The present study explores the thermofluid characteristics of a seawater-methane heat exchanger that could be used in the liquefaction of natural gas on offshore platforms. The compression process generates large amounts of heat, usually dissipated via plate heat exchangers using seawater as a convenient cooling fluid. Such an application mandates the use of a corrosion resistant material. Metals such as titanium, expensive in terms of both energy and currency, are a common choice. The 'total coefficient of performance,' or COPT, which incorporates the energy required to manufacture a heat exchanger along with the pumping power expended over the lifetime of the heat exchanger, is used to compare conventional metallic materials to thermally conductive polymers. The results reveal that heat exchangers fabricated of low energy, low thermal conductivity polymers can perform as well as, or better than, those fabricated of conventional materials, over the full lifecycle of the heat exchanger. Parametric analyses of predicted heat exchanger COP(indT)s, which incorporates energy efficiency, reveal that exchangers fabricated of low energy, low thermal conductivity polymers can perform better than those fabricated from conventional materials (e.g., titanium, 22 W/mK) over their full lifecycle. The low thermal conductivity (5 W/mK) filled polymer heat exchanger analyzed in this study performed 48% better than an optimized aluminum heat exchanger, and 7 times better than a high energy, high cost titanium heat exchanger. This study shows that thermally enhanced polymers are a viable heat exchanger candidate material, due to their low fabrication energy and overall lifetime energy use.


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    Title :

    Energy efficient polymers for gas-liquid heat exchangers


    Additional title:

    Energieeffiziente Polymere für Gas-Flüssigkeit-Wärmetauscher


    Contributors:


    Publication date :

    2008


    Size :

    11 Seiten, 17 Bilder, 3 Tabellen, 20 Quellen




    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Print


    Language :

    English




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