The compression process necessary for the liquefaction of natural gas on offshore platforms generates large amounts of heat, usually dissipated via sea water cooled plate heat exchangers. To date, the corrosive nature of sea water has mandated the use of metals, such as titanium, as heat exchanger materials, which are costly in terms of life cycle energy expenditure. This study investigates the potential of a commercially available, thermally conductive polymer material, filled with carbon fibers to enhance thermal conductivity by an order of magnitude or more. The thermofluid characteristics of a prototype polymer seawater-methane heat exchanger that could be used in the liquefaction of natural gas on offshore platforms are evaluated based on the total coefficient of performance , which incorporates the energy required to manufacture a heat exchanger along with the pumping power expended over the lifetime of the heat exchanger, and compared with those of conventional heat exchangers made of metallic materials. The heat exchanger fabricated from a low energy, low thermal conductivity polymer is found to perform as well as, or better than, exchangers fabricated from conventional materials, over its full lifecycle. The analysis suggests that a nearly double that of aluminum, and more than ten times that of titanium, could be achieved. Of the total lifetime energy use, 70% occurs in manufacturing for a thermally enhanced polymer heat exchanger compared with 97% and 85% for titanium and aluminum heat exchangers, respectively. The study demonstrates the potential of thermally enhanced polymer heat exchangers over conventional ones in terms of thermal performance and life cycle energy expenditure.
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June 2010
Research Papers
Energy Efficient Polymers for Gas-Liquid Heat Exchangers
Patrick Luckow,
Patrick Luckow
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
e-mail: pluckow@umd.edu
University of Maryland
, College Park, MD 20742
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Avram Bar-Cohen,
Avram Bar-Cohen
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Maryland
, College Park, MD 20742
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Peter Rodgers,
Peter Rodgers
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
The Petroleum Institute
, P.O. Box 2533, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
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Juan Cevallos
Juan Cevallos
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Maryland
, College Park, MD 20742
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Patrick Luckow
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Maryland
, College Park, MD 20742e-mail: pluckow@umd.edu
Avram Bar-Cohen
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Maryland
, College Park, MD 20742
Peter Rodgers
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
The Petroleum Institute
, P.O. Box 2533, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Juan Cevallos
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Maryland
, College Park, MD 20742J. Energy Resour. Technol. Jun 2010, 132(2): 021001 (9 pages)
Published Online: May 17, 2010
Article history
Received:
February 28, 2009
Revised:
April 6, 2010
Online:
May 17, 2010
Published:
May 17, 2010
Citation
Luckow, P., Bar-Cohen, A., Rodgers, P., and Cevallos, J. (May 17, 2010). "Energy Efficient Polymers for Gas-Liquid Heat Exchangers." ASME. J. Energy Resour. Technol. June 2010; 132(2): 021001. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4001568
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