.
DesignDescription:

Asmentionedabovethedesignedheatexchangerisbasedoffofabasicheatsinkfora
CPUthatinvolvesbothforcedairandliquidcooledconvection.Theheatexchanger,shownin
figure6,startswithanaluminumsleevearoundtheeachverticalcopperpipethatisinstalledin
thewindtunnel.Attachedtothesleevewillbeseventyeightfinsoneachverticalcopperpipe.
Nexttothefinsandinbetweenthetwoverticalcopperpipesareangledbevelstoallowforflow
tobedirectedtowardsthefinsandverticalcopperpipes.Intable1itcanbeseenwhatlittlecost
thisdesignrequires.

Table1.Billofmaterialsbought.


Figure2.Drawingofinitialprototype(pendingprofessorapproval).

FabricationMethod:

Onceaconceptdesignwasestablished,andcreatedinSolidworks,a24inx24inx1/32in
sheetofaluminumwasobtained.Thealuminumwasthencutinto11/2inx11/2insquares.This
wasdoneinthemachineshopusingthemetalsheartomakestraightcuts.Afterstripswerecut
thecenterofeachsquarewasmarked,punched,anddrilled.Aftertheywerealldrilled,asshown
infigure3,thestripswereshearedagaintocreateeachindividualfin.


Figure3.Usingtheshopmill.

Initially,itwasdecidedtofirstcreateapreliminarymodelofthedesignusingscrap
aluminium.Thiswasdonetoevaluatethemanufacturingprocessandfeasibility.Itwas
discoveredthatsolderingaluminumisdifficultandrequiresaspecialsolder.Adifferent
manufacturingtechniquehadtobeused.JBweldwasalsotriedbutitwouldtakeaverylong
timeforeveryfintobeattachedandevenlyspacedduetocuringtime.Additionally,theJBWeld
wasassumedtobeapoorconductorforheat.Africtionfitwastriedusingacoathangergoing
throughsmallholespunchedintoeachfin,butwasnotsufficientenoughtocreateatightfit.The
coathanger,however,endedupbeingusedtokeepthefinsaligned.Intheendspacers,asseenin
figure4,werethepreferredmethodtouseduetoeaseoffabricationandbeinginexpensive.The
spacerswerecreatedfrom16gaugesteelbalingwirewrappedarounda9/16inbolt.The9/16in
boltcreatedthe5/8ininnerdiameterforthespacerrings.


Figure4.Imageemphasizingspacertechnique.

Thealuminumsleeveswererolledbyhandovera1/2insteelrodtoformacylindrical
sleeve.Oncefinsandsleevemanufacturingwerefinishedtheywerehandassembledtocreatethe
heatexchangerfinarray.Itwasnoticedthattherewouldnotbeatightconnectionbetweenthe
finsandthesleeve.Therefore,balloonswereinsertedinsidethesleeves,filledwithwater,and
placedinsideafreezercausingthesleevetoexpand,asshowninfigure5.Thiscreateda
sufficientfitbetweenthefinsandthesleeve.


Figure5.Imagedemonstratingballoonexpansionofaluminumsleeve.

Theleftovermaterialwasusedtomakebafflestodirectflowoverthefins.Twobevels
wereusedoutsidethetwotubesandanotherbafflewasusedinbetweenthetwotubesasshown
infigure6.Duringtestingthebafflesweretapedtothetestframe.

Figure6.XHXHeatexchangerintestenvironment.

ExperimentalResults:
Tofindouthowwelltheheatexchangerworkeditwastestedinthewindtunnel.Initially
theheatexchangerwastestedwiththeglycolflowingat3.0L/minandtheairspeedvarying
from20Hzto60Hz.Thiswasdonetoseehowtheheatexchangerperformedatdifferent
airflows.Thedatafromthatexperimentisshownbelowinfigure7withdatatabulatedintable5
locatedintheappendix.Here,itcanbeshownthatastheairflowincreasesthechangein
temperaturegraduallyincreases.

Figure7.PlotshowingthechangeintemperatureoftheEthyleneGlycolvs.airflowrate.

Eitherthehighflowrateoftheglycolpreventeditfromheatingup,orthechillerwas
unabletocooltheglycolquickenough,sothevaryingairspeedsonlychangedtheglycol
temperatureamaximumof0.8K.Theglycolflowratewasturneddown,totryandgetbetter
data,to1.0L/min.Thischangeshowedalargeimprovementinthechangeinglycoltemperature.
Unfortunately,therewasnotenoughtimetowaitforsteadystate,thereforethechangein
temperatureispredictedtoincreaseifenoughtimewereallotted.Figure8belowillustratesthe
changeintemperatureversusthechillertemperatureandverifiestheinverserelationship
betweenthechilleroperatingtemperatureandthechangeinglycoltemperature.The
measurementstakenwhentheglycolflowratewasturneddownto1.0L/minaretabulatedin
table5,locatedintheappendix.


Figure8.Changeinglycoltemperaturevs.chilleroperatingtemperature.

Figure9belowshowsthechangeinpressureversustheflowrateoftheethyleneglycol.Hereit
isnoticedthatastheflowrateincreasesthechangeinpressurealsoincreases.

PerformanceDiscussion:
ThefollowingtablesdemonstratetheperformanceoftheXHXheatexchanger.The
performanceisdetailedbytheeffectiveness,overallsurfaceefficiency,andtheoverallheat
transfercoefficientoftheXHXheatexchangerrespectively.

Table2:Effectiveness

Table3:OverallSurfaceEfficiency

Table4:OverallHeatTransferCoefficient

Fromthedataintheabovetablestheperformanceofthesystemcanbediscussed.The
experimentaleffectivenessofthesystem~0.312andthetheoreticaleffectiveness~.443shows
thattheheatexchangerperformed~70.4%ofthepredictedvalue.Theoverallsurfaceefficiency
ofthefinarrayofaround95.6%showsthatthefinarraychosenwasclosetothetheoretical
maximum.Theoverallheattransfercoefficientof 29.89mW2K showsalowabilityforthe
exchangertotransferheat.
ConclusionandRecommendation:
Withtheparametersprovidedtheheatexchangerwasshowntobesuccessfulinheating
uptheglycol.Itwasthemosteffectivewiththehighestairflowandthelowestglycolflowrates.
Theresultsoftheexperimentyieldedaneffectivenessof0.312,about70%ofthetheoretical,a
finsurfaceefficiencyof95.6%andanoverallheattransfercoefficientwas29.89 mW2K .
Furthermore,somerecommendationstoimprovetheXHXheatexchangerwouldbetoinclude
ductingabovethefinstodirectmoreairflowintothefinarray.Asecondrecommendationwould
betohavethefinscovertheentire83/4inchesofcoppertubebyusingalargergaugewirefor
thespacersandtoreduceeach5/8inholeto9/16intohavemoresolidcontactbetweenthe
aluminumandcopperpipe.

References:
[1]Incropera,F.,&DeWitt,D.(2011).Fundamentalsofheattransfer(7thed.).NewYork:
Wiley.
[2]TypeKThermocouple.(n.d.).RetrievedDecember8,2014,from
http://www.thermometricscorp.com/thertypk.htm

Appendix:
VariableDefinitions:
NTU=Numberoftransferunits
U=Overallheattransfercoefficient
=Effectiveness
o=Overallsurfaceefficiency
f=Finefficiency
A=Overallsystemsurfacearea
Di=Innerdiameter
Do=Outerdiameter
Cr=Specificheatratio
Af=Totalfinarea
K1,K0,I1,I0=Besselfunctions
q=Heattransferrate
TLM=Logmeantemperaturechange
Th,o=Hotfluidoutlettemperature
Th,i=Hotfluidinlettemperature
Tc,o=Coldfluidoutlettemperature
Tc,i=Coldfluidinlettemperature
RTH=Totalthermalresistance
h=Heattransfercoefficient
k=Thermalconductivity
L=Length
UnderlyingEquations:
UA
N T U = Cmin

q = RT = mhC p(T h,i T h,o)

TH

K (mr )I (mr )K (mr )I 1(mr1)

0
1 1
2c
0
1 1(mr2c)
(2r1/m)
2 r2)
(r2c
1

f = C 2 I 1(mr 1)K 2(mr 2c)+K 2(mr 2c)I

C2 =

 m = ( 2h
kt )

T LM =

1/2

T 2T 1
ln(T 2/T 1)

Table5.Datacollectedasairflowisincreased.

Table6.Datacollectedwhenkeepingallsetpointsconstant.