Numerical evaluation of the influence of various fluid types on the efficiency of distinctively designed shell-and-spiral tube heat exchangers

Applications such as food processing, heat storage, and heat recovery systems frequently prefer shell-and-spiral tube heat exchangers in refrigeration. To improve efficiency, a novel spiral shell-and-tube heat exchanger design is employed in this research. This study predicts the velocity coefficient, friction coefficient, thermodynamic performance, and heat transfer of the proposed heat exchanger using ANSYS Fluent CFD software based on the finite volume method. The simulation seeks to improve heat efficiency by finding the best fluid nanohybrid for the spiral shell-and-tube heat exchanger. Furthermore, it has been shown that the choice of fluid nanohybrid type plays a critical role in the thermohydraulic performance of spiral tubes and shell-and-tube heat exchangers. The water-based nanohybrid exhibited the best thermal performance among the three fluid nanohybrids examined in the experiment. Based on the findings, a Water–MgO−Al 2 O 3 nanohybrid at a volume concentration of 0.5% is recommended to maximize the effectiveness of the proposed shell-and-tube heat exchanger. Furthermore, it has been shown that using volumetric concentrations greater than 0.1% increases the converter efficiency by about 78% at the lowest Reynolds number. The pressure loss is shown to be growing when the Reynolds number and volumetric concentration of nanofluid particles change. The 0.1%, 0.3%, and 0.5% nanofluids have pressure drops that are 5%, 12%, and 15% greater than the basic fluid. This results from the addition of more MgO−Al 2 O 3 s and the increased viscosity.