Analyze the Results

Generate, review, and interpret plots to understand the effects of the heat exchanger's design on its ability to exchange heat between fluids.

Plots serve as visuals to help you interpret your results in the context of your model. You can review a plot to inspect the quality of a design with respect to a particular variable, such as pressure or flow velocity.

In this example, you plot the pressure, temperature, and flow velocity to pinpoint areas of the heat exchanger than can be redesigned to optimize heat transfer. In addition, you generate streamline contours to visualize the nature of the flow inside the heat exchanger.

This task shows you how to:

Review and Interpret the Plots

  1. Display a cross-section of the heat exchanger that shows both the inlet and outlet nozzles.
    1. From the Results section of the Assistant, click Plot Sectioning .
      A plane that is perpendicular to the Z-axis cuts the heat exchanger in half, such that the 3D area displays only a cross-section of the model.
    2. In the context toolbar, hover over Reverse cut , and click Set cut normal as Y axis .
    3. Click OK .
  2. In the Plots window, do the following:
    1. From the Plot options, select Absolute Pressure.1 to display the absolute pressure of the water throughout the heat exchanger.


      The pressure range is very small. While the pressure is stable throughout the heat exchanger, the greatest variation occurs at the nozzles.

    2. Change your selection to Temperature.1 to display the temperature of the water throughout the heat exchanger.


      The water appears to warm up while flowing through the last 25% of the heat exchanger.

Generate Streamline Contours

  1. From the Results section of the Assistant, click Streamlines .
  2. From the Seed support options, select Automatic detection.
  3. Specify 10 in the Tines box.
  4. Click OK.
  5. In the Plots window, expand the Plot options and select Velocity.1 to display the velocity of the water throughout the heat exchanger.


    The flow appears to circulate around the tubes as expected. The velocity of the water is higher in the nozzles than in the shell because of the differences in the cross-sectional areas of those parts.

  6. Save your work.

Congratulations, you have successfully completed this example!