What Is a Heat Exchanger Feasibility Study?

The basic principles of how heat exchangers transfer waste heat has been the cornerstone of how they’ve helped transform the realm of electrical thermal management. Their significant benefits when compared to more traditional thermal solutions have made them an obvious choice for companies that want to streamline their electrical thermal management and overall operations. However, the expansive growth of heat exchangers and their use in increasingly more applications is also due to the advanced methods that many manufacturers use to design and produce them. Those methods often include a comprehensive feasibility study, during which multiple teams of experts collaborate to analyze and test a particular cooling solution’s design to ensure that it will be effective.

The point of analyzing a design’s feasibility

Several different areas of expertise go into designing and creating modern heat exchangers. These include thermal management experts, mechanical and engineering experts, manufacturing experts, and more. The goal of a feasibility study is to ensure that each of these areas work together to create a solution that optimizes the heat exchangers efficiency and productivity in all relevant areas. The study is performed before the design is put into production, allowing companies to save valuable time and resources by eliminating discrepancies before manufacturing the heat exchanger.

The steps of a feasibility study

A heat exchanger feasibility study involves several important steps. The first stage is the initial design phase, which includes 3D concept designs and assembly drawings. Then, the appropriate tooling and fixtures will be designed and produced, and the company will utilize 3D imaging and printing to create rapid prototypes of the designs and test them out for optimal quality. Rapid prototyping allows companies to test designs in real-world settings and avoid things like inaccurate measurements or design oversights that could render a design useless.

What’s the next step?

After a feasibility study is completed, a heat exchanger design can finally be produced and made into a reality. Because of the effort put into the study, the final product will the right fit the first time, which also benefits the company for whom the heat exchanger is being produced. The ability to conduct feasibility studies in a fast, efficient, and accurate manner has also been a significant advantage in heat exchangers’ contribution to increasingly more innovative technology designs.

For more information about the importance of heat exchanger feasibility studies, call Noren Thermal Solutions in Taylor, TX, at 866-936-6736.