CFD simulation has been done to predict the flow
distribution in the inlet header of plate-fin heat exchangers.
It is found that the flow maldistribution in
plate-fin heat exchangers is definitely serious due to the
improper header configuration and detrimental to heat
transfer. The flow maldistribution is heavier at greater
Reynolds number. In this paper, two modified headers
with a two-stage-distributing structure are recommended
and the flow distributions for different header
configurations are predicted by CFD. The effect of the
proposed header configurations on the velocities distribution
in the intersection is remarkable and the flow
nonuniformity (S) has been reduced from 3.47 to 0.71 at
Reynolds number of Re ¼ 1000. The numerical results
also show that the fluid flow distribution in the plate-fin
heat exchanger is more uniform when b ¼ 1.
The numerical results are in good agreement with
those from experiments. The numerical simulation
confirms that CFD should be a suitable tool for predicting
the flow distribution and optimizing the design
of the plate-fin heat exchanger. The results presented
in this paper are of great significance on the optimum
design of header configuration and plate-fin heat
exchanger.