Heat Exchanger CFD Study

Project Overview

This project used ANSYS Fluent to model counter-flow heat transfer across nine geometric parameters including baffle spacing, tube pitch, and shell diameter. Results were cross-validated against the analytical ε-NTU method and a custom MATLAB model. Automated mesh generation scripts reduced setup time significantly.

Key Highlights

• 18% improvement in NTU over the baseline geometry
• Validated against ε-NTU analytical solution within 4%
• Python script automated parametric mesh generation
• MATLAB post-processing of pressure drop and effectiveness data
• Final report submitted as course capstone — top grade received