LAUSR

Abstract Shell-side performances of trefoil perforated plate baffle heat exchanger with equilateral triangle tube layout and quatrefoil-hole baffle heat exchangers with square tube arrangement have been studied numerically. Through establishment of periodic model of heat exchangers with three different trefoil and quatrefoil opening heights of 1.8 mm, 2.3 mm and 2.8 mm, the influence of opening height on the shell-side performances has been studied. The experiment of a heat exchanger with trefoil-hole baffles has been conducted to verify the validation and accuracy of periodic model. The results indicate that the enlargement of opening height decreases pressure drop and heat transfer coefficient while the reduction of it causes dramatic pressure loss with a modest increase of heat transfer coefficient. The heat transfer coefficient per unit pressure drop of trefoil-hole baffle heat exchangers is higher than that of heat exchangers with quadrifoil-hole baffles.