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Heat Transfer Engineering, 27(5):322, 2006

C Taylor and Francis Group, LLC


Copyright
ISSN: 0145-7632 print / 1521-0537 online
DOI: 10.1080/01457630600559462

Advances in Science and Technology


of Compact Heat Exchangers
RAMESH K. SHAH
Subros Limited, Noida, India

Significant advances have taken place in the theory, analysis, design and optimization, manufacturing, and technology of
compact heat exchangers (CHEs) over the last 2025 years. The objective of this D. Q. Kern Award paper is to summarize and
assess (where appropriate) these advances in CHEs related to the following specific areas of CHEs: (1) advances in two-fluid
exchanger effectiveness and NTU results for highly complex flow arrangements, (2) heat transfer and pressure drop analyses,
(3) the role of CFD in the design and analysis of header and manifold design, (4) recuperator design procedure, (5) design
data for compact heat exchangers, (6) thermodynamic modeling and analysis, (7) brazing of compact heat exchangers, and
(8) advancement in CHEs for new applications such as fuel cells and microturbines. Some challenges and opportunities will
be summarized to advance the science and technology further.

INTRODUCTION

and nanotechnology have resulted in microheat exchanger developments along with lower manufacturing costs. This trend
has particularly accelerated in the last five years or so.
Apart from the reduction in core volume and cost of the exchanger, compactness has resulted in the same or even an increase in performance (increased heat transfer with the same
pressure drop); the use of thinner-gauge materials for the same
structural stability and strength has reduced exchanger mass for
specific applications. (This gain is more pronounced than the
reduction in core volume.) With ultra high compactness, the
heat transfer coefficients are so high (similar in magnitude as in
turbulent flows) that one does not need to interrupt the surface
geometry, thus reducing the manufacturing cost and at the same
time getting very high performance. Of course, this requires
clean or non-fouling fluids in the exchanger. One of the most
important benefits associated with very high compactness is that
with fully developed laminar flows (such as in the glomurous of
nephrons in the human kidney), heat transfer coefficients are extremely high and independent of flow Reynolds number! On the
other front, with recent technologies such as fuel cells and microturbines, many high-temperature heat exchangers have been
developed using superalloys that push the operating temperature
barrier to about 900 C.
The purpose of this paper is to summarize the advances made
in the last 2025 years in eight important areas of science and
technology of compact heat exchangers. The focus will be only
on recuperators; for regenerators, review Shah et al. [13] for a
summary of advances. With a broad understanding of the subject
area, it is both a wish and challenge to the authors to extend the

Significant advances have taken place in compact heat exchanger technology with the globalization of compact heat exchanger (CHE) business and resulting cost pressures, advances
in manufacturing technology, and the advent of new technology
and applications, such as CHEs for fuel cells and microturbines.
At the same time, software development and maturity in computational fluid dynamics (CFD), computer-aided engineering
(CAE), noise vibration and harshness (NVH) and system simulation have opened up a new dimension to the heat exchanger
and related product development via virtual design, such as the
design of an HVAC module for automotive air conditioning.
Also, advances in manufacturing technologies have made many
innovative advances in heat exchanger surfaces and core design
that cannot be realized through visual observation, such as the
developments taken place in the refinement of the multilouver
fin geometry used in automotive heat exchangers. Now, the current phase of advancement in CHEs is related toward micro- and
nanotechnological developments, with flow passages for liquid
and phase-change fluids becoming more compact in mini- and
micropassage sizes; newer applications associated with MEMS
The author sincerely appreciates and is grateful to Dr. Dusan P. Sekulic of the
University of Kentucky, a good friend and colleague, who has provided valuable
suggestions and additions.
This article is the text of the Kern lecture given by the author at the Summer
Annual Heat Transfer Conference, July 2005, in San Francisco, California.
Address correspondence to Dr. Ramesh K. Shah, Subros Limited, Noida,
UP 201304, India. E-mail: rkshah@gmail.com

R. K. SHAH

barriers of science and technology of compact heat exchangers


to new, unimagined heights over the next 25 years.

ADVANCES IN EXCHANGER ANALYSIS FOR HIGHLY


COMPLEX FLOW ARRANGEMENTS
The first reported heat exchanger analysis was conducted
by Thompson (Lord Kelvin) in 1859 [4] for a condenser
(Cmin /Cmax = 0). The basic exchanger flow arrangements were
analyzed by Mollier, Nusselt, Nagle, et al. [4]. The P-NTU
method for heat exchanger design and analysis was introduced
in the 1920s for analyzing shell-and-tube heat exchangers.
The -NTU method for the exchanger analysis was introduced
by London and Seban in 1942 [5]. More than 150 papers
have been published to analyze more than 150 different flow
arrangements of two-fluid single-phase exchangers, which
include effectiveness-NTU (or other methods of analyses)
formulas/results for single-pass and multipass flow arrangements, the effects of longitudinal conduction, the nonuniform
overall heat transfer coefficient, flow maldistribution, unequal
heat transfer surface areas in different passes, flow bypass
and leakages, and a finite number of baffles. Very briefly,
the following methods have been used to obtain the -NTU
formulas/results for these flow arrangements [1]:

Exact analytical methods. The direct integration of differential


equations, operational calculus methods, and transformation
of differential equations into integral equations and their subsequent solution.
Approximate methods. The semi-analytical/numerical methods: collocation method, Galerkin method, and twodimensional discrete linear image processing method, plus
semi-numerical and analog methods.
Numerical. The finite difference, finite volume, and finite element methods
Matrix formalism method
Chain rule methodology
Flow reversal symmetry principle

The matrix formalism method, developed by Domingos [6],


uses matrix algebra to obtain P-NTU formulas for an exchanger
array or a complex heat exchanger that can be broken into simpler subexchangers of which P-NTU formulas are known. In a
two-fluid exchanger, there are two inlet and two outlet fluid temperatures. Based on the overall energy balance for each fluid, any
two temperatures can be presented as a function of two remaining
independent temperatures. The coefficients of two independent
fluid temperatures can then be presented in a 2 2 linear matrix.
The overall effectiveness P of a complex exchanger can then be
obtained by the proper multiplication of appropriate 2 2 linear
matrices of subexchangers.
For a very complex flow arrangement, the aforementioned
method becomes very difficult to handle if there are a large
number of matrices involved. The main interest here is to deterheat transfer engineering

mine exchanger effectiveness rather than perform matrix multiplication. Hence, only one term of the 2 2 matrix of the
overall exchanger needs to be evaluated through the matrix multiplication of the corresponding terms of the N simpler subexchanger 2 2 matrices. This is the chain rule methodology
developed by Pignotti [7]; it does not use either the direct matrix algebra or matrix multiplication. This method was further
extended and applied [4] for many unanalyzed exchanger complex flow arrangements. Many additional flow arrangements
not reported in this paper can be found in Shah and Pignotti
[8]; in this report, both the tabular data and graphical results
of P-NTU formulas are presented for R varying from 0 to 10.
The chain rule methodology is one of the most powerful techniques to obtain closed-form effectiveness-NTU expressions for
many highly complex two-fluid exchanger configurations and
assemblies.
A close look at the results presented in terms of the P-NTU
relationship for many flow arrangements indicate expected or
unexpected behavior as follows from P as a function of NTU,
with R as a parameter depending on the flow arrangement of
two fluids as follows. The effectiveness P or versus number of
heat transfer units NTU can
increase monotonically with an increasing NTU and reach an
asymptotic value of unity or less.
increase, reach a maximum value, and then decrease with
an increasing NTU, reaching an asymptotic value lower than
unity.

There are also other P-NTU or -NTU behaviors [9].


In order to explain the aforementioned P-NTU or -NTU
performance behavior for complex flow arrangements, limited
attempts have been made in the literature to evaluate the entropy
generation rate and conduct an irreversibility analysis based on
the Second Law. While the concept of minimum irreversibility
is associated with the maximum energy efficiency for energy
conversion processes in thermal systems, it is not quite applicable to the heat exchanger analysis [9]. Based on the entropy
generation rate and extremum in exchangers with different flow
arrangements, Shah and Skiepko [9] have shown that the heat exchanger effectiveness can be maximum, having an intermediate
value, or a minimum at the maximum irreversibility operating
point, depending on the flow arrangement. Similarly, the heat
exchanger effectiveness can be minimum or maximum at the
minimum irreversibility operating point.

HEAT TRANSFER AND PRESSURE DROP ANALYSES


Heat transfer analysis of a two-fluid single-phase exchanger
results in a problem that has one or more dependent variables
and six independent parameters for a given flow arrangement
of two fluids when effects such as longitudinal heat conduction
in the walls, nonuniform velocity/temperature at the entrance
to the exchanger, and nonuniform heat transfer coefficients are
vol. 27 no. 5 2006

R. K. SHAH

neglected. The creation of these variables/parameters results


in three dimensionless groups for each flow arrangement of
two fluids in the exchanger. Depending on the selection of
the three groups, several methods (-NTU, P-NTU, Muellers
charts, P1 -P2 , etc.) have been evolved for heat exchanger analysis [1]. It has already been mentioned how the effectivenessNTU results are obtained for a variety of two-fluid exchanger
flow arrangements. While the most common heat exchanger design problems are classical rating and sizing, there are potentially 21 problems. The solution procedures for these problems
are presented by Shah and Sekulic [1]. The design of shelland-tube exchangers becomes more complicated compared to
the plate-fin and tube-fin exchangers due to various flow leakages, bypass, and other effects that result from geometrical
features. This design method is referred to as Bell-Delaware
method [10] and has been outlined with all recent developments
[1].
In most heat exchangers, fluids need to be pumped for heat
transfer from the hot fluid to the cold fluid, and power needs to
be provided for pumping these fluids. This pumping power is
related to the mass flow rate of the fluid and associated pressure
drop in the exchanger as well as in the inlet/outlet manifolds,
headers, piping, etc. The latter pressure drop is more important
for flowing gases compared to flowing liquids in the exchangers.
The details of determining the pressure drop in the exchanger
core and associated inlet and outlet devices connected to the
exchanger core are given in many finer details [1].
THE ROLE OF CFD IN THE DESIGN AND ANALYSIS
OF HEADER AND MANIFOLD DESIGN
In the preceding sections, the determination of heat transfer rate in the exchanger using the effectiveness-NTU method
and core pressure drop for single-phase exchangers was briefly
summarized. This theory for heat transfer and pressure drop
determination is based on the assumption that the fluid flows
entering the exchanger are uniform. However, in general, the
entering flow distribution is generally not uniform; it depends
on the orientation of inlet and outlet pipes and the header and
manifold designs (or, the upstream geometry of the system if
there are no manifold and headers, such as the grille, bumper,
and air dam design for a vehicle before air enters the condenser
and radiator in the engine compartment).
The design of the flow path of gases (in particular air in many
applications) entering the heat exchanger is extremely important
for uniform flow distribution at the entrance to the exchanger
and minimizing the pressure drop associated with the manifolds,
headers, and the flow path geometry approaching heat exchanger
core. Similarly, the design of the inlet/outlet tank geometry of
the exchanger for liquid flows is important for uniform liquid
flow through the exchanger and reducing the associated pressure
drop in the inlet/outlet tanks.
Since the evolution of CFD technology, the design of inlet/outlet manifolds and tanks (flow distribution devices to the
heat transfer engineering

exchanger core) is being conducted through the CFD analysis.


This ensures that flow entering the exchanger is reasonably uniform, depending on the design flexibility of available space and
the geometry of the flow passages upstream and downstream of
the exchanger. It should be emphasized that the role of CFD analysis for the exchanger manifolds, tanks, and nozzles (among others) is extremely important to ensure reasonably uniform flows
to the exchanger core and minimum pressure drop associated
with the flow distribution devices to the core. The CFD analysis
is now a normal practice for the design of the flow distribution
devices to the exchanger core. In addition, uniform liquid flow
through the exchanger ensures minimum erosion and corrosion
of the flow passage entrance (such as of tubes in the tube-toheader joint) or of the tanks/manifolds by maintaining the local
maximum liquid velocity below the threshold of erosion.
CFD does not presently provide accurate j or Nu and f versus
Re data for compact heat exchanger surfaces, as will be discussed
later.

RECUPERATOR DESIGN PROCEDURE


Compact heat exchanger design methodology is outlined in
Figure 1. The salient points as well as some additional recent
developments are summarized below. The following steps are
generally followed for a recuperator thermal and mechanical
design for a given application:
Based on the manufacturing capability, past practice, or
customer requirements, the following are chosen for the
exchanger design: exchanger core construction, flow arrangement, number of passes, inlet/outlet pipe/manifold orientation,
material and heat transfer surface selection, which fluid should
go on which fluid side of the two-fluid exchanger, etc.
Based on the problem specifications, the exchanger core size
is determined based on the sizing procedure outlined in Shah
and Sekulic [1] for specified/required heat transfer and pressure drop. It is essential that the dimensionless heat transfer
and pressure drop design data (Colburn factor j and Fanning
friction factor f versus Reynolds number Re data) are known
for accurate sizing; otherwise such data should be developed
in-house first by building and testing special cores to get the
j and f versus Re data; in the interim period, appropriate data
from the literature or from published correlations may suffice
for first approximate sizing.
Pass arrangement in a multipass exchanger is decided to obtain desired performance as well as uniform temperature distribution in some applications. For example, uniform airside
temperature distribution at the core exit is very important in
addition to the overall performance in the evaporator core design in an HVAC module for the cooling of the passenger
compartment in a vehicle. In this case, not only are the uniform flow and temperature distributions important for air inlet
to the core, but also the pass arrangement within the core is
very important to attain uniform air temperature distribution

vol. 27 no. 5 2006

R. K. SHAH

Figure 1 Compact heat exchanger design methodology, modified from Shah and Sekulic [1].

at the core outlet. For these reasons, very complicated pass arrangements have been evolved over the years for automotive
evaporator design.
Materials of the fins and plates/tubes are selected to obtain
the desired operating life of the exchanger depending on the
corrosiveness of the fluids and operating temperatures.
The CFD analysis is conducted to determine the flow distribution in the inlet/outlet manifolds and headers and flow
distribution within the core on the liquid side, if any.
Finite element analysis and buckling analysis are conducted
to determine the correct thickness and height of the fins for
the pressure/thermal stresses based on imposed pressures and
temperatures on hot and cold fluid sidesparticularly areas
of pressure/thermal stresses where thick and thin parts are
joined, such as thick plates (at the end of core stacking) to
heat transfer engineering

fins or the mounting brackets to the exchanger core. Thermal


stresses during startup and shutdown in the heat exchanger
and mounting brackets/areas must be evaluated using finite
element analysis programs. The bulging of the tube (containing high-pressure fluid) can damage and eventually break the
brazed fin-to-tube joint. Hence, the analysis should be conducted for yield stress and rupture. Creep analysis is also important for the desired design life. The thermal stresses induced during the startup and shutdown or during the transient
operation must be checked at the design stage.
Manufacturing professionals in the company are involved during the decision on the initial design and at the outcome of all
analyses to ensure the design selected for fins, plates/tubes,
cores, mounting brackets, etc., are all manufacturable costeffectively.
vol. 27 no. 5 2006

R. K. SHAH

Once the exchanger design is completed, taking into consideration the above points and manufacturing and costing related issues, actual core samples are built and thermal and
mechanical designs are verified with the appropriate testing:
performance as a component and part of a system for the given
application, pressure cycling, thermal cycling, corrosion testing, vibration testing, etc.

The design is finally refined to minimize potential risks brought


out by various test results.
DESIGN DATA FOR COMPACT HEAT EXCHANGERS
The flows encountered in the plate-fin and tube-fin compact
exchangers are not pure boundary layer flows due to the use
of interrupted or augmented fin geometries on the air/gas side.
The flows are very complex: in addition to boundary layer flows
in certain regions, in other regions, there is flow separation,
reattachment, recirculation, and vortices generation. Because of
such flows, no accurate design correlations (j or Nu and f versus Re data) are available in the open literature for modern fin
geometries. (Note that the most recent j and f data reported in
Kays and London [11] were acquired during 1966 on offset strip
fin geometries by London and Shah [12].) The latest published
correlations from academia and government labs for offset strip
fin and louver fin geometries have been previously summarized
[1]. They are accurate within 1520%. When one changes the
fin density from 16 to 17 fins/in. (630 to 669 fins/m), about 6%
fin material is added. If one cannot predict the exchanger performance within an accuracy of 5%, there exists the potential of
wasting material without realizing any desired benefit. Hence,
most major manufacturers of compact heat exchangers develop
accurate proprietary j and f versus Re data for their own surfaces,
which are rarely published in open literature by industry. This
information is essential for compact heat exchanger surfaces for
obtaining accurate solution to any sizing/design problem without
much wasted material. It should be emphasized that in spite of
significant advances taken place in the CFD analysis of compact
heat exchangers, CFD analysis technology has not yet advanced
to the level that it can accurately predict the performance of
the compact heat exchangers or their surfaces within about 5%.
Hence, industry continues to rely on the experimental j and f data
of the heat exchanger surfaces for the design and optimization
of compact heat exchangers.
THERMODYNAMIC MODELING AND ANALYSIS
OF HEAT EXCHANGERS
Thermodynamic modeling and analysis is important for heat
exchanger design for the following reasons:
1. to present and discuss important factors that affect the performance of a heat exchanger as a component
heat transfer engineering

2. to design a heat exchanger, using the available energy or exergy viewpoint, from the Second Law analysis and optimize
it if it is a part of the system.
The important factors that affect the exchanger effectiveness,
and as a result, which flow arrangement to select from the First
Law point of view, are summarized here. Also, the exergy analysis for a heat exchanger to determine useful energy (exergy) destruction in a given exchanger from the Second Law viewpoint
is discussed. This analysis provides guidelines on the exchanger
design (e.g., high or low effectiveness, ), depending on the exchanger operating temperatures as compared to the system or
surrounding temperature.
The First Law analysis of any heat exchanger results in the
determination of temperature distribution of each fluid and subsequently its effectiveness-NTU relationship or the relationship
among dimensionless groups of other analysis methods [1].
(Note that in this paper, effectiveness means either exchanger
effectiveness or temperature effectiveness P when no distinction is needed.) This relationship of dimensionless groups
is used in the rating and sizing of heat exchangers as mentioned previously. Some methods of analysis (such as exact,
approximate, and numerical methods) yield temperature distributions and subsequently, the effectiveness-NTU relationship,
while other methods, such as matrix formalism and chain rule
methodology, provide only the effectiveness-NTU relationship
without temperature distributions.
Once the effectiveness-NTU relationship is known for a given
two-fluid single-phase exchanger, one can conduct the rating or
sizing of a heat exchanger readily for the known heat transfer
and flow friction characteristics of the surfaces employed in the
exchanger. This is the outcome of the analysis by the First Law
of Thermodynamics. However, such a design may not be optimum from the use of available energy (exergy or useful energy)
in the flow streams associated with the exchanger when the exchanger is part of a system. This can only be achieved from the
Second Law analysis viewpoint by determining the destruction
of the useful energy D in the exchanger or by determining first
the entropy generation rate (S irr ) and then thermodynamic irreversibilities (T0 S irr = D = Iirr ) in the exchanger. Here, T0 is the
temperature of an infinite source or sink (heat reservoir) or of a
reference state, depending on the system features and relationship to the surroundings in the vicinity of a heat exchanger or
thermal system. As such, S irr is given by [1]:
T1,o
T2,o
S irr = m
1 cp,1 ln
+m
2 cp,2 ln
T1,i
T2,i
= C1 ln[1 + P1 ( 1 1)] + ln[1 + R1 P1 ( 1)] (1)
where = T1,i /T2,i . (It must be emphasized that outlet temperatures from the exchanger, given the inlet temperatures and
heat capacity rates of both fluids, will be different depending
on the flow arrangement of the two fluids in the exchanger [i.e.,
the flow direction of two fluids within the exchanger] as well
vol. 27 no. 5 2006

R. K. SHAH

as fluid mixing at a given flow section of each fluid within the


exchanger.)
Equation (1) is valid for all two-fluid single-phase exchangers, including condensation or vaporization on one fluid side
(i.e., C = 0 case). Note that P-NTU-R or -NTU-C relationships are known for over 150 flow arrangements of two-fluid
exchangers. Hence, for all of these flow arrangements, S irr can
be calculated using the formula given by Eq. (1) and subsequently Iirr or D from Eq. (2). The presence of irreversibilities
is accompanied by thermodynamic losses, ultimately leading
to poorer performance than predicted by an idealized reversible
process. Irreversibility is also related to exergy (maximum available or useful energy rate) E as follows: Exergy destroyed D =
lost available energy "E = irreversibility Iirr = temperature
weighing factor T0 entropy generation rate S irr :
lost = Iirr = T0 S irr
D = "E = W

(2)

The amount of entropy generation rate is the quantitative measure of the quality level of energy transfer. An entropy generation
of zero corresponds to the highest quality of energy transfer (a reversible process). All real processes are characterized by entropy
generation rate greater than zero (i.e., irreversible processes).

minimum and maximum irreversibility S = S irr /Cmin envelope considering all possible flow arrangements of two fluids in
single-phase heat exchangers for a specific value of C = 1 and
Tc,i /Th,i = 0.5 [1]. Corresponding exchanger effectivenesses for
these two exchangers at NTU are 1 and 0.5, and S = 0
and 0.118, respectively. Note that a very small change in S has
a significant impact on the exchanger effectiveness.
Bejan [13] introduced the concept of irreversibility in heat exchanger design analyzing a counterflow heat exchanger. Baclic
and Sekulic [14] investigated the unmixed-unmixed crossflow
compact heat exchanger. Sekulic [15] conducted irreversibility
analysis for six single-pass exchangers. Shah and Skiepko [9]
systematically analyzed eighteen different flow arrangements
of two-fluid single-phase heat exchangers. They evaluated dS /
dNTU, d2 S /dNTU2 , and dP/dNTU for these eighteen flow arrangements from the known P-NTU formulas and categorized
eighteen exchangers in six different patterns of P-NTU behavior
based on the behavior of their entropy generation rates. The different behaviors of effectiveness-NTU curves as a function of R
or C* were thus clearly explained based on the thermodynamic
principles.
Exergy Analysis

Entropy Generation Rate for Heat Exchangers


The most important factors that generate entropy in a heat
exchanger are localized finite temperature differences between
two fluids, fluid mixing at a cross-section (of either hot or cold
fluid) within an exchanger or at the inlet/outlet headers, and fluid
friction (pressure drop). The equations to compute these entropy
generation rates S irr are given in Shah and Sekulic [1]. The most
important of these three irreversibilities is the one associated
with the localized finite temperature differences between two
fluids, the only one considered presently. Figure 2 shows the

In the preceding section, the insight and determination of


entropy generation rate S in a two-fluid single-phase heat exchanger were provided. Now, the heat exchanger analysis from
the exergy rate or Second Law viewpoint will be illustrated. The
exergy rate E for the jth fluid (j = 1 or 2 in a heat exchanger) at inlet or outlet (k = in or out) is given in terms of the corresponding
enthalpies and entropies, as follows [1]:
E j,k = m
j [(hj,k href ) Tref (sj,k sref )]

(3)

Consider a heat exchanger shown in Figure 3 with the hot and


cold fluid exergy rates (or exergies) flowing in and out of the exchanger along with other important variables of the exchanger.
Note that exergy does not obey a conservation principle because
it does not only include the properties of a thermodynamic system at an exchanger terminal port, but also the reference thermodynamic state as found in Eq. (3). As a result, exergy balance in a
heat exchanger can be presented in terms of exergy destruction,
as follows:
D = T0 S irr = "E h "E c

(4)

where
"E h = E h,i E h,o = m
h (hh,i hh,o ) T0 (sh,i sh,o ) (5)
"E c = E c,o E c,i = m
c (hc,o hc,i ) T0 (sc,o sc,i )

Figure 2
C = 1.

Entropy generation in parallelflow and counterflow exchangers with

heat transfer engineering

(6)

It should be emphasized that the exergy loss of the hot fluid


will always be higher than the exergy gain of the cold fluid. Note
that the exergy destruction D can be calculated for any exchanger
by computing S irr from Eq. (1) for that exchanger for the specified operating conditions when only the temperature difference
vol. 27 no. 5 2006

R. K. SHAH

Figure 3 Exergy flow rate through a heat exchanger.

irreversibility is considered. Of course, if one wants to include


other irreversibilities, Iirr is evaluated for other components, and
the relationship D = T0 S irr = Iirr of Eq. (2) in a dimensionless
form becomes:
!
!
!
!
!
D
Iirr !!
Iirr !!
Iirr !!
Iirr !!
Iirr !!
+ !
+ !
+ !
+ !
(7)
=
q
q!
q
q
q
q
"T

mixing

"p,h

leak

"p,c

Explicit expressions of each term of this equation are given by


Shah and Sekulic [1]. Note that Eq. (7) can also be presented in
terms of S irr by using the relationship of Eq. (2), Iirr = T0 S irr .
Heat exchangers are used in a variety of thermal systems, such
as heat pumps, air conditioners, vapor power systems (Rankin
and other cycle types), gas turbine power systems (e.g., Brayton
cycle), and the cryogenic air separation power plant. In some
systems, the heat transfer power by exchangers may be small,
such as in gas turbine power systems, and in others it may be
a major fraction, such as in a heat pump. A brief discussion on
the design philosophy and guidelines of the heat exchangers in
thermal systems is outlined next.
First, the concept of available energy or exergy for a heat
exchanger should be examined. Reviewing Eq. (3), we find that
the exergy for a fluid at any operating temperature is larger with
the operating temperature (which determines the enthalpy h)
being substantially higher compared to the reference or surrounding/sink temperature T0 in spite of the same exchanger
effectiveness. To illustrate this point, consider the following example of a terminal exchanger in a process system (Case 1) and

an isolated exchanger (Case 2) having identical heat capacity


rates, heat duty, and exchanger effectivenesses, though the inlet
and outlet temperatures are different and the exchanger of Case
2 operates at higher inlet and outlet temperatures [16]. In Table 1, the first nine columns represent input data and calculated
data based on the First Law analysis for this example; the values
in the last five columns are calculated based on the input values
in the preceding columns. The exchanger of Case 2 operates
at higher temperatures, and, as a result, the exergy of cold air
(which is substantially larger than the first case) can be used in
another system designed to capture this available energy; this
is an energy conservation idea. For this particular example, the
counterflow exchanger will have an NTU = 1.85, the parallel
flow exchanger will have NTU = , and the exchangers with
all other flow arrangements will have an NTU in between these
two values. In both cases of Table 1, the cost per unit NTU (e.g.,
for a counterflow exchanger) will be the same (the First Law
view), giving no clue for the design selection!
The above information may be translated in terms of a design
rule as follows [16]. For any exchanger in a thermal system, evaluate the mean temperature T as T = (Th,i + Th,o + Tc,i + Tc,o )/4.
To > 0 is large, the designer can specify a heat exchanger
If T
with a lower effectiveness, as its irreversibility (exergy loss) is
less compared to an identical heat exchanger when T T0 is
closer to zero. This situation means that a lower NTU heat exchanger will not adversely affect the overall performance of the
thermal system, based on either the First Law or Second Law.

Table 1 Impact of the Second Law Analysis: An example of a heat exchanger having identical heat transfer performances but operating at two different
temperature levels
Case

Ch
(kW/ C)

Ch
(kW/ C)

Th,i
( C)

Th,o
( C)

Tc,i
( C)

Tc,o
( C)

q
(kW)

"E h
(kW)

"E c
(kW)

S irr
(kW/ C)

D
(kW)

1
2

10
10

40
40

100
260

40
200

25
185

40
200

600
600

0.8
0.8

77.35
244.04

14.60
215.79

0.2104
0.0947

62.73
28.25

18.9
88.4

heat transfer engineering

vol. 27 no. 5 2006

10

R. K. SHAH

This conclusion is only available when one considers Second


Law implications, as outlined here. To further emphasize this
point, it is noted that the mean temperature difference for heat
transfer is larger in the boiler, and that for the condenser is much
smaller in the operation of a steam power plant. In fact, if one
reviews heat exchangers at various locations in such a power
plant, the mean temperature with the lowest value (closer to T0 )
is at the condenser. Thus, in this system, the boiler will have a
low NTU and the condenser a high NTU to minimize the exergy
losses [16].

When TT
0 approaches zero or assumes a negative value, the
heat exchanger designs for low temperature applications should
have a high NTU, resulting in a lower mean temperature difference for heat transfer and fewer irreversibilities (less exergy
loss). In a refrigeration system, one needs to have a larger NTU
in the evaporator compared to that of a condenser. In a cryogenic air separation plant (having T T0 negative), the same
conclusion results in large numbers of high NTU regenerative
heat exchangers in order to improve the plant efficiency for a
stated output.

Thermoeconomic Analysis
Important irreversibilities in the heat exchanger are given
by Eq. (7), although those by pressure drop and heat leakage
are generally very small. These irreversibilities have an energy
monetary value that is dependent on the system in which the
exchanger is being used. In a practical application of the heat
exchanger, the most expensive irreversibilities are reduced rather
than reducing all irreversibilities equally. Also when one irreversibility is reduced, it may increase or require the addition of
another, or involve an increase in capital investment. These considerations lead to the development of trade-off factors to arrive
at an optimum heat exchanger design. One of the first such analyses was published by London [17], as shown in Figure 4. Such
analysis is now referred to as thermoeconomic analysis [18].
When one or more exchangers are part of a thermal system,
the individual exchangers should first be designed based on the

Figure 4 Thermodynamic optimization of a heat exchanger, including the


development of trade-off factors [17].

heat transfer engineering

operating value of T T0 . Also, the ideal system design from


the irreversibility viewpoint would be to keep D/q the same and
as small as possible for each component (such as the individual
exchanger, compressor and turbine) of the system. However, the
correct approach is that the cost should be assigned to the total
irreversibility of each component (exchangers and others) of the
system. Once the costs of irreversibilities of various components
of a thermal system are determined, analysis can arrive at a costeffective thermal system by reducing the irreversibilities of those
components that have most costly irreversibilities.
BRAZING COMPACT HEAT EXCHANGERS
When two pieces of clean, oxide-free metal are brought
within four angstroms (4 1010 m), the inter-atomic attraction will bind them together in a permanent metallurgical joint.
This is the basis of brazing (wetting metal > 450 C) and soldering (wetting metal < 450 C). It is accomplished by wetting
the metals to be joined with a molten metal (filler metal for brazing and solder for soldering). The manufacturing technology of
choice for compact heat exchangers is brazing. This is because it
is the only cost-effective process that results in thousands of the
most perfect joints between the fins and the primary surfaces.
(see Shah [19] for other advantages and disadvantages).
A number of brazing techniques have been used over the
years. The oldest one is the so-called salt-deep brazing. Saltdip brazing of plate-fin type compact heat exchangers was jointly
developed by Alcoa and the Harrison Radiator division of General Motors (now Delphi Corporation) just before the Second
Word War, and they assisted the war effort by providing heat
exchangers for aircraft and other machines. Shah [19] has provided an early review of the fundamentals of brazing compact
heat exchangers and a summary of the state-of-the-art brazing
processes (dip, vacuum, and furnace brazing), including the art
of brazing aluminum and its alloys, stainless steels, and superalloys (e.g., Hastealloy X, Inconel 625, Inconel 718, and Haynes
188). The salt-dip brazing was eliminated almost worldwide in
the 1980s due to its environmental pollution.
The second most widely used early technology is vacuum
brazing. Vacuum brazing requires no flux (and hence no or minimal postbraze treatment), is environmentally a very clean process, and is used where entrapped fluxes cannot be tolerated, reactive metals are brazed, or filler metals require no background
atmosphere. It is not suitable for base metals and filler metals
having high vapor pressure or low boiling point constituents.
From cleaning, fixturing, and tolerances of joint clearances
points of view, vacuum brazing processes are less forgiving compared to controlled atmosphere brazing; also, the maintenance
of proper vacuum and the moisture dew point below 60 C in
the furnace are critical.
The third and most widely used brazing technology, particularly for automotive applications, is the controlled atmosphere
brazing (CAB). The best known variety of these processes is

R
the so-called NOCOLOK process. The CAB processes do not
vol. 27 no. 5 2006

R. K. SHAH

require high vacuum, as they are done at pressures slightly above


atmospheric pressure, but instead are executed in a neutral environment using commercial grade nitrogen with low water vapor
(lower than 40 C dew point) near the peak brazing temperature, and very low oxygen contents (lower than 50100 ppm).
If the purity of the furnace atmosphere is difficult to maintain,
such as due to high atmospheric humidity, brazing can be still
achieved to a certain degree by increasing the proper amount of
flux loading for CAB. However, this cannot be taken as a rule
of thumb, because an optimal flux density is constrained, and
an excess of flux has additional drawbacks. The CAB process is
commonly used for the brazing of automotive aluminum heat exchangers (radiators, evaporators, and condensers alike), though
vacuum brazing is also used (most often in batch operations).
Vacuum brazing is considered less convenient for mass pro
R
duction, and CAB brazing (in particular NOCOLOK for aluminum) is a more cost effective process. The brazing of plate-fin
exchangers of superalloys is done, as a rule, in a vacuum furnace without flux, and it may also be done in a dry protective
gas atmosphere (such as helium).
In order to obtain perfectly brazed joints from heat transfer
and mechanical integrity viewpoints, the following are important considerations: the careful design of the furnace, preparation of the heat exchanger core with proper filler materials and
fluxing for CAB, furnace atmospheric conditions, careful pretreatment (particularly degreasing), and a proper brazing cycle.
The following conditions are also needed for the perfect brazing of a core: the fin height should be uniform for all fins, the
fin crests/ridges should be perfectly straight in the fluid flow
direction, mating plates/tubes should be perfectly straight, and
the height of bars and fins in a bar-and-plate plate-fin exchanger
should be identical. Poor brazing will result due to braze voids,
poor fillets, partial joints, overbrazing, and non-identical rectangular holes in the header plates for inserting corresponding
rectangular tubes of plate-fin exchangers. Temperature nonuniformities (which are inevitable in any process) must be under
tight control for proper brazing operations.
For a perfectly brazed plate-fin exchanger, the braze-induced
surface roughness may increase the pressure drop with no significant change in heat transfer, while a poorly brazed joint
will have a more negative impact on heat transfer at high
Reynolds number compared to low Reynolds number flow rates
[20].
While brazing technologies have been well developed for automotive, aerospace, and other compact heat exchangers, new
challenges are being posed due to increasing compactness, thinner materials, applications for newer technologies, and cost pressures. Among these challenges, the ones most often encountered
involve the following issues:
Tight design requirements, imposed by the utilization of
highly augmented heat transfer surfaces
Miniaturization
High corrosion resistance requirements
High operating temperature and low weight constraints

heat transfer engineering

11

These demands control the selection of materials for brazing


in conjunction with advances in materials and process developments. For example, the mass production of compact aluminum heat exchangers in the automotive industry has shaped

R
controlled atmosphere brazing, in particular the NOCOLOK
process. New multilayered composite brazing sheets, characterized with sophisticated modifications of interface zones, have
been developed for better control of silicon diffusion, liquid
metal penetration along the grain boundaries, and/or mitigation
of erosion. Moreover, high temperature applications along with
highly corrosive fluids require (1) a need for brazing stainless
steel, titanium, and/or superalloys, and (2) the development of
filler metals characterized with the ability to feature a reduced
formation of intermetallics in the joint zone. So, the fine tuning
of the composition and/or state of the material/filler is always
required. The brazing of heat exchangers, characterized with a
combination of materials that are not necessarily compatible, is
most challenging. For example, novel exchanger designs may require, say, the brazing of more massive steel tubes to light copper
metal foam or a presence of both metal and ceramic mating surfaces. Such requirements need very specialized approaches and a
highly interdisciplinary R&D that merges material science and
various disciplines of mechanical engineering. Moreover, this
holds not only for exotic material combinations, but also for allsteel, titanium, or aluminum compact heat exchangers exposed
to demanding operating conditions and for corrosion-resistant,
highly compact or miniaturized designs.
A few important aspects of state-of-the-art brazing technologies for manufacturing compact plate-fin heat exchangers should
be discussed. Note that tube-fin exchangers are, as a rule, not
brazed, but instead are most often mechanically expanded. A
few of the most demanding and/or frequently used materials (titanium, stainless steel, and aluminum) used for heat exchangers
will de examined. Important material properties of these and
several other materials are summarized in Table 2.
Aluminum Brazing
Aluminum brazed heat exchangers have been extensively
used, particularly in the mass production of small-size automotive heat exchangers and for large units in process industry. An
all-aluminum heat exchanger may consist of a half-dozen different aluminum alloys. For example, a modern compact aluminum
exchanger brazed in a controlled atmosphere (say, nitrogen,
CAB) may have fin material made of a AA4343 (clad) /AA3003
(core) /AA4343 (clad) brazing sheet. This thin fin foil must sustain pronounced erosion, and AA4343 with 6.88.2%wt Si may
be just right. In contrast, the header usually has a complex geometry and needs to accommodate dozens of brazed joints at tube
slot locations. Hence, its material must be selected with an alloy
that has a larger content of Si to offer more fluidity and a better brazeability. That can be, say, a AA4045/AA3003/AA4045
brazing sheet; that is, a multiple layered/alloy composite sheet
material where AA4045 has 9.310.7%wt Si. Finally, for parts to
vol. 27 no. 5 2006

12

R. K. SHAH

Table 2 Material properties of some base metals

Material

Density
( 103 kg/m3 )

Specific
heat
(J/kgK, 0100 C)

Thermal
conductivity
(W/mK, 20 C)

Yield
strength
(MPa)

Tensile
strength
(MPa)

Coefficient
of thermal
expansion
(106 mm/mm K)

Melting
range
( C)

Comment

AA3003
Cu 99.9
HastelloyA
Inconel X
SS 304
SS316
SS446
Titanium

2.71
8.89
8.8
8.25
7.92
8.08
7.47
4.51

921
385
394
431448
502
502
502
582

169
391
17
12
16
16
21
17

69
69
303
690932
207
276
345
517

179
221
758
11001280
586
621
552
621

7.2
5.2
3.4
3.8
4.4
4.9
3.2
2.6

629652
1083
12991329
13931427
13991454
13711399
13991482
1691

Annealed
Annealed
Hot-rolled
Heat-treated
Annealed
Annealed
Annealed
Commercially pure

be brazed within very confined places (such as inside the tank),


a eutectic clad brazing sheet may be an optimal option (e.g.,
AA4047/AA3003/AA4047, with AA4047 having 1113% Si).
Brazing sheets may be double-clad or single-clad. Depending on
the application, multiple-clad brazing sheets may still have only
one-sided clad metal that will melt during brazing and serve as a
filler, while the other side may be clad with a different alloy (say,
one resistant to corrosion) that may not participate in the brazing process. Moreover, various mating surfaces of a core-tank
header or fittings parts may require different aluminum alloys
of, say, a 6xxx series and/or alloys containing different content
of Fe, Cu, Mn, Mg, Zn, and Ti (for example, for extruded tubes
with microchannels).
In Table 3, a selection of substrate aluminum alloys and
clad/filler materials is compiled. Regardless of the selection of
alloys, if CAB is utilized, a flux is mandatory (510 g/m2 ) to
clean the aluminum oxide layer on the brazing parts. Flux action disrupts the aluminum oxide layer and assists the wetting
and spreading of the liquid filler. In general, fluxes used for
brazing aluminum alloys involve alkali and alkaline earth chlorides and fluorides (a state-of-the-art flux most often used is
potassium fluoro aluminate compound). The dew point is lower
than 40 C, and low oxygen content in the background atmosphere (less than 100 ppm of O2 ) is needed for optimal process
execution.

Due to the fact that the liquidus temperature of the filler metal
is close to the solidus temperature of core aluminum alloys for
other metals, the control of the peak brazing temperature must be
very tightly controlled. The relatively small margin between the
brazing temperature level and the core melting point and the inherent nonuniformity of the heat exchanger unit during brazing
leads to a trade-off between the optimal brazeability and operating conditions for brazing. Aluminum alloy brazing sheets
are used for the brazing of aluminum compact plate-fin heat exchangers. Filler metal constitutes a clad layer (single or double
clad) with the clad ratio (filler layer thickness versus sheet gauge)
in a range between 5% and 15% in most cases. The core metal in
brazing sheets is often AA3003 with the clad selection dependent on the process (inert atmosphere or vacuum) and required
fluidity of the molten phase (i.e., the Si content closer to the
eutectic concentration if a more pronounced flow is required).
An imposed drawback manifested in particular for using higher
Si-content alloys is the Si diffusion-controlled phenomena (like
erosion), which decreases the mechanical properties of the core;
this hampers the available amount of filler needed to flow into
the joints.
If a design of the heat exchanger requires the use of dissimilar metals, like copper and steel, the most traditional approach would be electroplating. Electroplating resolves possible incompatibilities of dissimilar metals versus wettability and

Table 3 Some important brazing information for aluminum alloys


Aluminum
Alloy

Melting
range
( C)

Brazing
range
( C)

AA1350
AA1100
AA3003
AA6061
AA6063
AA4343
AA4045
AA4047
AA4004

646657
643657
643654
616652
616652
577S613L
577S591L
577L582L
559S596L

593615
593615
593615
565588
578599
599621
588604
582604
588604

Brazeability

Si content
(%wt)

Mg
content
(%wt)

Comment

Excellent
Excellent
Excellent
Good
Excellent
Filler
Filler
Filler
Filler

0.1
0.95
0.6 max
0.400.80
0.20.6
6.88.2
9.011.0
11.013.0
9.011.0

0.81.2
0.450.9

0.05
0.10
1.02.0

Not heat-treatable
Not heat-treatable
Not heat-treatable
Heat treatable
Heat treatable
CAB
CAB
CAB
Vacuum

Adapted from [21, 22].

heat transfer engineering

vol. 27 no. 5 2006

R. K. SHAH

Figure 5 Schematic of temperature histories during brazing for (a) CAB and
vacuum aluminum, and (b) vacuum SS heat exchanger cores brazing. Time axes
not to scale.

joint formation and allows the spreading of molten filler and the
subsequent solidification into a sound joint. Alternately, coating
with tin and brazing with aluminum filler can be used. Titanium
can be brazed to aluminum if the pre-coating of silver-aluminum
or zinc-aluminum is performed. Pre-coating with aluminum assists the brazing of Monel.
In Figure 5a, a schematic of the temperature-time history
for aluminum brazing is shown for, say, a typical 75 micron(0.003 in.) thick fins to be brazed to the plate/tube of a plate-fin
exchanger. As shown, the time required for vacuum brazing is
longer compared to that for the controlled atmosphere brazing
(CAB) because of the process inertia involving the vacuum level
to be achieved. Because of the longer brazing time required
(reduced productivity), the cost of generating high vacuum, and
the associated high cost of brazing furnace, vacuum brazing is
used only in limited applications where surface conditions (say,
appearance) are of importance, or, more importantly, when the
selection of materials and uniformity of temperature conditions
are demanding.
In Figure 5b, the temperature-time history for the brazing of
the stainless steel heat exchanger core structure is shown. This
is a more complex temperature-time history than that for aluminum brazing. To optimize the brazing process, for example,
and mitigate the conditions for forming brittle eutectic interheat transfer engineering

13

metallic phases upon solidification, the short brazing dwell may


not be appropriate. The time scale may significantly differ from
one process to another, from tens of minutes to many hours (to
eliminate confusion, the time scale is not marked explicitly, but
the characteristic dwells are marked). A typical brazing may involve 250 micron-thick plate and 75 micron-thick fin foil with a
filler metal foil (say, an amorphous metal) less than 40 microns
in thickness. It is worth mentioning that the mating surfaces
of SS-brazed parts may stay clean and bright after brazing, as
opposed to the quite modified surface appearance in aluminum
CAB brazing.
For material processing during brazing, fast processing is
good as far as characteristics of the joints are concerned (good
mechanical integrity, little liquid metal penetration, and reduced
erosion). However, temperature nonuniformities and dissimilar
material presence may impose additional constraints on the processing sequence. Brazing heat exchanger structures in a vacuum has, as a rule, longer processing times due to (1) processing
conditions imposed by equipment characteristics, and (2) the dynamics of the establishment of a vacuum resulting from system
inertia and the process requirements of materials selection versus temperature-time history.
Figure 6 illustrates some of the problems encountered during the brazing of compact heat exchangers. A series of fin-tube
joints (multilouver fins and either extruded tube with microchannels or flat tube designs) is formed by controlled atmosphere
brazing (Figure 5a, CAB). Temperature nonuniformity of the
heat exchanger core while exposed to transient radiation heating in a continuous brazing furnace leads to either prolonged
or insufficient brazing time and a lower or higher peak brazing
temperature at a given location. The mating surfaces composition and Si concentration in the filler may lead to problems with
molten metal spreading, erosion and liquid-phase penetration

Figure 6 A series of fin-tube joints (two upper rows: double clad AA4343
on AA3003 core fin foil bonded to an Al non-clad extruded substrate). Note the
absence of a joint due to excessive gap (top left), and a series of pathological joints
formed due to insufficient clad and pronounced erosion during CAB brazing.
The bottom row illustrates ideally formed joints. (In this case, the clad was on
the tube side.)

vol. 27 no. 5 2006

14

R. K. SHAH

into the core and thermal dilatation problems. These problems


can never be fully eliminated, but fine-tuning the process (versus materials selection and design) would lead to manufacturing optimization, and the efforts to establish deterministic links
between process parameters and joint formation offer a much
better understanding of the design versus manufacturing issues
[23, 24]. However, the manufacturing of modern compact heat
exchangers and related materials processing is still to a large
extent an engineering art and represents a challenge for further
research.
Stainless Steel and Superalloy Brazing
A variety of chromium-containing, iron-based alloys and
stainless steels have been used for heat exchangers in applications with high-operating temperatures and for handling corrosive fluids. The brazing of such structures is routinely done, but
a much tighter process control must be exercised. Temperature
nonuniformity during material processing in a brazing process
is often to be blamed for the poor brazeability of mating surfaces. Even high-conducting material heat exchangers (such as
those made of aluminum alloys) feature pronounced temperature
nonuniformity when exposed to a continuous mass-production
brazing cycle. These nonuniformities lead to problems in achieving a required temperature margin at the peak brazing temperature. In any case, the presence of temperature nonuniformities
must be reduced. This demand usually leads to the significant
involvement of energy resources during processing. However,
the brazing of a structure made of a material that has a significantly lower thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity, especially when such brazing must be accomplished at significantly
higher temperatures, imposes daunting tasks on the related engineering art. For example, SS 300 series materials feature both
relatively high thermal expansion and low thermal conductivity
(see Table 2). Thus, brazing a heat exchanger core with an inherently complex structureparticularly if dissimilar materials
are present, such as copper for multilouver fins and aluminum
in the form of metal sponges with open cellsbecomes challenging due to the trade-offs between opposing influences of
imposed brazing conditions such as temperature-time history
(i.e., heating ramp-up and cooldown rates) and/or dwell at the
peak. This promotes a need for special fixtures, thermal shielding, and complex heating cycles. Low carbon steels of the 400
series may require special filler metals to prevent possible interfacial corrosion, particularly if silver is present in the filler. In
such cases, higher temperatures for brazing would be needed,
and an addition of nickel may be justified. Heat exchanger structures may require special fixturing (if parts are designed without
the self-fixturing features). An adjustment to the brazing cycle
with respect to a required heat treatment for martensitic (brazing temperatures high enough to allow austenization), stainless
steels may become an additional concern [25].
The selection of filler metals depends mostly on the service
temperature of the heat exchanger. For lower service temperaheat transfer engineering

tures (i.e., below 500 C), silver/copper-based fillers are used if


the corrosion resistance is not demanding. For example, an alloy
45Ag-15Cu-15Zn-24Cd is used for service temperatures up to
200 C and 54Ag-40Cu-5Zn-1Ni for service temperatures of up
to 430 C. For intermediate temperatures, brazing with silver/
copper/manganese filler metals is customary. For high temperature service (above 530 C), nickel-, cobalt- and palladium-based
fillers are in use. Many filler metals involving nickel/chromium,
boron, gold, and palladium can be used and are often shaped as
pre-forms (such as foils and wires) or are in the form of a paste
(e.g., an atomized powder suspended in a polymer binder).
The brazing process involving SS is always performed under
a controlled atmosphere, particularly in a high vacuum (<1.5
103 Pa or <105 Torr) and especially if aluminum and titanium
are present in the alloy. Alternately, dry hydrogen, argon, or helium may be used. Temperature control at the peak brazing temperature should be very tight (lower than 10 C). Nickel plating
may be useful before brazing to prevent any formation of oxides,
and an appearance of embrittlement and base metal erosion. The
thickness of the plating must be between five and fifty microns
to dissolve into the filler at the peak brazing temperature.
One prominent, state-of-the-art approach to a variety of brazing solutions, successfully used so far for compact heat exchanger structures made of stainless steels, may involve the utilization of amorphous metal foils. These materials are made of
Ni-Cr-B-Si alloys [26]. This family of filler metals is produced
by a rapid solidification technology, leads to a ductile amorphous
alloy, and are available only as powder/paste [27]. This family
of materials may be used for the brazing of either 300 or 400
stainless steel plate-fin or plate heat exchangers, or for both Cobased and Ni-based superalloy materials, such as Inconel (refer
to Figure 7).
Titanium Brazing
Titanium heat exchangers provide a distinct advantage over
stainless steel- and nickel-based alloy units due to their great
strength, light weight, high fatigue and corrosion resistance, and
strength-to-density ratio. Three families of titanium alloys are
considered for brazing operations: alloys, alloys, and /
alloys. In addition, commercially pure Ti of different grades
may be used. The alloys, such as Ti-08Ni-0.3Mo, contain a
high percentage of phase and are not heat-treated to increase
strength; these are used for moderate temperatures. The alloys,

Figure 7 Mating surfaces: SS 436 (plate-fin joint). Filler: Cr - 7.0; Fe - 3.0;


Si - 4.5; Cmax - 0.06; B - 3.2; Balance, Ni. Brazing temperature approximately
1005 C [27].

vol. 27 no. 5 2006

R. K. SHAH

15

Table 4 Filler metals for Ti brazing

Filler metal type

Composition

Brazing
temperature
( C)

Aluminum-based

Al-7.5Si
Al-1Mn
Al-1Mn-0.6Si-07.Fe
Ag-5Al
Ag-28Cu
Ag-23Cu-5Ti
Ag-5Al-5Ti
Ag-25Cu-25In
Ti-15Cu-15Ni
Ti-15Cu-25Ni
Ti-20Zr-20Cu-20Ni
Ti-26Zr-14Cu-14Ni-0.5Mo
Ti-37.5Zr-15Cu-10Ni
Pd-40Au-30Cu
Pd-60Cu-10Co
Pd-60Cu-10Ni

560600
660690
660670
920980
850900
680
920940
680
9801050
930950
900920
890920
850880
1100
1100
1100

Silver-based

Titanium- and zirconium-based

Palladium-based

Advantages and disadvantages


Low brazing temperature, decreased weight, poor fatigue
property, intermetallic formation, poor corrosion resistance
Low/medium brazing temperature, good ductility of joints, high
strength at room temperature, poor strength at
high temperature, poor corrosion resistance

High strength at room temperature, good strength at high temperature, good


corrosion resistance, high to medium brazing temperature

High strength at high temperature, high brazing temperature

Adapted and modified from [28].

such as Ti-13V-11Cr-3A1, contain a high percentage of phase


stabilizing elements and are excellent for forming processes. The
/ alloys are the mixtures of both phases (Ti-6Al-4V) and have
excellent strength-to-density ratios in heat-treated conditions.
The filler metals for titanium brazing (see Table 4) include Agbased alloys (Ag-28Cu, Ag-5Al, Ag-5Al-5Ti), Al-based alloys
(Al-7.5Si, Al-1Mn, AA3003), and Ti- and Zr-based alloys with
Cu, Ni, Mn, Be, Pd, and Nb (Pd-40Au-30Cu, Ti-15Cu-15Ni, Ti25Zr-50Cu, etc.) [28]. The advantages of titanium alloys may
override the designers reluctance to use them due to their distinctly lower thermal conductivity (see Table 2). For example,
a reduction in the mass of a heat exchanger may be up to 50%
compared to copper or stainless steel designs for operating temperatures of up to 600 C. Consequently, titanium is frequently
used in heat exchangers, where both light weight and high corrosion resistance are strict requirements, such as in aerospace
and/or naval applications.
Mechanical properties versus temperature are greatly influenced by the filler metal used. Filler metals used for brazing of
titanium alloys, as indicated above, may include pure silver and
silver alloys (such as 92.5Ag-7.5Cu, 95Ag-5Al, Ag-5Al-0.5Mn,
71.7Ag-28Cu-0.3Li, 92.5Ag-7.3Cu-0.2Li) for good strength up
to 400 C. Brazing may be conducted within the range of temperatures between 800900 C. In Figure 8, a joint formed using
silver copper alloy is presented (note the very dense, re-solidified
filler as a consequence of good wetting). Brazing with aluminum
and aluminum alloys can be executed at 650690 C, but these
filler metals provide good strength only up to 300 C. The brazing
of titanium alloys with 48Ti-48Zr-4Be or 43Ti-43Zr-12Ni-2Be
at temperatures between 8001095 C leads to a high strength at
elevated temperatures (greater than 500 C) and good corrosion
resistance. Filler metals with palladium (such as 81Pd-14.3Ag4.6Si) at temperatures in the range of 880920 C in high purity
argon or a vacuum feature good strength and corrosion resisheat transfer engineering

tance. For a detailed selection of traditional brazing filler metals,


refer to the Brazing Handbook [25].
Filler metal may be deposited in the form of a powder material or prepared as a paste. For example, for the filler metal
37.5Ti-37.5Zr-15Cu-10Ni (with a eutectic at 841 C), if brazing
is accomplished at 880 C with a dwell of sixty minutes in a high
vacuum (lower than 105 Torr) or argon, a joint may form with
a shear strength higher than 300MPa. In addition, no rusting
can be noticed, and no change in weight happens after dipping
in HCl, NaClO, NaCl, or NH3 . Such performance is more than
sufficient to lead to a successful design of an all-Ti plate heat exchanger (see, for example, [30]). It should be noted that in order
to show a good fluidity at the peak brazing temperature, such
filler metals may require alloying by using the gas atomization
instead of a mechanical process [31].

Figure 8 21S-Ti substrate (Ti-14Mo-2.4Nb-2.5Al) brazed to a 99.8 Ti (Grade


1 -Ti) fin foil of 0.125 mm at 800 C for 15 min using 92.5Ag-7.3Cu-0.2Li
[31].

vol. 27 no. 5 2006

16

R. K. SHAH

As for any other mating surface combination during brazing,


a pre-treatment (particularly a cleaning) of titanium is mandatory
before brazing. This can be accomplished using nonchlorinated
solvents and/or hydrofluoric and nitric acid solutions and rinsing
in deionized water.
Titanium heat exchangers must be brazed in a high purity
inert gas (argon or helium, for example) or a high vacuum
(lower than 1.333 102 Pa = 104 Torr) to avoid embrittlement within the joint zone. Embrittlement would otherwise
result in conjunction with the tendency of titanium alloys for
rapid reaction with oxygen and an increase of the joint area
hardness. The background atmosphere dew point during manufacturing must be lower than 50 C.
Brazing titanium alloys is constrained by the changes in the
structure occurring above the transition (alpha-beta transus), as many Ti-based phases and intermetalics are brittle and
may affect the integrity of the joints [28]. One of the issues the
engineers may face in dealing with this problem is a need to
establish a desirable brazing temperature below the transus
(say, below 1070K or 800 C), but such filler metals still do not
exist, and further research must be conducted.
Inconel Brazing

CHEs for Fuel Cell Applications


Heat exchangers play an important and critical role in fuel
cell systems by reforming and preheating the fuel and oxidant to
the cell/stack operating temperature, humidifying the incoming
fuel and oxidant streams, recovering water and energy, cooling
the fuel cell stack and incoming high pressure air and reformed
hydrogen, and controling the thermal management of the fuel
cell systems. Various fuel cells being developed are described in
detail in various textbooks, such as that by Larminie and Dicks
[34], and CHEs required in fuel cell systems are described by
Shah [35] in detail. Because the cost of the balance of power
plants associated with fuel cell power generation represents more
than 70% of the total power plant cost for stationary and mobile
power generation, the lowest cost of heat exchangers becomes a
very important criterion. This means low cost heat exchangers,
such as those used in automobile applications or prime surface
heat exchangers, become very crucial. For high-temperature heat
exchangers, such as those used in solid oxide fuel cells, hightemperature stainless steel and superalloys are used as materials
of construction, and plate-fin type exchangers are generally used
to minimize the size and cost associated with the material.
Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC)

Complex superalloys such as Inconel 625 have been used


for years for compact heat exchangers. The traditional brazing
of heat-resistant superalloys involves a hydrogen-controlled
atmosphere and high vacuum [32]. Recently, the applications
involving fuel cells have been promoted, but comprehensive
reviews of the mechanical and thermal integrity of brazed joints
involving Ni-, Co-, and Cr-based superalloys are not widely
available. As an example of brazing heat exchanger structures,
Inconel 625 brazing using Ni-15Cr-7.3Si-1.4B amorphous foil
filler metals deserve attention [33]. Researchers might also use
powdered paste filler metal such as Ni-based BNi-2 and BNi-5,
which also contain chromium, boron (for BNi-2 only), and silicon as primary alloying elements, but the integrity of the joints
may be compromised by the presence of voids. The heating cycle
requires a peak brazing temperature at 1430K and a long dwell of
up to 90 min with multiple heating and stages and a high vacuum.
Numerous problems involving large part sizes and complex 3D
structures may be expected due to high thermal stresses.

For power generation in the range of 200 W2 kW, the cells


and stacks are cooled by air that is different from the cathode
air supply for the fuel cell. Cooling passages are sandwiched
between individual fuel cells. Note that the complete fuel cell
may not be cooled uniformly due to temperature nonuniformity
associated with long airflow lengths, even if there is flow uniformity in the cooling passages. For power generation larger
than about 10 kW, the stack is cooled by liquid due to high
heat transfer coefficients and low volume flow rates due to high
mass density, resulting in the compact and efficient cooling of
the stack. For fuel cells with 210 kW, the air or liquid cooling
system is decided based on the PEMFC construction and other
system design considerations. Other heat exchangers include a
cooler/humidifier to cool the compressed air coming to the fuel
cell at the desired temperature and a condenser to condense water out of cathode exhaust gas supplied at the cathode inlet for
membrane humidification.

COMPACT HEAT EXCHANGER APPLICATIONS FOR


FUEL CELL SYSTEMS AND MICROTURBINES

Natural gas and other fossil fuel reformation will require as a


minimum the following exchangers: a fuel preheater, a preheater
before the fuel goes to a steam reformer, an anode exhaust gas
heater before going to a steam reformer, heat exchangers between shift reactors for cooling the fuel going to the fuel cell,
and a heat exchanger to bring the fuel temperature down to the
desired value for inlet to the fuel cell.

Compact heat exchangers are commonly used in the automotive, aerospace, gas turbine, and cryogenics industries, as well
as in power generation, air conditioning, refrigeration, process
industries, and some heat recovery and process applications. Recently, newer applications of CHEs have been used in fuel cell
and microturbine systems. Here, only exchangers for recent applications will be summarized, as others are well documented
in the literature (see the list of references in [1]).
heat transfer engineering

Fuel Reforming for PEMFC and PAFC

Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells (MCFC)


The MCFC requires many heat exchangers, depending on the
system configuration, including a natural gas humidifier and a
vol. 27 no. 5 2006

R. K. SHAH

heat recovery unit (HRU) MCFC operates at 600650 C. The


HRU could have several heat exchangers, depending on the system design, cost, and other considerations. All but one of the
exchangers are gas-to-gas heat exchangers, with one of them being a gas-to-phase change exchanger for when the humidifying
water becomes steam. These exchangers are usually a compact
plate-fin type, with aluminum for low-temperature heat exchangers and stainless steel and other materials for high-temperature
heat exchangers. Because the corrosive electrolyte can leach
over a time period from the cathode or anode side, this corrosive
effluent in the gas stream can also corrode the heat exchangers.
Hence, the choice of the material may become important for
high-temperature heat exchangers.

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC)


Like the MCFC, the SOFC system is a high-temperature fuel
cell system; hence, all heat exchangers mentioned for the MCFC
system are also required for the SOFC system. The main difference is that the operating temperatures are considerably high but
have no leaching of corrosive electrolyte as the electrolyte is in
a solid form. Coupling waste heat recovery with the fuel cell, it
requires several heat exchangers: the fuel (natural gas) preheater,
compressed air preheater (recuperator), waste heat recovery exchanger, and possibly a condenser in the exhaust stream going
to the atmosphere. If used with a steam turbine combined cycle,
it requires a boiler and condenser but not a recuperator.
Fuel cell applications require many heat exchangers with different operating conditions. Most of these exchangers are gasto-gas heat exchangers; the exceptions are heat exchangers used
for preheating fuel and water (steam) for internal or external fuel
reforming, or when one needs to extract water from the exhaust
cathode stream for humidifying the membrane. The important
characteristics of these exchangers are as follows:
As the fuel cell systems operate at relatively low pressures,
either at slightly above atmospheric or 24 atm pressure, there
is no serious design concern from the stress viewpoint for a
heat exchanger unless high temperatures are also apparent.
The exchanger design may or may not need to meet codes
and standards depending on the physical size and operating
pressures.
For low-temperature fuel cells (e.g., PEMFC), the major design challenge is how to minimize the size of the heat exchanger for a low inlet temperature difference between hot
and cold fluids.
For high-temperature fuel cells with internal fuel (natural gas)
reforming or low-temperature fuel cells with external fuel reforming, high-temperature gas streams are the end products.
Heat from these gas streams needs to be recovered for additional power generation or for a CHP system with improved
efficiency and a reduced cost for the power plant. Such systems incorporate heat exchangers. If the temperature difference between inlet hot and cold fluid streams is considerably large, the thermal stresses during the startup, shutdown,

heat transfer engineering

17

and load fluctuations can be significant and impact the reliability and desired long service life of the exchanger. Also,
the design with such heat exchangers must take care of thermal fatigue by eliminating hot spots in the inlet/outlet sections of the heat exchangers, depending on the exchanger flow
arrangement.
For high-temperature fuel cells, there is a need to reduce
the heat capacitance (thermal mass) of heat exchangers for
shorter startup time.
The potential corrosion problem in heat exchangers due to
the flow of the cathode/anode exhaust gas with contaminants
from the membrane/electrolyte should be addressed upfront
at the design consideration, such as through the leaching of
sulfonic ions from a PEMFC membrane, phosphoric acid (the
electrolyte) contained in the matrix of a PAFC membrane, or
molten carbonate (the electrolyte) in an MCFC.
Heat exchangers used for the common fuel cell systems
(PEMFC, PAFC, MCFC, and SOFC) are plate-fin type (using
offset strip, louver, wavy, or plain fins) or prime surface-type
constructions for high performance at optimum cost. The selection of material for fuel cell heat exchangers depends on
the highest inlet temperature, operating temperatures, flowing
fluids, thermal stresses, thermal cycling, and design life during
the operationand, of course, the cost. For inlet temperatures
up to about 250 C, aluminum is the choice if acceptable for
the service. For higher temperatures, stainless steels are used.
Superalloys such as Inconel 625 (inlet temperature of 800 C),
Haynes 230 (inlet temperature of 850 C), Inconel 617 (inlet
temperature of 850900 C), and Haynes 214 (inlet temperature of 900 C and above) are likely candidates for higher
temperature applications, but they are very expensive, about
three to five times the cost of stainless steel.
For medium and high temperature applications of PAFC,
MCFC, and SOFC, the major design challenges are the selection of cost-effective materials of construction as well as
corrosion and durability issues.
Heat exchanger technology is a mature technology. The experience and technology exist today for heat exchangers required for fuel cell applications. While heat exchangers should
have high performance and be compact but cost effective, they
should also have a minimum pressure drop on each fluid side,
as that represents a parasitic loss to the fuel cell system. Other
major design issues are packaging (for automotive applications), initial cost, durability, and reliability.
There is a need for developing accurate analytical/computational models to predict the thermal-hydraulic performance
accounting for complex phenomena such as wet heat transfer,
combined heat and mass transfer, and flow maldistribution
unique to individual fuel cell heat exchangers.
The heat exchanger design, surface geometries, and durability
issues are reasonably well known from past experience with
low-temperature applications.
For cogeneration applications, there are many heat exchangers
in a fuel cell system, and pinch analysis should be conducted
to determine a cost-effective system [36].
vol. 27 no. 5 2006

18

R. K. SHAH

CHEs for Microturbine Applications


In the distributed power generation market, the most economical solution available is to generate power through small
gas turbine systems, arbitrarily categorized as microturbines (5
200 kW) and miniturbines (200500 kW). The thermal efficiency of such microturbines is about 20% without a recuperator
and about 30% with the recuperator, thus having about a 50%
(i.e., substantial) performance improvement with a recuperator.
The cost of the recuperator is about 2530% of the total power
plant, thus requiring high performance with minimum cost.
While the offset strip fin geometry is one of the highest performing surfaces, compared to multilouver fins, it is also expensive
to manufacture due to the slow manufacturing process involving
reciprocating dies and the need for brazing. The requirement of
the least expensive exchanger necessitates the use of all prime
surface heat exchangers with no brazing. With this challenge,
heat transfer engineers have come up with innovative highperformance prime surfaces or one-shot manufacturing processes for a brazed core to minimize the manufacturing cost [37].
Because the cost of a recuperator is high (about 2530% of
the recuperated gas turbine system [38]), the recuperator must
have a high performance with a minimum cost. McDonald [38]
summarizes the following important parameters for recuperator
design: a primary surface; a minimum number of parts; near
100% utilization of material; a welded construction to seal the
side edges; an automated, high-volume manufacturing process;
a compact, light-weight heat exchanger; a matrix fabricable in
an annular or box type construction; and ease of installation,
removal, and replacement of the matrix. The most important
of all criteria is the low cost, though the other criteria must
also be complied with. The desired performance requirements
for microturbine recuperators are summarized by Muley and
Sunden [39] as follows:
High exchanger effectiveness 90% (a counterflow arrangement) and low total pressure drop "p/p < 5%, with the
core pressure drop of about 3% and the remaining in manifolds
and piping.
High-operating temperatures and fluid pressures (about 675C
and 4 bar), and steep temperature transients during startup and
shutdowns.
Desired 40,000 hour operation life without any maintenance
for stationary power generation applications. This would
translate in good thermal shock, corrosion, oxidation, and
creep resistance, and low thermal expansion.
A compact (i.e., having small hydraulic diameter surfaces)
and lightweight matrix with integral manifolds (having low
pressure drop and uniform flow distribution), and a massproducible, low-cost design.

The aforementioned requirements (cost, performance, and


durability) translate into a thin foil primary surface recuperator (i.e, the same surface on both fluid sides), with stamping,
folding, and welding side edges by an automated operation to
heat transfer engineering

Figure 9 Annular primary surface stainless steel recuperator from Solar Turbines, Inc. [40].

form flow passages on the air side. There is no brazing (a costly


manufacturing process) in such recuperators for microturbine
applications.
US companies, Solar Turbines, Caterpiller, and Capstone
Turbine Corporation have manufactured several thousand annular recuperators, as shown in Figure 9 [40] with individual
cells having an involute form. The recuperator is about 45.7 cm
in diameter and has 169 air cells, and each air cell is fabricated
by welding individual fin-folded 347 stainless steel having a
0.100 mm initial thickness. These units are for 30 and 60 kW
microturbines, fully welded to seal sides and form flow passages, and have undergone extensive testing and thermal cycling
(thus proving the durability and reliability). The control system of microturbines limits the turbine speed of 60,000 rpm. At
45,000 rpm, the maximum inlet temperature to the recuperator is
843 C.
Rekuperator Svenska AB of Sweden [41] has developed a
primary surface recuperator having thin corrugated austenitic
stainless steel plates; two such plates are laser welded around
the perimeter of two opposite sides to make a flow passage for air
flow. Such a plate assembly has two crossflow zones in the ends
with a counterflow section in between, as shown in Figure 10.
The triangular crossflow sections provide uniform flow leading
to the counterflow section. The corrugation height is lower in
the crossflow zone for easy airflow entry/exit through the gap
produced in the airflow passage. The air cells are stacked and
connected to make the recuperator core. A finished recuperator
with the core, manifolds, end beams, and tie bars is shown in
Figure 10a, and a typical corrugated plate is shown in Figure
10b. The minimum design effectiveness is 89%, and the maximum total "p/p is 4.5%. The manufacturing cost is minimized
by stamping technology for air cells and robotized high-speed
laser welding for assembling the air cells. A 100 kW unit has
been designed and developed for combined electricity and cogeneration.
Muley and Sunden [39] describe a prime surface counterflow
(with crossflow headers) recuperator developed by Honeywell
vol. 27 no. 5 2006

R. K. SHAH

Figure 10
[41].

(a) Primary surface recuperator; (b) A typical air passage geometry

Corporation. The construction features are shown in Figure 11.


The plates have corrugations in the heat transfer region and inlet
and outlet manifolds, all made in a single die operation. These
plates are welded at the periphery to form alternate gas and air
flow passages. Such plates are stacked, with thick end plates at
both ends of the stack and tied together with tie rods.

19

Figure 12 Plate-type prime surface recuperator surfaces: (a) cross corrugated


(CC) surface, (b) corrugated undulated (CU) surface, and (c) cross wavy (CW)
surface [44].

Many innovations have taken place in the recent years to arrive at high-performance, cost-effective prime surfaces for the
microturbine applications. McDonald [42] briefly describes the
stamped and folded heat transfer surface, as shown in Figure 12a
and referred to as herringbone corrugations or cross-corrugated
(CC) surface. The other recent surfaces are cross-undulated
(CU) surface and cross-wavy (CW) surface (see Figure 12). Historical developments of these surfaces have also been summarized by Utriainen and Sunden [43]; refer to Shah [37] for other
developments in heat exchangers for microturbine applications.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Figure 11 (a) Honeywell prime surface recuperator; (b) Details of the core
construction [39].

heat transfer engineering

A state-of-the-art review on the development and advancement in compact heat exchanger science and technology is covered for two-fluid, single-phase applications. As one would expect, significant advances have taken place in the last 25 years for
single-phase compact heat exchangers. A very brief summary
of major points is as follows:
vol. 27 no. 5 2006

20

R. K. SHAH

Effectiveness-NTU results can be obtained for any conceivable complex flow arrangements of two-fluid heat exchangers
using the chain rule methodology.
With the advancement in understanding and analysis capabilities, heat transfer and pressure drop analyses of two-fluid
CHEs can be done accurately with many real effects taken
into account using the theory and numerical analyses for many
CHE applications. CFD analysis is now routine in the industry for fluid flow through headers and manifolds to streamline
their geometries and ensure the most uniform flow possible
through the exchanger core.
Sophisticated computer codes are available for the design and
analysis of two-fluid and multifluid CHEs by taking into account many real effects.
Many new compact heat exchanger surfaces have been invented over the last 25 years for higher heat transfer performance, lower pressure drop/pumping power, low core weight,
and low-cost manufacturing. Multilouver fin geometry is most
common in auto industry heat exchangers, and offset strip fin
geometry is common for aerospace and industrial heat exchanger applications.
While Nu or j and f data have been obtained by many industries
for their applications, they are proprietary, a serious hurdle for
those who do not have an access to such data for most advanced
heat exchanger surfaces.
Thermodynamic modeling and analysis are being conducted
for the maximum utilization of available energy in some systems where compact heat exchangers are used. Our understanding of the thermoeconomic analysis of heat exchangers
has increased to the extent that it is common in academia and
some industries for the utilization of best heat transfer surfaces
for the application on hand.
Significant advances have taken place in brazing technology
for plate-fin and other compact heat exchangers to improve
brazeability, obtain almost perfect joints, and braze superalloys and new materials of constructions. It is now possible to
braze many more specialized and high-temperature materials,
something not possible just 1015 years ago.
Special coatings on metals have pushed the use of metal heat
exchangers over 1000 C in some applications. It will still be
some time before the use of ceramics in compact heat exchangers for high-temperature applications becomes reliable,
durable, and cost effective.
Newer applications of CHEs continue with the technology
advancement in energy recovery, conversion, utilization, and
conservation. Recent examples include microturbines and fuel
cell systems.

CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES


For single-phase compact heat exchangers, the impetus on
further advancement will be on several fronts: CFD technology
and computer capacity will advance to the stage that we will be
heat transfer engineering

able to conduct a full 3D analysis of flows and heat transfer in


highly complex exchanger surfaces, thus minimizing or eliminating the need for experimental Nu or j and f factor versus Re
characteristics of heat transfer surfaces. The role of CFD will increase to the extent (with substantially less cost) that the accurate
design of the complete exchanger (inlet/outlet flow distribution
devices and the core) will be feasible.
As the manufacturing technology advances, there will be
highly compact smooth continuous passage geometries to obtain
ultra-high heat transfer performance for design pressure drop.
Of course, such surfaces will require non-fouling heat transfer
fluids.
New concepts in fluid flow and surface geometries will be developed, and the understanding in the basic flow and heat transfer
phenomena will increase such that we will be able to increase
the Nu or j factor considerably more than current levels compared to friction factors, thus developing ultra-high performance
surfaces.
The thermodynamic analysis will become routine in the analysis of energy and other systems to optimize the available energy
in the systems and subsystems.
Significant advances will take place to make it a science
in brazing technology for plate-fin and other compact heat exchangers. Also, many more metals and non-metals will become
brazeable.
The use of ceramics in compact heat exchangers for high
temperature applications will become a reality with durability
and cost effectiveness.
Of course, the newer applications of CHEs will emerge with
a greater emphasis on the use of renewable energies, with an
aim at reducing environmental pollution and global warming,
and other applications such as space technology, deep sea technology, nanotechnology, MEMS, and others.
Significant advances will take place with phase-change applications of CHEs to obtain ultra-high performance, though this
is beyond the scope of this paper. The CHE world is going to be
challenging and exciting for a long time.

NOMENCLATURE
A

total heat transfer surface area (both primary and secondary, if applicable) on one fluid side of a direct transfer
type exchanger (recuperator), m2
C
flow stream heat capacity rate with a subscript c or h,
mc
p , W/ C

C
heat capacity rate ratio, Cmin /Cmax , dimensionless
Cmax maximum of Cc and Ch , W/ C
Cmin minimum of Cc and Ch , W/ C
D
exergy destruction rate, W
h
fluid enthalpy, J
Iirr
irreversibility rate, W
m

fluid mass flow rate, kg/s


NTU number of heat transfer units, UA/Cmin , dimensionless
vol. 27 no. 5 2006

R. K. SHAH

P
P
"p
R
S
S irr
T
U

temperature effectiveness for one fluid stream, dimensionless


fluid pumping power, m"p/,

W
fluid static pressure drop on one fluid side of a heat exchanger core, Pa
heat capacity rate ratio, C1 /C2 , dimensionless
normalized entropy generation rate, S irr /C2 , dimensionless
entropy generation rate, W/K
fluid static temperature to a specified arbitrary datum,

C
overall heat transfer coefficient, W/m2 K

Greek Symbols

heat exchanger effectiveness, dimensionless

Subscripts
c
h
i
max
min
o
ref
1
2

cold fluid side


hot fluid side
inlet to the exchanger
maximum
minimum
outlet to the exchanger
referent thermodynamic conditions
Fluid 1
Fluid 2

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[1] Shah, R. K., and Sekulic, D. P., Fundamentals of Heat Exchanger
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[3] Skiepko, T., and Shah, R. K., The Influence of Leakages on Heat
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heat transfer engineering

21

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[18] Bejan, A., Tsatsaronis, G., and Moran, M., Thermal Design and
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vol. 27 no. 5 2006

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R. K. SHAH

[27] Rabinkin, A., Overview: Brazing with (NiCoCr)-B-Si Amorphous


Brazing Filler MetalsAlloys, Processing, Joint Structure, Properties, Applications, Science and Technology of Welding and Joining, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 181199, 2004.
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[34] Larminie, J., and Dicks, A., Fuel Cell Systems Explained, 2nd ed.,
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[36] Varbanov, P., Klemes, J., Shah, R. K., and Shihn, H., Power Cycle
Integration and Efficiency Optimisation of Molten Carbonate Fuel
Cell Systems, ASME J. Fuel Cell Science and Technology, vol. 3,
2006, in press.
[37] Shah, R. K., Compact Heat Exchangers for Microturbines, Enhanced, Compact and Ultra-Compact Heat Exchangers: Science,
Engineering and Technology2005, CD Proceedings, pp. 247
257, Engineering Conferences International, Hoboken, NJ, 2005.
[38] McDonald, C. F., Low Cost Recuperator Concept for Microturbine
Applications, ASME Paper No. 2000-GT-167, ASME, New York,
2000.

heat transfer engineering

[39] Muley, A., and Sunden, B., Advances in Recuperator Technology


for Gas Turbine Systems, ASME Paper No. IMECE2003-43294,
ASME, New York, 2003.
[40] Treece, B., Vessa, P., and McKeirnan, R., Microturbine Recuperator Manufacturing and Operating Experience, ASME Paper No.
GT-2002-30404, ASME, New York, 2002.
[41] Lagerstrom, G., and Xie, M., High Performance and Cost Effective
Recuperator for Micro Gas Turbines, ASME Paper No. GT200230402, ASME, New York, 2002.
[42] McDonald, C. F., Low-cost Compact Primary Surface Recuperator
Concept for Microturbines, Appl. Thermal Eng., vol. 20, pp. 471
497, 2000.
[43] Utriainen, E., and Sunden, B., A Comparison of Some
Heat Transfer Surfaces for Small Gas Turbine Recuperators, ASME Paper No. 2001-GT-0474, ASME, New York,
2001.

Ramesh K. Shah is an executive advisor to Subros Ltd., New Delhi, India. He was with the Delphi
Corporation (formerly Harrison Radiator Division
of General Motors Corporation) in Lockport, New
York, from 19712002 (save two years), directing
automotive Compact Heat Exchanger R&D. From
19951997, he was professor and chairman of the
department of mechanical engineering, University of
Kentucky, Lexington, KY, and from 20022004, he
was a research professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester,
NY, focusing on fuel cell technology. He received his B.E. from Gujarat University, India, and his M.S., Engineer, and Ph.D. degrees from Stanford University.
Active in the ASME at the local and national levels for over 25 years, he is a past
chairman of the Heat Transfer Division and a former technical editor of Journal
of Heat Transfer. He is co-founder and former editor-in-chief of the international
journal Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science. He has taught short courses
and presented keynote lectures/seminars at various universities and research institutes in 33 countries worldwide. He has published more than 120 papers and
twenty books/edited volumes, including a textbook on Fundamentals of Heat
Exchanger Design. Dr. Shah is a Fellow of the ASME and SAE. He has received
numerous awards, including the ASME Heat Transfer Memorial Award in 2000
and AIChE Kern Award in 2005.

vol. 27 no. 5 2006

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