Optimization design of a marine gas heater with dimpled plate heat exchanger based on response surface methodology

The plate heat exchanger, known for its high efficiency and compact design, demonstrate significant potential in naval liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply systems. As demand for enhanced heat transfer and gasification efficiency grows, traditional herringbone plate heat exchangers struggle to meet requirements for higher efficiency, energy savings, and environmental protection. This study proposes a novel dimpled plate heat exchanger design for the natural gas heating unit in the low-pressure supply system of a 15,000 DWT dual-fuel chemical tanker. Through numerical simulation, it examines the impact of wave-point diameter (d), depth (h), and inclination angle (?) on heat transfer and resistance. The optimization of the performance of dimpled plate heat exchanger was conducted using Response Surface Analysis, with Performance Evaluation (JF) as the metric. The interaction among three parameters was analyzed, leading to an optimal design featuring a wave-point diameter of 5.22 mm, depth of 0.92 mm, and inclination angle of 42.13?. Compared to traditional herringbone plate heat exchangers, the designed wave-point exchanger exhibits superior heat transfer performance. At an inlet mass flow rate of 28.29 kg m-2s-1, it achieves a maximum JF of 0.006893429, reflecting an 11.92% performance improvement over commonly used traditional models.