IIoT Implementation to Investigate the Heat Transfer Efficiency of a Concentric Corrugated Pipe Heat Exchanger

Abstract

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) plays a key role in industrial applications and manufacturing processes. Numerous technologies are implementing IIoT to monitor and control manufacturing processes, maintain reliability, and increase productivity. In this study, IIoT was used to demonstrate the heat transfer performance of a double-pipe heat exchanger at the laboratory scale to provide research guidelines. Two types of inner pipes, smooth and corrugated pipes, were used in the experiment. In the experiment, the hot- and cold-water mass flow rates were 9 and 10 L/m, respectively. The cold- and hot-water temperatures were set at 20°C, 22°C, and 24°C and 35°C, 40°C, and 45°C, respectively. Equipment operation control and reading and recording of the experimental data were performed using PLC and IIoT platforms. The experimental results showed that heat exchange using corrugated pipes was more efficient than smooth pipes when considering the overall heat transfer coefficient, with an effectiveness of approximately 19%. However, corrugated pipes exhibited a 30% higher pressure difference compared to smooth pipes. This reveals that IIoT has been established and can be effectively applied to laboratory thermal solutions, allowing operators to read real-time data at any time, both inside and outside the work area.