Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger

A shell and tube heat exchanger is a class of heat exchanger designs. It is the most common
type of heat exchanger in oil refineries and other large chemical processes, and is suited for
higher pressure applications. This type of heat exchanger consists of a shell (a large pressure
vessel) with a bundle of tubes inside it. One fluid runs through the tubes, and another fluid
flows over the tubes (through the shell) to transfer heat between the two fluids. The set of
tubes is called a tube bundle and may be composed of several types of tubes: plain,
longitudinally finned, etc.

Figure 1(Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger)

Figure 2(Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Heat Flow)

Area Density
The ratio of the heat transfer surface area of a heat exchanger to its volume is called the area
density denoted by . A gas-to-fluid heat exchanger is referred to as a compact heat exchanger
if it incorporates a heat transfer surface having a surface area density above about 700 m2/m3
on at least one of the fluid sides, which usually has gas flow. It is referred to as a laminar flow
heat exchanger if the surface area density is above about 3000 m2/m3 and as a micro heat
exchanger if the surface area density is above about 10,000 m2/m3.

Area Density of Shell & Tube Heat Exchanger Available In IST HMT Lab
Area Density
It is defined as the ratio of hat transfer surface area of the heat exchanger to its volume.

In our case shell and tube heat exchanger has following dimensions.

Calculations
Heat transfer Area

Volume of the Shell

Now,

So the area density of the available shell and tube heat exchanger in the lab is approximately
34/m which is less than 700 so we may conclude that heat exchanger is not compact