NUMERICAL 2-D MODELING OF A COAXIAL SCRAPED SURFACE HEAT EXCHANGER VERSUS EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS UNDER THE LAMINAR FLOW REGIME

Scraped surface heat exchangers (SSHEs) provide a versatile solution in the process industry for treating highly viscous fluids that may also contain particulate matter. Although SSHEs are frequently used in industrial applications, literature on this topic, particularly on the laminar flow regime, is limited. Moreover, due to the specificity of each product, it is difficult to generalize the few data available, and this makes the thermal design of this type of apparatus a critical point. Regarding the numerical approach, several studies based on a two-dimensional (2-D) approximation are available in the open scientific literature, but there is a lack of experimentally validated models. To test the numerical modeling approach, an experimental investigation that focused on the behavior of a coaxial SSHE in the presence of laminar flow was conducted. The appropriateness of the 2-D numerical approach is discussed here. Comparison of the numerical results with the experimentally measured Nusselt number values demonstrates the limits of the 2-D approach in describing the behavior of this type of apparatus.