Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 21 (2014) 1113e1126

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Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jngse

Stress characteristics of plate-fin structures in the cool-down process

of LNG heat exchanger
Hongqiang Ma a, Weihua Cai b, Wenke Zheng a, Jie Chen c, Yang Yao a, Yiqiang Jiang a, *
a
School of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China
b
School of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China
c
CNOOC Gas and Power Group, Beijing, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In order to ensure the structural safety of plate-fin structures, a model is proposed to simulate the stress
Received 20 July 2014 characteristics of plate-fin structures in the cool-down process of LNG heat exchanger based on Finite
Received in revised form Element Method and thermal elastic theory. The simulation results show that the equivalent stress
13 October 2014
rapidly changes and consistently reaches the peak value in the brazed joint, and a crack initiates in this
Accepted 15 October 2014
Available online 14 November 2014
region in the cool-down process. The peak value of equivalent stress in plate-fin structures steadily in-
creases with the increase of temperature difference between natural gas (NG) and mixture refrigerant
(MR) and it is slightly impacted by the temperature drop rate as the temperature drop rate of NG is the
Keywords:
LNG
same as that of MR in the cool-down process. The simulation results are consistent with the experiment
Plate-fin structure results. These results will provide some constructive instructions in safe operation and improvement of
Stress the cool-down process for plate-fin heat exchanger in a large-scale LNG cold-box.
Safety © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Finite element method

1. Introduction the empirical data of actual operation in a small-scale LNG cold-

Plate-fin heat exchanger (PFHE), as a type of compact ex-
changers, has been widely used in the liquid natural gas (LNG) plant
(Kuznetsov and Shamirzaev, 2007; Liu and Winterton, 1991).
Basically, PFHE is comprised of layers of corrugated fins separated
from one another by flat plates, and seals along the edges with bars
(Jiang et al., 2009b; Peng and Ling, 2008). Currently, the aluminum
PFHE has been mainly used in small-scale LNG plants while rarely
in large-scale LNG plants as main cryogenic heat exchanger in the
world. However, with the growing demand for natural gas around
the world, the key technologies should be developed for a large-
scale LNG cold-box (Ligterink et al., 2012; Picard et al., 2006). At
present, for the PFHE that is used in a large-scale LNG cold-box, the
operating procedure in the cool-down process draws lessons from
that in a small-scale LNG cold-box. The cool-down process is
operated by virtue of controlling the temperature drop rate of NG or
MR and temperature difference between NG and MR within PFHE.
Plate-fin structures, as the key component of PFHE, will cause a
severe stress concentration and thermal shocking if the operation
on the temperature difference between NG and MR and the tem-
perature drop rate of NG or MR is unreasonable, which is based on
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: jyq7245@sina.com (Y. Jiang).
box. This may influence the safe operation of PFHE in a large-
scale cold-box. Because of the complexity of stress phenomenon
and the lack of research work in this field, the stress phenomenon
in plate-fin structures is still far from well understood in the cool-
down process of PFHE in a large-scale LNG cold-box.
At present, most of the investigations have been mainly focused
on residual stress in brazing process. For example, due to the
mismatching thermal expansion coefficients between the solder
and base metal in the heating stage as well as the dissimilar
shrinkage in the cooling process, the largest residual stress would
occur in the brazed joint. Large residual stress would decrease
greatly the strength of the structure, which is generated during the
brazing (Chang and Lee, 2007; Liu, 1997). And, the large residual
stress in brazed joint would induce stress cracking, greatly influ-
ence creep behavior and result in failure, eventually (Aiyangar et al.,
2005; Galli et al., 2006). Therefore, in Chena's study (Chena et al.,
2005), the residual stress based on the two-dimensional model
was analyzed which was in the brazing process of three layer
interactive flat plates and plane-fin corrugations assemblies. The
result obtained by numerical simulation based on finite element
method (FEM) indicate that the stress is very complex at the brazed
joint, and high residual stresses will have a significant influence on
the quality of PFHE. Similarly, Xie et al. (Xie and Ling, 2010) also
concluded that the maximum residual stress in brazing process of

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jngse.2014.10.019
1875-5100/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1114 H. Ma et al. / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 21 (2014) 1113e1126
plate-fin structures occurs at the brazed joint by FEM. Simulta-
neously, Jiang (Jiang et al., 2007, 2008a, 2009a, 2011b, 2008b) also
analyzed the brazed residual stress based on FEM, and discussed
the effects of geometric parameters and material properties on
residual stress for a 304 stainless steel PFHE. It had been found that
the filler metal thickness has a great effect on residual stress. At the
same time, it was also found that the brazed residual stress has a
great effect on creep for a stainless steel plate-fin structures. In
order to optimize the brazing technology for 304 stainless steel
plate-fin structures (Jiang et al., 2011a, 2010, 2011c, 2011d, 2012),
the brazed residual stress and its influencing factors were also
analyzed. The results show that the quick cooling method (Chen
et al., 2006) should not be used because thermal cracks will be
created and decrease the strength, however the slow cooling
method can greatly improve the brazing performance. The brazed
processing parameters (including applied load, face sheet thick-
ness, truss thickness and truss length) have a significant effect on
residual stress. These above investigations show that FEM is an
effective way and is widely used to predict stress characteristics of
plate-fin structures (Brown et al., 2006; Celik et al., 2007; Civalek,
2004), and most investigations for plate-fin structures have been
focused on residual stress based on the thermal elasticeplastic
theory. However, the stress characteristics of plate-fin structures
based on the thermal elastic theory are less investigated in the cool-
down process.
The investigation on stress characteristics of plate-fin structures
in the cool-down process of PFHE based on the thermal elastic
theory is needed to aid the guidance for safe operation and improve
the cool-down process of PFHE in a large-scale LNG cold-box.
However, it is lack for the study on stress characteristics of plate-
fin structures in the cool-down process. For predicting stress
characteristics of plate-fin structures in the cool-down process,
pure experimental approaches are sometimes not practical because
of the difficulties of measurement. With the development of
computer technology, numerical simulation method has been
widely used for the analysis and design of metal structures (Kim
and Kuwamura, 2007; Kong et al., 2008; Sen et al., 2007). There-
fore, numerical simulation method will be a useful tool to analyze
stress characteristics of plate-fin structures for LNG heat exchanger
in the cool-down process.
In this work, according to FEM and thermal elastic theory, a
model was proposed to simulate the stress characteristics of plate-
fin structures in the cool-down process of LNG heat exchanger. The
stress distributions were analyzed in plate-fin structures at
different times of the cool-down process. The influence of tem-
perature drop rate of natural gas (NG) or mixture refrigerant (MR)
and temperature difference between NG and MR were investigated
for the peak value of equivalent stress (sr) in the stress concen-
tration region of the total LNG plate-fin structures in the cool-down
process of heat exchanger. And a cool-down experiment, in which
the liquid nitrogen was used as the cryogenic medium of heat
exchanger, was implemented to confirm the simulation results.
2. Analysis of strength theory
In the cool-down process of heat exchanger in a large-scale LNG
cold-box, the temperature drop rate of MR or NG and the temper-
ature difference between MR and NG may cause the structural
damage of plate-fin structures. At present, many investigations
show that the structural damage is induced by the two types:
brittle fracture and plastic yield. As for plate-fin structures in
complex stress state, the plastic yield is mainly reason of structural
damage. In other words, the plastic yield is not allowed for plate-fin
structures in the cool-down process of LNG heat exchangers. In
order to ensure the structural safety of plate-fin structures in the
cool-down process, a criterion is needed to evaluate whether the
stress of plate-fin structures is more than the yield limit or not. The
Von Mises yield criterion (Lee, 1988) is the fundamental criterion to
judge whether the plastic yield failure occurs in plate-fin structures
or not. According to the Von Mises yield criterion, the yield failure
of plate-fin structures is mainly caused by the deviator strain en-
ergy. In other words, no matter how the stress state is for plate-fin
structures, the plastic yield failure may occur when the deviator
strain energy uf is more than the limit value u0f of uniaxial tension
yield. The Von Mises yield criterion, in which the safety factor is
considered, can be expressed as follows:
sr
½s (1)
where [s] is the allowable stress; sr is the equivalent stress (von
Mises stress), which can be expressed as follows:
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
1h i
sr ¼ ðs1  s2 Þ2 þ ðs2  s3 Þ2 þ ðs3  s1 Þ2 (2)
2
where s1 is the first principle stress; s2 is the second principle
stress; s3 is the third principle stress.
Based on the above yield criterion, the plastic deformation
which induces the plastic yield failure of plate-fin structures may
occur in the cool-down process, when the equivalent stress is more
than the allowable stress, whereas the elastic deformation will
occur. In other words, the plastic yield failure may occur when the
equivalent stress obtained by thermal elastic theory is more than
the allowable stress. At the same time, the initial cracking location
in plate-fin structures is corresponding with the peak value of
equivalent stress in the cool-down process of heat exchanger ac-
cording to this evaluation standard on joint cracking. Therefore, the
peak value of equivalent stress is of concern in this paper.
3. Analysis of the cool-down process
In order to relieve the thermal shock and stress concentration of
plate-fin structures in PFHE of a large-scale LNG cold-box, the cool-
down process has to be implemented to generate uniform tem-
perature gradient in plate-fin structures before the heat exchanger
reaches the normal operation condition. At the same time, plate-fin
structures would also seriously cause the thermal shock and stress
concentration, and the crack failure would occur if the cool-down
process is unreasonable. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the
cool-down process in order to investigate the influence of tem-
perature drop rate of NG or MR and temperature difference be-
tween NG and MR for the stress characteristics of plate-fin
structures in the cool-down process of PFHE in a large-scale LNG
cold-box.
According to the literature (Chen Yongdong, 2010), in the cool-
down process of PFHE, the NG and MR temperatures decrease
and their pressures increase gradually with time. For the actual
cool-down process of PFHE, the temperature drop rate of the NG
may be different from that of the MR. This would lead to the change
of temperature difference between NG and MR with time in the
cool-down process. Thus, the influence of temperature difference
between NG and MR and temperature drop rate of the NG or MR are
very complicated for stress characteristics of plate-fin structures in
PFHE. In order to analyze the influence of temperature drop rate of
NG or MR and temperature difference between NG and MR for the
stress characteristics of plate-fin structures in the cool-down pro-
cess of PFHE, the simplification is necessary: (1) the influence of
temperature difference between NG and MR is analyzed for stress
of plate-fin structures as the temperature drop rate of NG is the
same as that of MR and remains constant in the cool-down process;
 H. Ma et al. / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 21 (2014) 1113e1126
Table 1
Geometric parameters (From the bottom plate to top is from No. 1 to No. 5).
Layer number Plate thickness d (mm) Fin number in 100 mm Fin thickness f (mm)
No. 1 1.6 100 0.4
No. 2 1.6 100 0.4
No. 3 1.6 100 0.4
No. 4 1.6 100 0.4
No. 5 1.6 e e
(2) the influence of temperature drop rate of the NG or MR is
analyzed for stress of plate-fin structures as the temperature dif-
ference between NG and MR remains constant in the cool-down
process. In other words, as the temperature drop rate of the NG is
the same as that of the MR in the cool-down process, the influence
of temperature drop rate of NG or MR is analyzed for the stress of
plate-fin structures; (3) the NG and MR pressures are assumed to
increase nearly linearly with time in the cool-down process. Based
on the above assumptions, the influence of temperature drop rate
of NG or MR and the temperature difference between NG and MR is
analyzed for the stress of plate-fin structures in the cool-down
process of liquefied heat exchanger in a large-scale LNG cold-box
in which the yield is 2.6  106 tons in per year. For the liquefied
heat exchanger in operational condition, the flows of NG and MR
are counterflow, and the NG is cooled from 210 K to 150 K and
becomes liquid by condensation heat transfer at the NG pressure
PNG ¼ 71 bar and the MR is heated from 155 K to 215 K and
vaporized by the boiling heat transfer at the MR pressure
PMR ¼ 4 bar.
4. Finite element analysis
4.1. The model description
Plate-fin structures, as the core component of PFHE in LNG,
mainly consist of fins and plate (Carey and Mandrusiak, 1986;
Manglik and Bergles, 1995), as shown in Fig. 1. The geometric pa-
rameters of plate-fin structures are listed in Table 1. Due to the
cyclical repeatability and complexity of plate-fin structures, some
issues would be assumed and simplified in the numerical simula-
tions: (1) the impact of layers number is ignored for the stress of
plate-fin structures; (2) the flow of NG and MR is assumed to be
alternating and counterflow, as shown in Fig. 1; (3) both the ma-
terials are treated as isotropic and linear elastic; the mechanical
and physical property parameters are assumed to be temperature
Fig. 1. The diagram of Plate-fin structures d is Plate Thickness; f, Fin Thickness; h, Fin
Height; L, Effective Length; and g, Fin width (g ¼ 100/Fin Number  Fin Thickness).
1115
Fin height h (mm) Effective length L (mm) Brazing seam thickness (mm)
6 2.5 0.1
6 2.5 0.1
6 2.5 0.1
6 2.5 0.1
e 2.5 0.1
dependent. In this work, only one unit of plate-fin structures (as
dotted lines shown in Fig. 1) which consists of four layers plate and
fin, is analyzed in a very short length (L) due to the periodicity and
symmetry of plate-fin structures. Fig. 2(a) shows the simplified
model of plate-fin structures. Fig. 2(b) and (c) display the local
structure of regions 2, 4, 5 and 6 in Fig. 2(a), respectively.
4.2. Material properties
In this analysis, the fin and plate are assumed to be AL3003 and
the brazing material is AL4004. In order to get fine results, the
expansion coefficient and elastic modulus are assumed to be tem-
perature dependent for AL3003 and AL4004. Table 2 lists all the
required material properties used in the simulations.
4.3. Analysis strategy
In ANSYS, the thermal-mechanical coupling analysis for stress
mainly includes the sequentially coupled and directly coupled
(Khan et al., 2011; Zhao et al., 2012). In this work, the directly
coupling method based on thermal elastic theory is used since the
interaction between temperature field and strain field needs to be
considered because of the relatively large deformation of plate-fin
structures in the cool-down process of PFHE. For the thermal
analysis, the convective heat transfer between NG (or MR) and the
wall of plate-fin structures is applied, because the heat transfer
process with phase change between NG and MR is implemented by
the convective heat transfer between NG (or MR) and the wall of
plate-fin structures and the heat conduction in plate-fin structures.
It is expressed as:
 
q ¼ h Tf  Tw (3)
where q is heat flux; h is the convective heat transfer coefficient; Tw
is wall temperature; Tf is the fluid temperature, such as NG or MR.
For the stress analysis, cyclical symmetry boundary on the left
most and right most surfaces is considered due to the periodicity
and symmetry of plate-fin structures. The nodes on the bottom
surface are constrained in vertical direction. At the same time, the
operating pressures of NG and MR are applied to simulate the
interaction between NG or MR and the wall of plate-fin structures.
The impact of external load is ignored in the investigation on stress
of plate-fin structures because the liquefied heat exchanger can free
expansion or shrinkage by means of the free slide of sliding guide
frame under the support structure.
5. Results and discussion
5.1. Stress distribution
In this paper, the stress distribution of plate-fin structures is
analyzed in a very short length near the NG entrance of the lique-
fied heat exchanger in the cool-down process. For the liquefied heat
exchanger, the heat transfer coefficient at the NG entrance changes
1116 H. Ma et al. / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 21 (2014) 1113e1126

Fig. 2. The simplified model of plate-fin structures and its local structures.

with time in the cool-down process and is also distinct for different fin structures when the temperature difference between NG and
cool-down processes. Therefore, it is very difficult to determine the MR is less than 10 K in the cool-down process. So it is reasonable to
heat transfer coefficient in the cool-down process. However, the assume the heat transfer coefficient between NG or MR and the
influence of heat transfer coefficient is slight for the stress of plate- wall of plate-fin structures to be constant as the temperature

Table 2
Material parameters used in FEM simulation.

Material Temperature, K E, GPa CET (106), 1/K Poisson's ratio Specific heat, J/(kg K) Density, kg/m3 Conductivity, W/(m K)

AL3003 305 68.9 22.4 0.33 962 2740 159

250 70.6 19.7
195 72.4 16.9
175 73.2 15.9
145 74.5 14.4
AL4004 305 94.6 15.1 0.35 864 2710 155
250 96.4 14.9
195 98.2 14.7
175 98.8 14.6
145 99.6 14.5
 H. Ma et al. / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 21 (2014) 1113e1126
difference is less than 10 K in the cool-down process. According to
the design condition, the heat transfer coefficient between NG and
the wall of plate-fin structures is 1.5 kW/(m2 K) at the NG tem-
perature TNG ¼ 155 K and the NG pressure PNG ¼ 71 bar; the heat
transfer coefficient between MR and the wall of plate-fin structures
is 1 kW/(m2 K) at the MR temperature TMR ¼ 150 K and the MR
pressure PMR ¼ 4 bar. At the same time, in order to ensure the
reliability of heat transfer coefficient, the heat transfer coefficient
between MR and the wall of plate-fin structures is also calculated
by Liu & Winterton's correlation (Liu and Winterton, 1991). The
calculation result is also close to that in design condition. Therefore,
the heat transfer coefficient in design condition is adopted to
investigate the stress distribution of plate-fin structures.
In the stress distribution field, there is a distinct stress gradient
in plate-fin structures. For the sake of a better understanding, four
reference paths are selected, as marked in Fig. 2. Figs. 3e11 present
the stress distribution of the four reference paths at the different
times in the cool-down process. The plots are drawn based on the
above parameter setting and the temperature drop rate Tr ¼ 2.5 K/
min. Figs. 3 and 4 depict the direct stress and shear stress distri-
butions of paths 1 and 2 at different times in the cool-down process,
respectively (sx, sy and sz are direct stress along x, y and z di-
rections, respectively; txy and tyz are shear stress on x-y plane and
y-z plane, respectively). Paths 1 and 2 are located at the interface
between the brazing filler metal and the plate and between the
brazing filler metal and the fin, respectively. The three direct
stresses are symmetrically distributed while the shear stress is
unsymmetrical.
From Fig. 3, it can be also seen that the absolute value of direct
stresses in x and y directions reaches the peak value at the brazed
joint (regions 1 and 2) which is the small transitional arc on the two
Fig. 3. The stress distribution of Path 1.
1117
terminals of the brazing seam and is much larger at the time
T ¼ 30 min than that at other times. The direct stress in z direction
also reaches the peak value at the brazed joint. The stress gradient
is much larger at the brazed joint than that at the adjacent region in
the cool-down process. In other words, when approaching the
brazed joint, the direct stresses are presented with a remarkable
elevating trend and reach the highest value at the brazed joint. At
the same time, the direct stresses in x and y directions are promi-
nent while the direct stresses in z direction and shear stresses on x-
y plane and y-z plane are relatively small. So, it is the direct stresses
in x and y directions that have the main influence for the strength of
the brazed joint.
In Fig. 4, the direct stress in z direction reaches the peak value at
the brazed joint (regions 1 and 2) and its gradient is much larger
around the brazed joint. The maximum absolute value of direct
stresses in x and y directions locates on the middle of path 2 and is
much larger at the time T ¼ 30 min than that at other times. The
shear stress on x-y plane is around zero. The direct stresses are
prominent while the shear stresses on x-y plane and y-z plane are
relatively small at the brazed joint. Therefore, the direct stresses
have the main influence for the strength of the brazed joint near the
fin side while the shear stress on x-y plane has slight influence.
Fig. 5 depicts the stress distribution of the local position in region 2.
Also, it can be drawn the same conclusions as the above suggested
ones.
The direct stresses and shear stresses can merely show the
stress state while they cannot be used to judge whether the plastic
yield failure occurs in plate-fin structures or not. According to the
Von Mises yield criterion, the von Mises stress is an equivalent
stress which can be used to evaluate the plastic yield failure.
Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the equivalent stress
1118 H. Ma et al. / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 21 (2014) 1113e1126
Fig. 4. The stress distribution of Path 2.
distribution based on the Von Mises yield criterion. Figs. 6 and 7
show the equivalent stress distributions of paths 1 and 2, respec-
tively. It can be seen clearly that the equivalent stress (Eq. (2)) are
also symmetrically distributed and is also much larger at the time
T ¼ 30 min than that at other times. In Fig. 6, the equivalent stress
has its peak value at the brazed joint. The same conclusion can be
also drawn for path 2 in Fig. 7, i.e., the peak value of equivalent
stress occurs in the region of brazed joint and the gradient of
equivalent stress at the brazed joint is much larger than that at the
adjacent region.
Fig. 8 depicts the equivalent stress distribution of path 3. The
results show that the equivalent stress distribution is very complex
along path 3. The stress gradients of brazed joint (region 2), brazing
seam (region 6) and rectangular region (region 5) are much larger,
and the equivalent stress reaches the peak value in these regions.
But the peak value of equivalent stress in region 2 is larger than that
in regions 5 and 6. In order to further analyze the equivalent stress
distribution in regions 2 and 6, the equivalent stress distribution of
the local positions in regions 2 and 6 are presented in Figs. 9 and 10.
Fig. 9 depicts the equivalent stress distribution of the local position
in region 6. The results show that the equivalent stress is much
larger at the brazing seam between plate and fin than that at the
adjacent region. Fig. 10 presents the equivalent stress distribution
of the local position in region 2. The results indicate that the peak
value of equivalent stress occurs at the brazed joint near the fin
side. At the same time, Figs. 9 and 10 also show that the equivalent
stress in regions 2 and 6 is much larger at the time T ¼ 30 min than
that at other times.
Fig. 11 exhibits the equivalent stress distribution of path 4. These
results are also obtained that the equivalent stress reaches the peak
value, and the stress gradient is much larger at the brazed joint
(regions 3 and 4). The equivalent stress is very complex at the
brazed joint and much larger at the time T ¼ 30 min than that at
other times.
In fact, the main factors to induce the stress of plate-fin struc-
tures may have the following aspects: (1) the thermal distortion is
restricted by external constraints; (2) the temperature is uneven in
plate-fin structures; (3) the thermal expansion coefficient is mis-
matched between AL4004 filler metal and AL3003 base metal.
Figs. 12e16 depict the temperature distribution of four reference
paths at the different times in the cool-down process. The results
show that the temperature is slightly changed along paths 1, 2 and
4 and at the local positions in region 2 and 6. The influence of
temperature maldistribution is slight for the stress of plate-fin
structures. Hence, the stress of plate-fin structures in the cool-
down process is mainly induced by thermal distortion restricted
by external constraints and the mismatching thermal expansion
coefficients between AL4004 filler metal and AL3003 base metal.
However, when the temperature is lower for plate-fin structures,
the influence of mismatching thermal expansion coefficients is
more slightly for the stress of that according to Table 2 while the
influence on which thermal distortion is restricted by external
constraints is more obviously. Therefore, it is the comprehensive
effect of thermal distortion restricted by external constraints and
mismatching thermal expansion coefficients between AL4004 filler
metal and AL3003 base metal that the stress at the brazed joint
(regions 1, 2, 3 and 4) and the brazing seam between the fin and the
plate is much larger at the time T ¼ 30 min than that at other times.
At the same time, the stress concentration is also the main reason
on the stress to reach the peak value at the brazed joint.
To sum up, in the cool-down processes of PFHE, the strength of
the plate-fin structures is mainly impacted by the direct stress
 H. Ma et al. / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 21 (2014) 1113e1126
Fig. 5. The stress distribution of the local position in region 2.
while the influence of shear stress on x-y plane is slight. At the same
time, the equivalent stress along four paths of plate-fin structures
reaches the peak value at the brazed joint (regions 1, 2, 3 and 4),
and the equivalent stress is lager at the brazed joint near the fin side
than that in the adjacent region. The brazing seam between the fin
and the plate also suffers the larger stress than that in the adjacent
region. This is because the stress is concentrated at the brazed joint,
the thermal distortion is restricted by external constraints and the
thermal expansion coefficient is mismatched between AL4004 filler
metal and AL3003 base metal. This means that the crack and fatigue
failure would occur in the area of brazed joint next to the fin side
firstly when the cool-down process is frequently implemented in
heat exchanger or the operation is unreasonable in the cool-down
process.
5.2. The influence of temperature difference for stress
In Section 5.1, it is stated that the equivalent stress reaches the
peak value at the brazed joint of plate-fin structures next to the fin
side due to the thermal distortion restricted by external constraints,
the stress concentration and the mismatching thermal expansion
coefficients between AL4004 filler metal and AL3003 base metal.
This is likely to lead to a crack failure in these regions. So it is
necessary to study the influence of temperature drop rate and
temperature difference between NG and MR on the peak value of
the equivalent stress at the stress concentration region of plate-fin
structures in the cool-down process. In the following content, the
influence of temperature difference between NG and MR will be
analyzed for the peak value of equivalent stress.
In the practical engineering, temperature drop (DTl) in per meter
is different along the flow direction of NG because the temperatures
1119
of NG and MR are different at different regions. This should result in
stress concentration and impact the structural safety of plate-fin
structures in the cool-down process. Therefore, Fig. 17 shows the
peak value of equivalent stress vs. the temperature difference be-
tween NG and MR at different temperature drops in per meter
along the flow direction of NG for temperature drop rate
DTr ¼ 2.5 K/min, heat transfer coefficient hMR ¼ 1.0 kW/(m2 K),
hNG ¼ 1.5 kW/(m2 K) and fluid pressure PNG ¼ 71 bar, PMR ¼ 4 bar.
The results show that the peak value of equivalent stress increases
with the increase of temperature difference between NG and MR.
At the same time, the peak value of the equivalent stress is slightly
influenced by the temperature drop in per meter along the flow
direction of NG in the cool-down process.
At the same time, the relation between the peak value of
equivalent stress and the temperature difference between NG and
MR is also analyzed at different heat transfer coefficients between
MR or NG and the wall of plate-fin structures, temperature drop
rates and the MR temperature for the temperature drop in per
meter which is ignored in a very short length along the flow di-
rection of NG because its influence is slight for the peak value of
equivalent stress and it is obviously impacted by the temperature
difference between NG and MR in the cool-down process. Fig. 18
depicts the relation between the peak value of equivalent stress
and the temperature difference between NG and MR at different
heat transfer coefficients between MR and the wall of plate-fin
structures for temperature drop rate DTr ¼ 2.5 K/min, heat trans-
fer coefficient hNG ¼ 1.5 kW/(m2 K) between NG and the wall of
plate-fin structures and fluid pressure PNG ¼ 71 bar, PMR ¼ 4 bar. The
peak value of equivalent stress increases with the increase of
temperature difference between NG and MR. Furthermore, the
peak value of the equivalent stress is slightly influenced by the heat
1120 H. Ma et al. / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 21 (2014) 1113e1126

Fig. 6. The equivalent stress distribution of Path 1. Fig. 9. The equivalent stress distribution of the local position in region 6.

Fig. 7. The equivalent stress distribution of Path 2. Fig. 10. The equivalent stress distribution of the local position in region 2.

transfer coefficient between MR and the wall of plate-fin structures and the wall of plate-fin structures as the temperature difference
as the temperature difference between NG and MR is less than 10 K between NG and MR is more than 10 K in the cool-down process.
in the cool-down process. The peak value of equivalent stress is Fig. 19 shows the peak value of equivalent stress vs. the tem-
obviously impacted by the heat transfer coefficient between MR perature difference between NG and MR at different heat transfer

Fig. 8. The equivalent stress distribution of Path 3. Fig. 11. The equivalent stress distribution of Path 4.
 H. Ma et al. / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 21 (2014) 1113e1126 1121

Fig. 12. The temperature distribution of Path 1.

Fig. 13. The temperature distribution of Path 2.

Fig. 14. The temperature distribution of the local position in region 2.

coefficients between NG and the wall of plate-fin structures for
temperature drop rate DTr ¼ 2.5 K/min, heat transfer coefficient
hMR ¼ 1.3 kW/(m2 K) between MR and the wall of plate-fin struc-
tures and fluid pressure PNG ¼ 71 bar, PMR ¼ 4 bar. Similarly, the
peak value of equivalent stress also increases with the increase of
the temperature difference between NG and MR, and is obviously
impacted by the heat transfer coefficient between NG and the wall
of plate-fin structures as the temperature difference between NG
and MR is more than 10 K in the cool-down process. But the greater
heat transfer coefficient between NG and the wall of plate-fin
structures is, the more slight the influence of that is.
Fig. 20 shows the peak value of equivalent stress vs. the tem-
perature difference between NG and MR at different temperature
drop rates for heat transfer coefficient hMR ¼ 1.3 kW/(m2 K),
hNG ¼ 1.5 kW/(m2 K) and fluid pressure PNG ¼ 71 bar, PMR ¼ 4 bar.
The same results are also obtained from Fig. 20. The peak value of
equivalent stress is obviously impacted by the temperature differ-
ence between NG and MR and increases as the temperature
1122 H. Ma et al. / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 21 (2014) 1113e1126

Fig. 15. The temperature distribution of the local position in region 6.

Fig. 16. The temperature distribution of Path 4.

Fig. 17. The peak value of sr vs. temperature difference at different temperature drops Fig. 18. The peak value of sr vs. temperature difference at different heat transfer co-
in per meter. efficients of MR.

difference between NG and MR increases. At the same time, the
results also show that the peak value of equivalent stress is slightly
influenced by the temperature drop rate as the temperature drop of
NG is the same as that of MR in the cool-down process.
Fig. 21 presents the data on the peak value of equivalent stress as
a function of the temperature difference between NG and MR at
different MR temperatures for heat transfer coefficient
hMR ¼ 1.0 kW/(m2 K), hNG ¼ 1.5 kW/(m2 K), temperature drop rate
DTr ¼ 2.5 K/min and fluid pressure PNG ¼ 71 bar, PMR ¼ 4 bar. The
results also show that the peak value of equivalent stress increases
as the temperature difference between NG and MR increases. The
peak value of the equivalent stress is slightly influenced by the MR
temperature as the temperature difference between NG and MR is
less than 10 K in the cool-down process. The peak value of
 H. Ma et al. / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 21 (2014) 1113e1126
Fig. 19. The peak value of sr vs. temperature difference at different heat transfer co-
efficients of NG.
Fig. 20. The peak value of sr vs. temperature difference at different temperature drop
rates.
equivalent stress is obviously impacted by MR temperature as the
temperature difference between NG and MR is more than 10 K in
the cool-down process.
For main cryogenic heat exchanger in a large LNG cold-box, the
boiling heat transfer and the condensation heat transfer are per-
formed in the passage of MR and NG, respectively. Due to the
complexity and instability of the boiling heat transfer and the
condensation heat transfer, the temperature difference between
NG and MR will vary greatly if the operations are not reasonable for
the main cryogenic heat exchanger in the cool-down process. This
will result in the crack and fatigue failure at the brazed joint of
plate-fin structures. At the same time, as the temperature differ-
ence between NG and MR is more than 10 K in the cool-down
process, the peak value of equivalent stress is obviously influ-
enced by MR temperature and the heat transfer coefficient between
MR or NG and the wall of plate-fin structures which is the key
parameter to describe the heat transfer performance of heat
exchanger.
5.3. The influence of temperature drop rate for stress
In order to further investigate the influence of temperature drop
rate for stress of plate-fin structures in the cool-down process, the
1123
relation between the peak value of the equivalent stress and the
temperature drop rate is depicted in Figs. 22e24.
Fig. 22 presents the data on the peak value of the equivalent
stress as a function of the temperature drop rate at different heat
transfer coefficients between MR and the wall of plate-fin struc-
tures for temperature difference DT ¼ 10 K between MR and NG,
heat transfer coefficient hNG ¼ 1.5 kW/(m2 K) between NG and the
wall of plate-fin structures and fluid pressure PNG ¼ 71 bar,
PMR ¼ 4 bar. The results show that the peak value of the equivalent
stress increases slightly with the increase of temperature drop rate
as the temperature drop rate of NG is the same as that of MR in the
cool-down process. Meanwhile, the greater heat transfer coefficient
between MR and the wall of plate-fin structures is, the larger the
peak value of the equivalent stress is.
Fig. 23 presents the peak value of the equivalent stress vs. the
temperature drop rate at different heat transfer coefficient between
NG and the wall of plate-fin structures for temperature difference
DT ¼ 10 K between NG and MR, heat transfer coefficient
hMR ¼ 1.3 kW/(m2 K) between MR and the wall of plate-fin struc-
tures and fluid pressure PNG ¼ 71 bar, PMR ¼ 4 bar. Similarly, the
results show that the peak value of the equivalent stress is slightly
affected by the temperature drop rate as the temperature drop rate
of NG is the same as that of MR in the cool-down process.
Fig. 24 depicts the relation between the peak value of the
equivalent stress and the temperature drop rate at different tem-
perature differences between NG and MR for the heat transfer co-
efficient hMR ¼ 1.3 kW/(m2 K), hNG ¼ 1.5 kW/(m2 K) and fluid
pressure PNG ¼ 71 bar, PMR ¼ 4 bar. The results indicate that the
peak value of the equivalent stress also increases slightly with the
increase of temperature drop rate in the cool-down process.
To sum up, the peak value of the equivalent stress in the plate-
fin structures also increases with the increase of temperature drop
rate because the temperature maldistribution is more obvious as
the temperature drop rate is greater in the cool-down process.
However, the peak value of the equivalent stress is slightly
impacted by the temperature drop rate as the temperature drop
rate of NG is the same as that of MR in the cool-down process. This
is because the temperature maldistribution is slightly influenced by
the temperature drop rate due to the excellent heat conductivity
performance of plate-fin structures in heat exchanger as the tem-
perature drop rate of NG is the same as that of MR in the cool-down
process.
At the same time, a cool-down experiment, in which the liquid
nitrogen was used as the cryogenic medium of plate-fin heat
exchanger, was also used to verify the simulation results. In this
experiment, the liquid nitrogen directly flows into the heat and cold
channels of heat exchanger. In the whole cool-down process, the
temperature drop rate of the fluid in the heat channel is the same as
that of the fluid in the cold channel. Table 3 lists the experiment
results. In the first experiment, the average temperature drop rate
and the local maximum temperature drop rate are 1 K/min and
26 K/min, respectively (the cool-down duration is defined as the
elapsed time from pouring liquid nitrogen into the heat exchanger
to the temperature of platinum resistance reaching that of liquid
nitrogen. The average temperature drop rate is the ratio of the
temperature difference (between liquid nitrogen and room tem-
perature) and cool-down duration). The average temperature drop
rate is less than the limit value, at which the heat exchanger is
heavily allowed to suffer in a small-scale cold-box in the cool-down
process. The result shows that plate-fin structures are safe in the
cool-down process. In the second experiment, the average tem-
perature drop rate and the local maximum temperature drop rate
are 9.7 K/min and 265 K/min, respectively. The average tempera-
ture drop rate is far greater than the limit value. Plate-fin structures
are no distortion, no cracks in the brazed joints, and the strength is
1124 H. Ma et al. / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 21 (2014) 1113e1126

Fig. 24. The peak value of sr vs. the temperature drop rate at different temperature
Fig. 21. The peak value of sr vs. temperature difference at different temperatures of
differences.
MR.

plate-fin structures as the temperature drop rate of the fluid in the

74 heat channel is the same as that of the fluid in the cold channel in
ΔΤ=10Κ,hMR=1.3kW/(m K)
2

the cool-down process. This agrees well with the simulation results.
ΔΤ=10Κ,hMR=1.0kW/(m2K) However, in the practical engineering, the temperature drop
72
ΔΤ=10Κ,hMR=0.8kW/(m2K) rate of NG may be different from that of MR in the cool-down
process of PFHE. This will result in that the temperature differ-
Stress (MPa)

70
ΔΤ=10Κ,hMR=0.5kW/(m2K)
ence between NG and MR is changed with time in the cool-down
process. Fig. 25 depicts the schematic diagram of temperature
difference change between NG and MR caused by temperature drop
68 rate of MR. TNG and TMRI are the temperature change curve in the
ideal cool-down process in which the temperature drop rate of NG
66 is the same as that of MR and remain constant in the cool-down
process. DTI is the temperature difference between NG and MR in
the ideal cool-down process. However, the NG temperature cannot
64 change synchronously due to the thermal inertia of the heat
0 5 10 15 20 25
exchanger as the temperature drop rate of MR increases in the cool-
Temperature Drop Rate
down process (as TMRP shown in Fig. 25). The temperature differ-
Fig. 22. The peak value of sr vs. the temperature drop rate at different heat transfer ence between NG and MR will increase from the temperature dif-
coefficients of MR. ference (DTI) between NG and MR in the ideal cool-down process to
DTP. This will induce stress cracking in plate-fin structures because
the temperature difference has obviously effect on the peak value of
equivalent stress in plate-fin structures. It means that the stress
cracking induced by the temperature drop rate is essentially
ascribed to the increase of the temperature difference between NG
and MR as the temperature drop rate of NG is different from the
temperature drop rate of MR in the practical cool-down process.
Therefore, the temperature difference between NG and MR is the
main reason to induce stress cracking of plate-fin structures in the
practical cool-down process.

6. Conclusions

In this paper, the stress distributions in four paths marked in

Fig. 23. The peak value of sr vs. the temperature drop rate at different heat transfer
coefficients of NG.
plate-fin structures are obtained from simulation results in the
cool-down process. The influence of the temperature drop rate of
NG or MR and the temperature difference between NG and MR for
stress of plate-fin structures in the cool-down process were
investigated by means of a direct thermal-stress coupling standard
FEM codes in ANSYS software. The simulation results are also
verified by the experiment data. The following conclusions can be
drawn from this study.

qualified. The above experiment results further indicate that the (1) The results obtained by numerical simulations indicate that
temperature drop rate has slight effect on the structural safety of the direct stresses are main factor to impact the strength of
 H. Ma et al. / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 21 (2014) 1113e1126
Table 3
The experiment results for cool-down.
No. Cool-down duration Local maximum temperature drop rate
min K/min
1 167 26
2 21 265
the brazed joint. The shear stress on x-y plane is slight to
influence that. At the same time, the equivalent stress rea-
ches the peak value at the brazed joint near the fin side. The
brazing seam between the fin and the plate also suffers larger
stress than that in the adjacent region. The main reasons
inducing the above results are stress concentration at the
brazed joint, the mismatching thermal expansion co-
efficients between filler metal and base metal and thermal
distortion restricted by external constraints.
(2) The peak value of equivalent stress is obviously impacted by
the temperature difference between NG and MR in the cool-
down process of heat exchanger. In order to ensure the safe
and reliable operation of heat exchanger, the temperature
difference between NG and MR needs to be reasonably
controlled in the cool-down process of main cryogenic heat
exchanger which is used in a large-scale LNG cold-box.
(3) The temperature drop rate has slight effect on the stress of
plate-fin structures as the temperature drop rate of the NG is
the same as that of MR. The conclusion is also verified by a
cool-down experiment. But if the temperature drop rate of
NG is different from that of MR in the practical cool-down
process, the influence of temperature drop rate for the
stress of plate-fin structures is essentially caused by the
temperature difference between NG and MR. Therefore, in
the practical cool-down process, the purpose to control
temperature drop rate of MR is to control the temperature
difference between NG and MR.
Although the above conclusions are obtained when the fin and
plate are AL3003 and the brazing material is AL4004, these con-
clusions can be also applied to other materials. Because the excel-
lent thermal conductivity is necessary for any heat exchanger and
the vacuum brazing among different materials is a main
manufacturing process of plate-fin structures. At the same time,
Fig. 25. Schematic diagram of temperature difference change caused temperature
drop rate.
1125
Average temperature drop rate Experiment results
K/min
1 (1) Strength is qualified.
9.7 (2) No distortion.
(3) No cracks in brazed joints.
different fluids and flow regimes also impact the stress of plate-fin
structures in the cool-down process. But it can be ascribed to the
influence of heat transfer coefficient for the stress of plate-fin
structures. In this paper, the peak value of equivalent stress is
analyzed at different heat transfer coefficients. Therefore, these
conclusions can be also applied to other fluids.
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