Semi-Analytical Calculation of the Inlet Zone Performance of Ideal Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers

Author(s):  
K. Mohammadi ◽  
W. Heidemann ◽  
H. Mu¨ller-Steinhagen

A semi-analytical model is presented for the evaluation of the performance factor of the inlet zone of an E type shell and tube heat exchanger without leakage flows. The performance factor is defined as the ratio of dimensionless heat transfer coefficients and pressure drops of both vertical and horizontal baffle orientation and therefore facilitates the decision between horizontal and vertical baffle orientation of shell and tube heat exchangers. The model allows the calculation of the performance factor of the inlet zone as a function of the baffle cut, the shell-side Reynolds number at the inlet nozzle and the Prandtl number of the shell-side fluid. The application of the model requires the knowledge of the performance factor of water at baffle cut equal to 24% of the shell inside diameter. For the development of the model a numerical data basis is used due to the lack of experimental data for shell and tube heat exchangers with different baffle orientations. The numerical data are obtained from CFD calculations for steady state conditions within a segmentally baffled shell and tube heat exchanger following the TEMA standards. Air, water and engine oil with Prandtl numbers in the range of 0.7 to 206 are used as shell-side fluids. The semi-analytical model introduced for the performance factor predicts the CFD results with a relative absolute error less than 5%. The presented model has to be validated with further experimental data and/or numerical results which explain the effect of baffle orientation on the shell-side heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop in order to check the general applicability.

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Swanand Gaikwad ◽  
Ashish Parmar

AbstractHeat exchangers possess a significant role in energy transmission and energy generation in most industries. In this work, a three-dimensional simulation has been carried out of a shell and tube heat exchanger (STHX) consisting of segmental baffles. The investigation involves using the commercial code of ANSYS CFX, which incorporates the modeling, meshing, and usage of the Finite Element Method to yield numerical results. Much work is available in the literature regarding the effect of baffle cut and baffle spacing as two different entities, but some uncertainty pertains when we discuss the combination of these two parameters. This study aims to find an appropriate mix of baffle cut and baffle spacing for the efficient functioning of a shell and tube heat exchanger. Two parameters are tested: the baffle cuts at 30, 35, 40% of the shell-inside diameter, and the baffle spacing’s to fit 6,8,10 baffles within the heat exchanger. The numerical results showed the role of the studied parameters on the shell side heat transfer coefficient and the pressure drop in the shell and tube heat exchanger. The investigation shows an increase in the shell side heat transfer coefficient of 13.13% when going from 6 to 8 baffle configuration and a 23.10% acclivity for the change of six baffles to 10, for a specific baffle cut. Evidence also shows a rise in the pressure drop with an increase in the baffle spacing from the ranges of 44–46.79%, which can be controlled by managing the baffle cut provided.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
praveen math

Abstract Shell and Tube heat exchangers are having special importance in boilers, oil coolers, condensers, pre-heaters. They are also widely used in process applications as well as the refrigeration and air conditioning industry. The robustness and medium weighted shape of Shell and Tube heat exchangers make them well suited for high pressure operations. The aim of this study is to experiment, validate and to provide design suggestion to optimize the shell and tube heat exchanger (STHE). The heat exchanger is made of acrylic material with 2 baffles and 7 tubes made of stainless steel. Hot fluid flows inside the tube and cold fluid flows over the tube in the shell. 4 K-type thermocouples were used to read the hot and cold fluids inlet and outlet temperatures. Experiments were carried out for various combinations of hot and cold water flow rates with different hot water inlet temperatures. The flow conditions are limited to the lab size model of the experimental setup. A commercial CFD code was used to study the thermal and hydraulic flow field inside the shell and tubes. CFD methodology is developed to appropriately represent the flow physics and the procedure is validated with the experimental results. Turbulent flow in tube side is observed for all flow conditions, while the shell side has laminar flow except for extreme hot water temperatures. Hence transition k-kl-omega model was used to predict the flow better for transition cases. Realizable k- epsilon model with non-equilibrium wall function was used for turbulent cases. Temperature and velocity profiles are examined in detail and observed that the flow remains almost uniform to the tubes thus limiting heat transfer. Approximately 2/3 rd of the shell side flow does not surround the tubes due to biased flow contributing to reduced overall heat transfer and increased pressure loss. On the basis of these findings an attempt has been made to enhance the heat transfer by inducing turbulence in the shel l side flow. The two baffles were rotated in opposite direction to each other to achieve more circulation in the shell side flow and provide more contact with tube surface. Various positions of the baffles were simulated and studied using CFD analysis and th e results are summarized with respect to heat transfer and pressure loss.


2012 ◽  
Vol 560-561 ◽  
pp. 156-160
Author(s):  
Lin Ping Lu ◽  
Liang Ying

The experiments on heat transfer coefficient, pressure drop and thermal stress were done to heat exchangers with corrugated tubes and staight tubes. By analyising and comparing the heat transfer coeffient, pressure drop in tube side and shell side and axial force and stress, some conclusions can be conducted that the corrugated tube heat exchanger has better heat transfer coeffient, higher pressure drop and much lower stress caused by temperatur difference, also, it has obvious advantages under the circumstance of low Reynolds number and high temperature difference.


Author(s):  
Fadi A. Ghaith ◽  
Ahmed S. Izhar

This paper aims to enhance the thermal performance of an industrial shell-and-tube heat exchanger utilized for the purpose of cooling raw natural gas by means of mixture of Sales gas. The main objective of this work is to provide an optimum and reliable thermal design of a single-shelled finned tubes heat exchanger to replace the existing two- shell and tube heat exchanger due to the space limitations in the plant. A comprehensive thermal model was developed using the effectiveness-NTU method. The shell-side and tube-side overall heat transfer coefficient were determined using Bell-Delaware method and Dittus-Boelter correlation, respectively. The obtained results showed that the required area to provide a thermal duty of 1.4 MW is about 1132 m2 with tube-side and shell-side heat transfer coefficients of 950 W/m2K and 495 W/m2K, respectively. In order to verify the obtained results generated from the mathematical model, a numerical study was carried out using HTRI software which showed a good match in terms of the heat transfer area and the tube-side heat transfer coefficient.


Author(s):  
Majid Amidpour ◽  
Abazar Vahdat Azad

In this paper, the new approach of Constructal theory has been employed to design shell and tube heat exchangers. Constructal theory is a new method for optimal design in engineering applications. The purpose of this paper is optimization of shell and tube heat exchangers by reduction of total cost of the exchanger using the constructal theory. The total cost of the heat exchanger is the sum of operational costs and capital costs. The overall heat transfer coefficient of the shell and tube heat exchanger is increased by the use of constructal theory. Therefore, the capital cost required for making the heat transfer surface is reduced. Moreover, the operational energy costs involving pumping in order to overcome frictional pressure loss are minimized in this method. Genetic algorithm is used to optimize the objective function which is a mathematical model for the cost of the shell and tube heat exchanger and is based on constructal theory. The results of this research represent more than 50% reduction in costs of the heat exchanger.


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