Design of a heat exchanger for the reuse of hot gases

Abstract

Postforming cleaning processes use fluids with high temperatures to clean the product. However, this thermal change results in production costs. The objective of this work is to recover the heat of hot gases from the paint ovens to heat the water tank of the hygiene process of parts and thus reduce the cost of production. One of the possibilities for recovery of this thermal energy is the use of a heat exchanger, which is designed for the exhaust system of a curing oven, keeping the positioning adequate for the existing factory layout. Their dimensions were made using both experimental analysis and algebraic methods. To validate the obtained values, the numerical analysis in CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) with a reduced model. In addition, we designed the equipment dimensioning to move the fluid economic viability of the project. The thermal exchange area determined for the heat exchanger was 4,64 m².