Study on the numerical simulation method and influence of natural air-cooled outside cabin heat exchanger for wind power generation

• Published in: Heat and mass transfer Vol. 58; no. 12; pp. 2129 - 2145
• Main Authors: Zhou, Nianyong, Liu, Wenbo, Guo, Yixing, Feng, Hao, Peng, Haoping, Lei, Yun, Deng, Song, Yang, Huarui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.12.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Air temperature; Altitude; Ambient temperature; Design optimization; Engineering; Engineering Thermodynamics; Ethylene glycol; Heat and Mass Transfer; Heat exchange; Heat exchangers; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Iterative methods; Mathematical models; Original Article; Plate-fin heat exchangers; Simulation; Thermodynamics; Wind power; Wind power generation
• ISSN: 0947-7411; 1432-1181
• DOI: 10.1007/s00231-022-03193-3

For the outside cabin heat exchanger of wind power generation, the overall numerical simulation plays an important role in its design and optimization. The periodic iterative simulation method proposed in this paper makes up for the deficiency of analogy research using the local model in the previous research of plate-fin heat exchanger so that the research conclusions can be directly applied to practical engineering. The effectiveness of this method is verified by comparing 10 groups of simulation results with experimental results. It is concluded that the maximum relative error of the periodic iterative simulation method is 0.9%, which meets the requirements of engineering calculation. The number of iterations can be reduced to two when only the outlet average temperature is involved, which is more convenient than the dozens of iterations. Furthermore, the effects of altitude, air velocity, air temperature, wave fin structure parameters, and generator power on the performance of heat exchanger are comprehensively analyzed. The results show that larger naturally captured air volume, lower ambient temperature, and lower altitude can effectively reduce the outlet temperature of ethylene glycol solution. When the amplitude and wavelength of the corrugated fin on the airside of the heat exchanger are 0.6 mm and 20 mm respectively, the naturally captured air volume is effectively increased, the overall heat exchange performance of the heat exchanger is further improved.