Computational Study on Circuit-Printed Heat Exchanger Geometry

This work is about research internship that took place in the Engineering Physics department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA). A thorough computational study on the supercritical CO2 (s-CO2) flow across new geometry of Printed-Circuit Heat Exchanger (PCHE) has been carried out. The study investigated the airfoil fins geometry under high pressure and temperature conditions, which are the near future nuclear reactors operating conditions. First, the utility of the s-CO2 Brayton cycle and recent development in the PCHE design were studied. Furthermore, a numerical model was developed and evaluated by comparing predicted results with experimental data collected in a previous study carried out in the same department few years ago. Finally, the simulation results were suited to known correlation forms: Dittus-Boelter for heat transfer and Petukhov for pressure drop. More accurate power-law correlations were though proposed.