Spiral Heat Exchanger

Description

Spiral heat exchangers are compact, coiled-channel devices used across chemical, petrochemical, and food processing industries for their space efficiency, self-cleaning behavior under fouling conditions, and strong performance with viscous or particulate-laden fluids. This CFD study uses ANSYS Fluent to model the fluid flow and heat transfer behavior within a spiral heat exchanger, capturing how the curved, counter-current channel geometry influences thermal performance compared to conventional straight-channel designs. The analysis provides a foundation for understanding how spiral configurations can be evaluated and optimized using computational tools before physical prototyping or deployment.

Methodology

The simulation begins with construction of the spiral channel geometry and definition of the fluid domains for both hot and cold streams. Material properties are assigned to the working fluids, and boundary conditions are specified at the inlets and outlets, including flow rates and stream temperatures for each channel. Wall and interface boundary conditions are configured to reflect the curved geometry of the spiral passages, which affects near-wall flow behavior and heat transfer differently than straight-channel arrangements. Solver settings, including solution methods and convergence criteria, are configured to handle the complexities of curved flow paths, and the simulation is monitored throughout the solving process to confirm stability and convergence.

Results Analysis

Post-processing focuses on visualizing velocity fields and temperature distributions to reveal how fluid moves and heat transfers through the spiral channels. Local and overall heat transfer coefficients are extracted alongside pressure drop values, giving a quantitative basis for assessing exchanger performance. These results are compared against conventional heat exchanger benchmarks to evaluate gains in space efficiency and heat transfer enhancement, as well as the self-cleaning and fouling-resistance characteristics that distinguish spiral designs. The resulting insights support informed design decisions for improving spiral heat exchanger performance in real-world thermal management applications.