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GP-ME-1IGSL27MechanicalReady

OpenFOAM heat-exchanger simulation

An OpenFOAM v2606 porous heat-exchanger study covering mesh response, transfer coefficient, hot-inlet temperature, pressure loss, flow, temperature, and heat release.

OpenFOAM heat-exchanger simulation project visual
GP-ME-1IGSL27 · Mechanical
  • OpenFOAM v2606
  • Python 3
  • Matplotlib

Software compatibility

OpenFOAM v2606 only

Cases are prepared for the OpenCFD OpenFOAM v2606 distribution. No ANSYS Fluent, COMSOL, STAR-CCM+, or OpenFOAM Foundation v14 files are included.

Project definition

Problem statement

Heat-exchanger performance depends on inlet states, flow, transfer area, resistance, fan work, porous momentum loss, mesh, numerical coupling, and the method used to extract bulk values.

Project objectives

  • Adapt a licensed OpenFOAM heat-exchanger tutorial for v2606.
  • Run three mesh levels with strict checks for both regions.
  • Compare transfer coefficients of 5, 10, and 20 W per square metre K.
  • Compare hot-fluid inlet temperatures of 360, 400, and 420 K.
  • Calculate bulk temperatures, pressure losses, mass flows, enthalpy terms, hot-side heat release, stability, and limitations.

Project structure

Project components

01

Case generator

Creates a controlled two-region OpenFOAM case from the declared mesh, inlet temperature, transfer coefficient, and iteration count.

02

Porous exchanger model

Couples an air region and an overlapping hot-liquid porous region through constant inter-region heat transfer.

03

MRF fan

Uses a rotating-frame fan zone at 47.7 rad/s to drive the air flow.

04

Evidence extractor

Calculates absolute-flux-weighted bulk values, pressure loss, enthalpy terms, heat release, mesh metrics, and stability.

05

Verification

Checks fourteen regional meshes, seven study cases, parameter responses, figures, and repository consistency.

Methodology

Project workflow

  1. 01
    Generate

    Python copies and modifies the reviewed OpenFOAM template for one declared case.

  2. 02
    Mesh

    Air and porous regions are meshed, zoned, baffled, and checked with all geometry and topology options.

  3. 03
    Solve

    chtMultiRegionSimpleFoam solves the coupled steady thermal-fluid fields.

  4. 04
    Extract

    Patch bulk values and flow rates are converted into JSON, CSV, PNG, and SVG evidence.

  5. 05
    Compare

    Mesh, transfer-coefficient, and hot-inlet trends are interpreted with the model boundaries stated.

Demonstration scenario

The exchanger runs on three meshes, at three transfer coefficients, and at three hot-fluid inlet temperatures. The student explains bulk temperature, pressure, flow, heat release, fan work, parameter trends, and why the mesh response does not establish grid independence.

Engineering

Tools and method

Tools
The project uses OpenFOAM v2606, Python 3, Matplotlib for subject analysis, simulation, and results.
Case format
Native OpenCFD OpenFOAM v2606 dictionaries, fields, region meshes, porous source terms, MRF settings, and solver logs.
Heat transfer
A constantHeatTransfer model uses area per volume of 200 per metre and selected transfer coefficients of 5, 10, and 20 W per square metre K.
Flow model
Steady compressible air and an incompressible hot-liquid porous region are coupled without resolved tubes or a solid wall.
Analysis
Python preserves raw data and regenerates summaries, convergence tables, tests, and 17 figures.

Testing

Evaluation

Evaluation measures

  • All fourteen regional meshes pass strict checkMesh checks
  • Medium case air outlet temperature 311.6809 K from a 300 K inlet
  • Medium case porous outlet temperature 397.8739 K from a 400 K inlet
  • Medium case hot-side heat release 1,334.04 W and air pressure loss 51.4 Pa
  • Air outlet rises from 306.3526 K to 320.0666 K as transfer coefficient rises from 5 to 20 W per square metre K
  • Mesh outlet temperatures of 309.1765, 311.6809, and 308.6110 K show a nonmonotonic response
  • Seven automated tests passing

Project boundaries

  • Only OpenCFD OpenFOAM v2606 cases are delivered.
  • The exchanger is an unresolved porous representation with two overlapping fluid regions.
  • No tubes, fins, separating solid, wall conduction, fouling, phase change, corrosion, vibration, or detailed headers are resolved.
  • The MRF fan adds work to the air, so air enthalpy rise is not transferred heat alone.
  • The three low-cost meshes show a nonmonotonic response and do not establish grid independence.
  • The project is academic CFD and not equipment selection, pressure-vessel design, manufacture, rating, or certification evidence.

Included

  1. 01Seven completed porous heat-exchanger cases
  2. 02Air meshes with 576, 1,944, and 4,608 cells
  3. 03Porous-region meshes with 96, 288, and 704 cells
  4. 04Transfer coefficients of 5, 10, and 20 W per square metre K
  5. 05Hot-fluid inlet temperatures of 360, 400, and 420 K
  6. 06Temperature, pressure, flow, enthalpy, duty, stability, and mesh evidence
  7. 0717 labelled figures in PNG and SVG with raw JSON and CSV results
  8. 08Three actual heat-exchanger literature images with source and licence records
  9. 09Complete project files, models, calculations, and analysis material in a private GitHub repository
  10. 1080-page project documentation in PDF and editable Word formats
  11. 119-page setup and usage guide

Project record

No information is collected on this page.

Permanent project ID
GP-ME-1IGSL27
Catalogued
22 Aug 2026
Completed
23 Aug 2026
Verified
23 Aug 2026
Demonstration
Included in repository

Handover

After purchase

  1. 01
    Payment is confirmed

    The project is marked unavailable and cannot be purchased again.

  2. 02
    Repository access is granted

    The buyer's submitted GitHub account receives access to the private repository.

  3. 03
    The purchase record is delivered

    The certification sheet is prepared from the reviewed buyer details and sent privately by email.