Research Paper Optimization investigation on configuration parameters of spiral-wound heat exchanger using Genetic Aggregation response surface and Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm Simin Wang a , Guanping Jian a , Juan Xiao a , Jian Wen b,⇑ , Zaoxiao Zhang a a School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shanxi 710049, China b School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China highlights  Parameter drive design is used and three optimum configurations were obtained by MOGA.  For heat transfer, the layer spacing and the winding angle are the main impact factors.  Heat transfer will be enhanced firstly and then decreases with the increase of winding angle.  The flow patterns in the shell side would be changed with the increase of winding angle.  The diversion effect will be strengthened under larger winding angle. article info Article history: Received 5 December 2016 Revised 14 March 2017 Accepted 19 March 2017 Available online 23 March 2017 Keywords: Spiral-wound heat exchanger Structural parameters Genetic Aggregation Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm abstract Based on the method combining Genetic Aggregation response surface and Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm, the effects of configuration parameters of spiral-wound heat exchanger (SWHE) on flow and heat transfer characteristics were numerically studied. The results show that the shell-side pressure drop of the spiral-wound heat exchanger decreases with the increase of layer pitch, winding angle and tube pitch, respectively. The shell-side heat transfer coefficient of the spiral-wound heat exchanger decreases with the increase of layer pitch and increases with the external diameter of tube. The shell- side heat transfer coefficient increases firstly with the increase of the winding angle and then decreases. The sensitivity analysis also shows that the shell-side flow and heat transfer characteristics are mainly affected by the winding angle. Under the working condition, the pressure drop and heat transfer coeffi- cient are both negatively correlated with the layer pitch. And the winding angle is negatively correlated with the pressure drop, but positively correlated with the heat transfer coefficient. Three optimal config- urations were obtained by the Multi-Object Genetic Algorithm based on Genetic Aggregation response surface. Compared with the original configuration, the average heat transfer coefficient of improved ones is enhanced by 2.93%, while the average pressure drop is reduced by 40.27%. The results are of great significance for the design of spiral-wound heat exchanger. Ó 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd. 1. Introduction Spiral-wound heat exchangers (SWHE) are highly compact structure, high pressure endurance and good thermal compensa- tion performance, which are widely used in petrochemical enter- prises, pharmaceutical industries, liquefied natural gas plants, air separation plants, nuclear power stations and so on [1–5]. To allow for a compact design with comparatively long tubes lengths, the tubes are typically wound from tube coils and the winding direc- tion is changed for each tube layer. It is well known that coiling the tube in the shell side of the SWHE is an effective method to enhance heat transfer. Over the past decades, a lot of studies have been carried out on flow and heat transfer characteristic in shell side of SWHE. Neeraas et al. [6] constructed an experimental sys- tem to measure the local heat transfer coefficients and frictional pressure drop in the shell side of spiral wound LNG heat exchanger and obtained lots of experimental data. Based on those data, the heat transfer coefficients were compared with the data from Gnielinski [7] and a modified method from Barbe et al. [8] for http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2017.03.100 1359-4311/Ó 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd. ⇑ Corresponding author. E-mail address: jianwen@xjtu.edu.cn (J. Wen). Applied Thermal Engineering 119 (2017) 603–609 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Applied Thermal Engineering journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng