A review study of recent advancements in polymer heat exchanger technology in the aspect of heat transfer

Many applications use metallic heat exchangers, but some operating conditions, such as desalination, exhibit wear and corrosion problems. Thus, it is important to develop and use alternative materials to metals for such conditions. Although polymers have low thermal conductivity, corrosion resistance, cost-effectiveness, and lightweight, polymer heat exchangers can be constructed to overcome this problem. They were introduced in the last decades; advancements in 3D printing technology help manufacture complex, novel, and thin heat transfer surfaces. Although review studies are limited, recent research has not explored heat transfer-based reviews of heat exchangers produced by additive manufacturing and polymer hollow fibre methods. In this study, polymer heat exchanger works were reviewed and classified according to tube diameter as polymer and polymeric hollow fibre heat exchangers as the most updated ones. Generally, the studies focused on the thermal performance of heat exchangers constructed with metal and polymer materials, and the results were compared to determine the usability of polymer-based ones. As a result, polymeric hollow fibre heat exchangers may compete with metallic ones due to low wall resistance and enhanced heat transfer surface area because of the development of manufacturing technology. Also, the cost and weight of polymeric hollow fibre exchangers are lower, and they can be operated under corrosive conditions. Finally, it is obvious that increased research is needed to enhance the properties of polymer materials to increase the performance of this type of heat exchanger.