Air-side pressure drop of polymeric hollow fibre heat exchangers

Abstract

Polymeric hollow fibre heat exchangers are an alternative to common metal heat exchangers in low-temperature applications. Their advantages are low cost, low weight, and corrosion resistance. The heat transfer surface consists of hundreds or even thousands of fibres of small diameter. There are several studies on thermal performance of the polymeric hollow fibre heat exchangers, but the pressure drop is also a crucial part of the design. The arrangement, known as the bank of tubes, is common for the heat exchangers and there are relations used to estimate the pressure drop of flow passing the bank of tubes. Those are based on extensive experimental research with steel tubes. The tubes of polymeric hollow fibre are flexible. The pressure drop predicted by the known relations are underestimated.