Abstract
A new method for optimizing heat exchangers is developed in this paper. It is based on second law efficiency relationships rather than on the traditional heat exchanger effectiveness concept. The cost of energy is based on its availability level rather than on the simple cost of fuel required to meet the exchanger heat duty. Application of the method to a condensing heater shows that the optimum area based on second law efficiency can be quite different from the optimum area computed by the effectiveness method.
Witte, L. C. (1985). Second Law Optimization of Heat Exchangers. Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu). Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /93392.