12/10/2014

HeatExchangersofpolypropylene

HowcanPolypropylene
transferheatasgoodas
metals?
Manypeoplehavetheopinionthatheat
exchangersofplasticsshouldhaveaverypoor
performancebecauseofthepoorthermal
conductivityofplastics.Thisisnotthecase!

Definitionofthe
overallheattransfer
coefficient,U
Theoverallheattransfer
coefficientforaplateheat
exchangeriscalculatedby

where
U[W/m2 K]istheoverallheat
transfercoefficient

Simpleexamples
Considerasinglewallwith
media1ontheleftsidethat
transfersheattomedia2onthe
rightsideofthewall.Thewall
thicknessisassumedtobe
0.1mmandthematerialisPP,
aluminiumorstainlesssteel.

Theoverallheattransfer
coefficient,U,forasinglewall
(withequalareas)is

A[m2 ]isthecontactareafor
eachfluidside
k[W/mK]isthethermal
conductivityofthematerial
h[W/m2 K]istheindividual
convectionheattransfer
coefficientforeachfluid

xw[m]isthewallthickness

Thermalresistance

Figure1.Heattransferthroughasinglewall.

Theheattransferthroughasinglewallis
dependentonthreefactorstheoverallheat
transfercoefficient,U,theheattransferringarea,
A,andthetemperaturedifferencebetweenthe
heatemittingandtheheatabsorbingmedia.

Inaheatexchangertheoverallheattransfer
coefficient,U,isdependentontheconvective
heattransfercoefficientforboththehotandthe
coldfluidandthethermalconductivityofthewall
material.

Itcanbeshownthattheoverallheattransfer
coefficient,U,isgovernedbytheindividual
convectionheattransfercoefficient,h,onthegas
(air)sideofthewallsintheheatexchanger.

Thismeansthattheheattransferinthiscaseis
relativelyinsensitivetothetypeofmaterialused
inthewalls.Iftheheatexchangerwasmadeof
aluminumorsteelinsteadofpolypropylene,the
overallheattransferwouldnotchange
significantly.

Thesurfacecharacteristicsoftheheatexchanger
isalsoimportant,affectingpressuredropand
foulingtendencies.Organicandmineraldeposits
arelessadherenttotheplasticsurface,compared
tometals,whichgiveslessfoulingandthatthe
exchangersareeasiertoclean.Foulingaddsan
extrathermalresistancethatlowerstheoverall
http://www.segerfrojd.com/ppvsmetal.htm

Theoverallheattransfer
coefficientcanalsobecalculated
bytheviewofthermal
resistances.Thismeansthatthe
wallissplitinareasofthermal
resistance,i.e.theheattransfer
betweenthefluidandthewallis
oneresistance,thewallitselfis
alsooneandlastlythetransfer
betweenthewallandthesecond
fluidisthelastthermal
resistance.
Surfacecoatings,likefoulingand
epoxythatiscommonlyusedwith
aluminiuminheatexchangers,
addsextrathermalresistances
decreasingtheoverallheat
transfer.

Thermal
conductivity,k

Thethermalconductivity,k,for
sometypicalmaterialsusedin
plateheatexchangersisshown
below.

Polypropylene:0.12W/mK
Stainlesssteel:21W/mK
Aluminium:221W/mK

Convectionheat
transfercoefficient,
h
Theconvectionheattransfer
coefficient,h,isdependentonthe
typeofmedia,gasorliquid,the
flowpropertiessuchasvelocity
andotherflowandtemperature
dependentproperties.

Air:10100W/m2 K
Water:50010000W/m2 K

Example1
Assumethatmedia1and2are
airwiththeconvectionheat
transfercoefficienthAir=50
W/m2 K

Theoverallheattransfer
coefficientbecomes:
PP:U=24.5W/m2 K
STEEL:U=25.0W/m2 K
ALU:U=25.0W/m2 K

Ifweignoretheinfluenceofthe
wallUbecomes:

Thuswithairtoairthewall
materialisirrelevant,sinceUis
governedbyhAir.

Example2
Assumethatmedia2isaliquid
(water)withtheconvectionheat
transfercoefficienth2 =1000
W/m2 K
Theoverallheattransfer
coefficientbecomes:
PP:U=45.8W/m2 K
STEEL:U=47.6W/m2 K
ALU:U=47.6W/m2 K

OnceagainweseethatUis
governedbyhAir,andthe
variationbetweendifferent
materialsissmall.

Example3
Assumethatmedia1and2are
waterwiththeconvectionheat
transfercoefficienthWater=1000
W/m2 K
Theoverallheattransfer
coefficientnowbecomes:
PP:U=353W/m2 K
STEEL:U=499W/m2 K
ALU:U=500W/m2 K

Ifthethermalconductivityis
verylargeorthethicknessof
thewallisverythin,thenthe
theoreticalmax.heattransfer
coefficientbecomes:

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12/10/2014

heattransfer.

HeatExchangersofpolypropylene

http://www.segerfrojd.com/ppvsmetal.htm

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