TUBE SIDE OPTIMIZATION OF A COMPACT HEAT EXCHANGER BY GENETIC ALGORITHM

Abstract: The present work is concentrated on optimization of Compact Heat exchangers. For this a louvered fin flat Tube Compact Radiator is considered as case study. Optimization is carried out by means of Genetic Algorithm. The task of optimization may be considered as a design process, in which any possible variables will be evaluated based on requirements. Savings of materials or energy, as well as capital cost and operating cost, are common objectives for industrial applications of heat exchangers. In this work, the GA technique is used in the geometrical optimization of compact heat exchanger in order to obtain optimal results under specified design objectives within the allowable pressure drops. Heat Transfer rate is considered as objective function whereas Tube side parameters are taken for optimization. The outcomes of Genetic algorithm formulation showed 17.77 % increase in Heat Transfer rate that to with decrease in each considered parameter.

Keywords: Compact heat exchanger, Genetic algorithm, Optimization.