Flow field simulation and stress analysis of a shell-tube heat exchanger with spiral bend tubes

The porous media model was improved to simulate the flow field of a shell-tube heat exchanger with spiral bend tubes. The improved porous medium model can be used to control the fluid flow direction. On the tube side, the streamline was along the spiral bend tubes. The fluid velocities and pressure drops on the tube and shell sides agree well with the experimental values. The fluid flow on the shell side is little affected by the spiral bend structure. The thermal stress of the spiral bend tubes was analyzed. The thermal stress of the spiral bend tubes is much smaller than the thermal stress of the straight tube. The thermal stress at the bend part decreases with the increase of bending angles.