Grant: Idea to Innovation

Heat exchangers are classical engineering devices used in industry to transfer energy from one fluid to another. The traditional heat exchanger configuration remains the use of shells, tubes, and plates. The application of swirl flow is a breakthrough for the next generation of heat exchangers that represents a completely new physical mechanism for heat transfer. Unlike traditional heat exchangers, this proposed novel concept is based on the application of swirl flow between disks. The centrifugal force mechanism in this new design performs the same action of increasing the tubes and passages in the traditional design, resulting in a significant improvement in heat transfer efficiency. The new heat exchanger design will be simple to fabricate and to maintain and is ecologically friendly. In this proposal, two prototypes will be built to allow studying the proposed exchanger design for a wide range of operating conditions. The use of two units generating experimental data allows for further refinement of the software improving design either to larger or smaller scale. The results generated will enable us to further develop and transfer the technology to the industrial partner for commercialization. The proposed swirl flow heat exchanger is uniquely positioned. Its design simplicity, lower pumping energy cost, and lower maintenance cost make it an ideal replacement for both shell-tube and plate heat exchangers. Industry sectors such as Oil and Gas, Chemical and Petrochemical, Food and Beverage, Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) and Refrigeration, Power Generation, and other specialized areas such as Surgery have broad application for this new heat exchanger.