Advances in Application of Numerical Simulation of Fluid Flow in Tube Bundle Heat Exchangers

CFD has become a widespread tool for analysis of fluid flow. In this paper a number of examples of flow problems in tube bundle heat exchangers is collected. Different objectives for a certain CFD analysis permit for different levels of modeling. Some modeling techniques are discussed, e.g., porosity models vs. full geometric modeling, analytic gap models vs. full geometric modeling, transient vs. steady-state analysis, one-phase vs. two-phase modeling, and so on. Information about the flow field in heat exchangers allow for prediction of fluidelastic instability, flow quantity distributions, pressure loss and flow forces. The paper shows a number of examples for CFD application in tube bundle heat exchangers and what benefit could be derived from it in order to give an overview about CFD possibilites.Copyright © 2002 by ASME