Development of PCHE (Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger) for extreme environment

In this seminar, the ongoing process of the research and development of the Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger (PCHE) is presented. PCHE has been paid attention due to its high pressure-resistant and larger heat transfer surface per unit volume. This compact heat exchanger can be operated in the extreme condition such as high-temperature, high-pressure or cryogenic environment. Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) has developed PCHE for natural gas liquefaction plant, Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU), and Supercritical carbon dioxide(sCO2) power system.

We performed a structural simulation work to find the optimal design of fluid channels on heat transfer plates, fabricated the heat transfer plates, and calculated the capacity of the PCHE using our analytical tool. Based on the simulation results, we fabricated and bonded heat transfer plates using the diffusion bonding equipment. And heat transfer characteristics of working fluid with regard to various of micro channel was investigated experimentally. Experiment was carried out at temperature and pressure of its operation condition. The convective heat transfer coefficients were measured and pressure drop was also measured. Test results was used to improve the design of PCHE.