Linear Matrix Operator Formalism for Basic Heat Exchanger Thermal Design

The matrix formalism used for the thermal description of heat exchangers is extended to include streams with variable temperature distributions. In this approach, a heat exchanger is described by a temperature-independent matrix operator, which, acting on the inlet temperature distributions, generates the outlet ones. This formalism is particularly useful for the evaluation of the thermal effectiveness of complex heat exchanger configurations that can be broken into simple constitutive parts, linked to each other by unmixed streams. Applications to crossflow configurations of practical interest are shown.