This chapter introduces transient effectiveness methods for dynamic characterization of heat exchangers. The chapter provides a detailed description and review of the transient effectiveness methodology. In this chapter, all the transient effectiveness–related knowledge/works are summarized. The goal of this chapter is to provide a thorough understanding of the transient effectiveness for the reader and to provide guidance for utilizing this methodology in related heat exchanger transient characterization studies. Basically, there are three important applications for transient effectiveness methodology: (1) characterization of heat exchanger dynamic behaviors; (2) characterization of the transient response of closed-coupled cooling/heating systems with multiple heat exchanger units; and (3) development of compact transient heat exchanger models. This innovative modeling method can be used to assist in the development of physics-based predictive, capabilities, performance metrics, and design guidelines, which are important for the design and operation of highly reliable and energy efficient mechanical systems using heat exchangers.
Part of the book: Heat Exchangers