The paper introduces the artificial intelligence (AI) approach as a general method for the design and optimization study of heat exchangers. Genetic Algorithms (GA) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) are applied in the paper. An AGENN model, combining Genetic Algorithms with Artificial Neural Networks, was developed and validated against the desired data on a large falling film evaporator. A broad range of operating conditions and geometric configurations are considered in the study. Four kinds of tubes are deliberated, including plain and enhanced tubes. Different tube pass arrangements, i.e., top-to-bottom, bottom-to-top, and side-by-side, are discussed. Finally, the effects of liquid refrigerant mass flow rate, as well as the number of flooded tubes on the performance of the evaporator, are analyzed. The total heat transfer rate of the evaporator, predicted by the model, is in good agreement with the desired data; the maximum error is lower than ±3%. The highest heat transfer rate of the evaporator is 1140.01 kW and corresponds to Turbo EHP tubes, and bottom-to-top tubes pass arrangements, which guarantee the best thermal energy conversion. The presented approach can be referred to as a complementary technique in heat exchanger design procedures, besides the common rating and sizing tasks. It is an effective and alternative method for the existing approaches, considering the complexity of analytical and numerical techniques as well as the high costs of experiments.Construction features of the direct-transfer-type heat exchangers are the base of their classification, according to the geometry of construction criterion. Considerable flexibility in heat exchangers design can be observed for tubular ones where tube diameter, the number of tubes, the tube length, the pitch of the tubes, and the tube arrangement can be easily modified. Tubular heat exchangers can be classified into double-pipe, shell-and-tube and spiral-tube-type heat exchangers as heat transfer coefficients in a spiral tube are higher than those in a straight one. Plate heat exchangers are built of thin plates (plain, wavy, or corrugated) forming flow channels and can be categorized into: gasketed plate (consists of a series of thin plates with corrugation or wavy surfaces that separate the fluids), spiral plate (formed by rolling two long, parallel plates into a spiral), and lamella (Ramen) type of heat exchanger (a set of parallel, thin plate channels or lamellae (flat tubes or rectangular channels) placed longitudinally in a shell) [2].Extended surface heat exchangers contain fins or appendages on primary heat transfer surfaces to increase the heat transfer area (usually on the gas side).According to the heat transfer mechanisms criterion, there can be distinguished: 1. single-phase convection on both sides, 2. single-phase convection on one side and two-phase convection on other side, 3. two-phase convection on both sides.Finally, according to the flow arrangements criterion, the following fluid-flow path through the heat exchanger can exist:...