11.6 LONGITUDINAL FINNED DOUBLE-PIPE EXCHANGERS 11.6.

1 Introduction The double-pipe exchanger consists ofa pair ofconcentric tubes or pipes. One process stream flows through the inner pipe, and the other flows, either in counter- or cocurrent (parallel) flow in the annular region between the two pipes. The inner pipe may be bare or it may contain as many as 48 longitudinal fins equally spaced around its periphery. Consider the plain double-pipe exchanger shown in Fig. 11.23. It usually consists of two pairs ofconcentric pipes with a return bend and a return head made leaktight by packing glands. The packing glands and bends returning outside rather than inside the return head are used only where the annulus has low fluid pressure. Ifthere is no problem with differential thermal expansion, the glands may be omitted and the outer and inner pipes may be welded together to provide a leaktight construction. Two pairs ofconcentric pipes are used to form a hairpin because ofthe convenience the hairpin affords for manifolding streams and the natural loop it can provide

for differential thermal expansion between the inner and outer pipes. The hairpin brings all inlets and outlets close together at one end, which is particularly important when multiple hairpins are connected in batteries. Moreover, the hairpins need not have the same length. An additional merit ofthe double-pipe heat exchanger is the ease in which it usually can be disassembled for inspection and cleaning or reused in another service whenever a process becomes obsolete. The longitudinal fin double-pipe exchanger is used advantageously where an appreciable inequity appears in the composite thermal resistance ofa pair offluids in a plain double-pipe exchanger. Because heat transfer equipment is usually purchased on the basis of its performance in the fouled condition, the composite thermal resistance is the sum ofthe convective film resistances and the fouling resistances. The

advantage of the finned annulus lies in its ability to offset the effects of poorer heat transfer in one fluid by exposing more surface to it than the other. Indeed, even if the composite resistances ofboth fluids are low, as discussed subsequently, there may still be an advantage in the use ofthe finned inner pipe. Fins are usually 0.089 cm thick (0.035 in. and 20 BWG). A steel fin with a thermal conductivity of50 W/m K and a height of1.27 cm ( 1 2 in.) on exposure to a composite resistance of0.004 m2 K/W (corresponding to a film coefficient of 250 W/m2 K) has a fin efficiency ofabout 0.65. Exposed to a composite resistance of0.002 m2 K/W, the efficiency drops to about 0.5. Hence, the high fin has its limitations, although metals ofhigher thermal conductivity extend the range ofapplication. Fin surface is inexpensive compared with prime surface, but its usefulness diminishes significantly below a composite resistance of0.002 m2 K/W. For the case where both composite resistances are very large, any improvement in the surface exposed to the higher resistance may save considerable linear meters ofe xchanger. Moreover, inner pipes are available with fins on the inside as well as the outside ofthe pipe, and the inner pipes are also available with continuous twisted longitudinal fins, which cause some mixing in the annulus. As a class, however, these show a small increase in heat transfer coefficient for a large expenditure of pressure loss, and for viscous fluids, the mixing and its effects decay rapidly. The disposition ofthe fins about the pipe is shown clearly in Fig. 11.24. They form a radial array ofchannels, with each channel composed oftw o fins. Channels may be attached by continuously spot-welding them to the outside ofthe inner pipe or by other brazing or welding procedures. It should be noted that contact between the

channels and the other pipe should be continuous over the entire channel length but need not be very wide. In another method ofattaching longitudinal fins, grooves are plowed in the outside diameter ofthe inner pipe. Metal ribbon is then inserted into the grooves as fins and the plowed-up metal is peened back to form a tight bond between fins and the inner pipe. In the laminar or transition flow regimes, fins are sometimes offset every 30 to 100 cm. The common double-pipe exchanger units available are summarized in Table 11.3.

Source: After Saunders (1988). a One outer tubeone inner tube: standard units. The fin thickness for extruded or soldered fins is 0.5 mm for fins up to 12.7 mm high and 0.8 mm high for greater heights. Fin thickness for welded fins is 0.89 mm for fin heights up to 25.4 mm. The dimensions shown here are for low-pressure units.

11.6.2 Physical Data for Annuli Extruded Fins For the finned annular region between the inner and outer pipes shown in Fig. 11.24a, the cross-sectional area for nt identically finned inner pipes each having nf extruded fins will be

Welded U-Fins The configuration for the annular region that accommodates welded U-fins is shown in Fig. 11.24b, and detail for a pair of the fins is shown in Fig. 11.24c. Observe that z is the fin root width and thickness, which is usually taken as 2f . The free area for flow for nf fins and nt inner tubes with f = z/2 is

11.6.3 Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient Revisited Kern (1950), Kern and Kraus (1972), and Kraus et al. (2001) all report on a method originally proposed by Kern for evaluation of the overall heat transfer coefficient when it has a component that involves fouling in the presence of fins. The equation for an overall heat transfer coefficient is a complicated expression because of the annulus fouling and the fin efficiency. It can be developed from a series summation ofse veral thermal resistances that are identified in Fig. 11.25. These resistances are given in m2 K/W. After both inside and outside heat transfer coefficients, hi and ho, have been determined and after both fouling resistances, rdi and rdo, have been specified (either

Figure 11.25 Location of thermal resistances for a fouled longitudinal fin double-pipe exchanger. The thermal resistances are based on gross fin and outer pipe surface, and the tip of the fin is considered adiabatic. one or both can be zero), the steps can be arranged in systematic order. The detailed procedure that follows is based on a finned annular passage and an internally unfinned tube. 1. With hio = hi(di/do), form the inside film resistance:

from hand book imp