Heat transfer and flow dynamics in heat exchangers for efficient waste heat utilization
Baizhuma Z. Kalassov N. Ilyassova G. Danlybaeva A. Gabitova Z. Yelubayeva B. Georgiev A.
April 2026Elsevier Ltd
Applied Thermal Engineering
2026#290
One of the most important factors affecting the reliable operation of wind energy systems in cold and harsh continental conditions is icing on wind turbine blades, which can lead to significant loss of aerodynamic performance, unbalanced loads, and power output. This paper presents a novel approach to mitigate icing by applying compact heat exchanger design principles to internally heat the blades. First, this study considered a counterflow heat exchanger in a tube as an analog model of the internal blade channels capable of improving heat transfer while reducing energy consumption. The thermohydraulic behavior in the range of Reynolds numbers 1000–5000 was analyzed using systematic data reduction and 3D CFD modeling performed in ANSYS Fluent, which demonstrated the reliability of capturing convection near the transitional wall. Mesh independence was confirmed within 1.9–3.2 million elements, which reduced the j-factor error to 0.3%, limited the f-factor bias to less than 1.7%, and kept Y+ between 0.2 and 0.9 for numerical stability and boundary layer accuracy. The countercurrent configuration showed better performance, with Colburn coefficients between 0.02 and 0.04, and Fanning friction coefficients between 0.006 and 0.010. The CFD predictions closely followed the measured trends; discrepancies ranged from 8 to 25% for j and 0–20% for f, confirming the robustness of the numerical model. These results show that counter-current flow can efficiently redistribute waste heat and enable natural airflow within rotor blades. This work represents the first to marry compact heat-exchanger optimization with wind-turbine icing mitigation within a single thermo-hydraulic framework. The findings presented here form a basis upon which to develop self-sustaining, energy-efficient anti-icing systems for wind turbines operating in cold climates. Future work will extend this methodology to rotating geometries with conjugate heat transfer and ice-accretion coupling for accurate thermal-behavior prediction.
Colburn factor , Fanning factor , Heat exchanger , Ice protection , Wind turbine
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Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Faculty of Physics and Technology, Department of Thermal Physics and Technical Physics, Str al-Farabi 71 Almaty, Kazakhstan
Institute for Innovation and Smart Technologies, University of Telecommunications and Posts, 1 Akad. Stefan Mladenov str. 1700 Sofia, Bulgaria
Al-Farabi Kazakh National University
Institute for Innovation and Smart Technologies
10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель
Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026