Comparative study between finite volume method and analytical method to analyse thermal efficiency of double-pipe heat exchanger

In this study, the efficiency of a double pipe heat exchanger during a steady state laminar flow is both mathematically and numerically analysed for counter and the parallel flow configurations. The first-order and second-order upwind scheme in the Finite Volume Method are employed to obtain solutions using MATLAB software. A comparison between the exact solution provided by Prasad [20] and the numerical results using the Finite Volume Method was conducted for both adiabatic and non-adiabatic conditions, demonstrating that the second-order upwind scheme showed a better analogy with low root mean square errors. Additionally, the effectiveness of the double pipe heat exchanger was calculated and plotted against the minimum heat capacity rate value for various parameters.