Comparisons of Nu correlations for H2O/LiBr solution in plate heat exchanger for triple effect absorption chiller application

Abstract

In this study, heat transfer characteristics of single-phase Water/Lithium Bromide (H2O/LiBr) solution in a plate heat exchanger (PHE) is evaluated for absorption chiller applications. The plate heat exchanger is arranged with single-pass and counter flow, and the chevron angle of corrugated plate is a high theta of 78.5 degrees. The H2O/LiBr solution is used as working fluid with wide mass concentration ranging between 52.40% and 64.92%, Reynolds number ranging between 27.29 and 255.1 and Prandtl number ranging between 4.59 and 19.26. All of experiments are conducted within +/- 10% energy balance error range. It is found that the convective heat transfer coefficients range from 0.68 kW/m(2).K to 2.92 kW/m(2).K. Based on the experimental data, empirical Nusselt number correlation of the H2O/LiBr solution in the 78.5 degrees plate heat exchanger is developed within +/- 20% error range. The Nusselt number correlation of the present study is applicable to predict the heat transfer characteristics of the H2O/LiBr solution with a wide range of LiBr concentration for triple effect absorption chiller applications. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.