Abstract
Optimizing heat exchangers based on second
law rather than first law considerations
ensures that the most efficient use of
available energy is being made. Techniques
for second-law optimizing heat exchangers
have been developed recently that are
straightforward and simple. The main difficulty
lies in determining the proper cost of
irrreversibility that is to be used in the
optimization process. This paper demonstrates
how this issue can be handled by
including the irreversibility cost in a
dimensionless parameter that represents the
ratio of annual ownership costs to annual
operating costs that include irreversibility
costs. In this way, each heat exchanger
designer can estimate the costs of irreversibilities
for his particular system, and
use the generalized method for determining
the optimal heat exchanger size.
Witte, L. C. (1987). The Influence of Availability Costs on Optimal Heat Exchanger Size. Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.eslwin.tamu.edu). Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /92842.