Experimental and numerical simulation study of a novel double shell-passes multi-layer helically coiled tubes heat exchanger

To enhance the heat transfer efficiency of the helically coiled tubes heat exchangers, this paper proposes a double shell-passes structure designed for a multi-layer helically coiled tubes heat exchanger. Numerical simulation is employed to investigate the performance of the Double Shell-passes Multi-layer Helically Coiled Tubes Heat Exchanger (DSMHCTHE). Furthermore, an experimental test system is constructed to validate the simulation results, exploring the performance under different operating conditions. A comparative analysis is conducted with the traditional Multi-Layer Helical Tube Heat Exchanger (MHCTHE). The results indicate that, under identical experimental conditions, the heat transfer rate and thermal effectiveness of DSMHCTHE increased by 5.1 % to 12.9 %. The overall heat transfer coefficient showed an improvement ranging from 21.5 % to 29.0 %, while the shell-side heat transfer coefficient increased by 36.2 % to 47.5 %. However, the shell-side pressure drop increased by 60.7 % to 83.4 %. Utilizing the heat exchanger's comprehensive performance as the evaluation criterion, it was observed that DSMHCTHE exhibited superior comprehensive performance. In comparison to MHCTHE, the comprehensive performance of DSMHCTHE improved by 12 %. The design of the double shell-passes configuration has shown significant enhancements in both convective heat transfer and overall performance, highlighting the superior application potential of DSMHCTHE.