Study on performance comparison of different fin combinations of catalyst filled plate fin heat exchanger for hydrogen liquefaction

A mathematical model of catalyst filled plate fin heat exchanger (CFPFHE) is established to compare different fin models and analyze fin performance of different fin combinations. The results show that the single-layer fin model inadequately reflects the double-layers fin model from flow distribution and fin performance. The indexes of ortho-para hydrogen conversion (YY_pH2) of different fin combinations are all about 0.95, meeting the requirement of the CFPFHE. The plain_serrated fin has the best fin performance among four fin combinations. Compared with the plain_plain, the Colburn heat transfer factor (j factor) and thermal enhancement factor (TEF) of cool and hot sides of the plain_serrated fin are increased by 68.0∼51.0% and 28.5∼13.6%, 8.5∼6.1% and 8.4%∼6.1% at Re_hot = 500∼1500, respectively. Further, the fin combinations of high-efficiency fin and plain respectively used in cool and hot sides have excellent overall fin performance, which provides a theoretical guidance for fin selection of the CFPFHE.