Problem Statement:

Design a gas-to-air single-pass cross flow plate type heat exchanger. Which has overall
dimensions of 0.300 m x 0:300m x 1:000m as shown in Fig.1.Offset strip fins of the same
geometry are employed on the gas and air sides the geometrical properties and surface
characteristics are provided in Fig. 2.Both fins and plates (parting sheets) are made from Inconel
625 with k 18W/mK. The plate thickness is 0.5 mm. The gas flows in the heat exchanger at
3.494 m3/s and 9000C. The air on the other fluid side flows at 1.358 m3/s and 2000C. The inlet
pressure of the gas is at 160kPa absolute whereas that of air is at 200kPa absolute. Determine the
heat transfer rate, outlet fluid temperatures. Use the properties of air for the gas.

Problem Data and Schematic:

All necessary geometrical information for the core and the surfaces are provided in Figs.1 and 2,
except that w=0.5mm.

Fig . 1
Basic surface geometries on the gas and air sides are summarized below along with
the operating conditions. The sub-scripts ;g and a are used for the gas and air sides,
respectively.
Bg=2.49mm

Dhg=0.00154m

g=2254m2/m3

g=0. 102mm

(A/Af) g= 0.785

Ba=2.49mm

Dha=0.00154m

a=2254m2/m3

a=0. 102mm

(A/Af) a= 0.785

Vg=3.194 m3/s

Tg,i=9000C

pg,i=160 kpa

kf=kw=18w/mk

Vg=1.358 m3/s

Ta,i=2000C

pa,i=200 kpa

2
Fig . 2

Determine: Heat duty .

Assumptions for Heat Transfer Analysis:
1.
2.
3.
4.

The heat exchanger operates under steady-state conditions.

Heat losses to or from the surroundings are negligible.
There are no thermal energy sources or sinks in the exchanger walls or fluids.
The temperature of each fluid is uniform over every cross section in counterflow heat
exchanger.
5. Wall thermal resistance is distributed uniformly in the entire exchanger.
6. There are no phase changes.
7. The individual and overall heat transfer coefficients are constant.

Analysis:
Surface Geometrical Properties:
We assume that there are Np passages for the gas and (Np+1) passages for the air to minimize
heat loss to the ambient. The No flow height (stack height) is given by

L3= Npbg + (Np+1)ba + (2NP+2) W

Therefore,

p =

L3ba+2w
++2

10002.492(0.5)
2.49+2.49+2(0.5)

=166.6=167

Here b is the fin height (plate spacing) and W is the plate thickness. The frontal areas on the gas
and air sides are
Afr,g=L2 x L3=0.3 m x1 m=0.3m2
Afr,a=L1 x L3=0.3 m x1 m=0.3m2
The heat exchanger volume between plates, on each fluid side, is
Vp,g= L1 L2(bgNp) =0.3m x 0.3m x (2.49 x10-3 m) x 167= 0.03742 m3
Vp,a= L1 L2(Np+1)ba=0.3m x 0.3m x (2.49 x10-3 m) x 168=0.03765 m3
The heat transfer areas Ag and Ag are
Ag= g Vp,g= 2254 m2/m3 x

0.03742 m3= 84.345 m2

Aa= a Vp,a= 2254 m2/m3 x

0.03765 m3= 84.863 m2

The minimum free-flow area is then calculated from the definition of the hydraulic diameter,
Dh=4AoL/A ;
Ao,g=(DhA)g/(4Lg) =
Ao,a=(DhA)a/(4La) =

0.00514 x 84.435

= 0.1082 m2

4 0.300

0.00514 x 84.863
4 0.300

= 0.1089 m2

Finally, the ratio of minimum free-flow area to frontal area is

g=( Ao,g / Afr,g) =

0.1082
0.3

= 0.361

0.1089

a=( Ao,a/ Afr,a) =

0.3

= 0.363

Mean Temperatures and Fluid Properties:

To determine the mean temperatures on each fluid side, we need to calculate C*. Since the flow
rates are specified as volumetric at inlet temperatures, let us first calculate the gas and air
densities and then the mass flow rates.
g,i = (Pg,i/ Tg,i) = (160 x103 ) / (287.04 x 1173.15) =0.4751 kg/m3
a,i = (Pa,i/ Ta,i) = (200 x103 ) / (287.04 x 473.15) =1.4726 kg/m3
where =287.04J/kg K is the gas constant for air. Note that all temperatures are in kelvin.
Hence the mass flow rates are
mg= Vg g= 3.494 m3/s x 0.4751 kg/ m3 = 1.66 kg/s
ma= Va a =1.358 m3/s x 1.4726 kg/ m3 = 2.00 kg/s
Hence, gas will be the Cmin side since the change in the specific heat is not a strong function of
temperature for air/gas. Now assume that =0.75 for the crossflow exchanger. Then using the
definition of the exchanger effectiveness we have
Tg,o= Tg,i (Tg,i-Ta,i) = 900oC -0.75(900-200) oC= 375.0 oC
1.66

Ta,o = Ta,I (mg/ ma)( Tg,i-Ta,i) =200oC + 0.75(

)(900-200) oC=635.8 oC

Note that we used cp,a =cp,g as a first approximation for determining Ta,o. Since
C* = mg/ma = 0.83, we will use the arithmetic average temperature from as the appropriate mean
temperature on each fluid side.
Tg,m=
Ta,m=

(900+375)
2
(200+635.8)
2

= 673.5 oC = 910.65 K
= 417.9 oC = 691.05 K

In the absence of information on the composition of the gas, we treat both the gas and air as dry
air
Gg= mg/Ao,g =

1.66
0.1082

= 15.342 kg/m2s

15.342 x 0.00154

Reg= (GDh/)g =

0.0000401

=589

Ga= ma/Ao,a =

2
0.1089

= 18.365 kg/m2s

18.365 x 0.00154

Rea= (GDh/)a =

0.0000336

=842

hg= (jGcp/Pr2/3)g = ( 0.0170 x 15.342 x1.122 x103)/0.811 =360.83 W/m2 K

ha= (jGcp/Pr2/3)a = ( 0.0134 x 18.365 x1.073 x103)/0.811 =360.83 W/m2 K

Wall Resistance and Overall Conductance.

For the Rw determination, the wall conduction area Aw is
Aw= L1 L2(2Np+2) = 0.3 x 0.3 x (2 x 167 + 2)= 30.24 m2
Therefore
Rw= (W)/(kwAw)= (0.5x10-3)/(18x30.24)= 9.186x10-7 K/W
Since the influence of fouling is negligibly small for a gas-to-air heat exchanger, we will neglect
it. Then 1/UA is given by
(1/UA)= (1/0hA)h + Rw + (1/0hA)c
= (1)/(0.8886x360.83x84.345) + 9.186 x10-7 + (1)/(0.8946x336.81x84.863)
= 0.77009x10-4 K/W
UA = 12985 W/K

NTU, Exchanger Effectiveness.

To determine NTU and , first calculate Cg and Ca
Cg= (mcp)g = 1.66 x (1.122 x 103) = 1863 W/K
Ca= (mcp)a = 2 x (1.073 x 103) = 2146 W/K
C*= (Cmin/Cmax) = Cg/Ca = 1863/2146 = 0.868
NTU = (UA)/ Cmin = 12985/1863 = 6.970
For NTU = 6.970 and C* = 0.868, the effectiveness for the crossflow exchanger with both fluids
unmixed is =0.8328

The Heat Transfer Rate q:

q = (Tg,i Ta,i) Cmin = 0.8311x (900-200) x 1863 = 1083.8 x 103 W

Disscussion: With the help of Excel package the design of Plate type Heat exchanger is carried
out.The analysis includes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Surface Geometrical Properties.

Mean Temperatures and Fluid Properties.
Heat Transfer Coefficients.
Wall Resistances and conductance.
Heat transfer rate.