Numerical Evaluation of Different Turbulence Models for Single-Phase Flow in the Outer Pillow-Plate Channel

Pillow-plate heat exchangers (PPHE) are fabricated as stacks of pillow plates with alternating inner and outer channels. In this contribution, we show results of a numerical investigation of the turbulent single-phase flow (3000≤ Re≤ 8000) in the outer channels performed with the aid of the OpenFOAM® simulation software. Several turbulence models based on different approaches (RANS, DES, LES) were tested. The simulation results were compared with pressure loss measurements conducted earlier by our group. Despite inherent simplifications, some advanced RANS models are capable of adequately capturing the complex fluid dynamics in the outer pillow-plate channels, showing results comparable to those of the more time-consuming LES simulations.