Effect of annular ribs in heat exchanger tubes on the performance of phase‐change regenerative heat exchangers

Abstract Optimizing the efficiency of conventional heat exchangers is critical for improving the performance of various processes. This study proposed increasing the heat dissipation buffer space of heat exchangers by filling the gap between the heat exchanger and the shell with phase‐change materials for optimizing phase‐change heat exchangers. Comparative simulation analyses were performed by investigating the difference between the internal and external diameters of the inner ring ribs of the heat exchanger, the flow rate of the cooling liquid, the spacing distance, and the number of the inner ring ribs as independent variables. The results revealed that the heat transfer efficiency of heat exchangers can be improved by adding the inner ring rib structure to the heat exchange copper tube. The difference between the inner and outer diameters of the inner ring rib considerably influences heat dissipation. Furthermore, a sensitivity coefficient of 0.2457 can be obtained. The distance and number of inner ring ribs and the flow rate of cooling liquid exhibit certain effects on the heat transfer efficiency of the heat exchanger. The sensitivity coefficients were 0.1477 and 0.0935. The heat dissipation efficiency of the coil heat exchanger was improved by 3.8% by adding inner ring ribs in the coil heat exchanger channel.