Heat Exchanger

ERT 216 HEAT & MASS TRANSFER

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1. Types of Heat Exchangers
2. Log Mean Temperature
Difference Correction Factors
3. Heat Exchanger Effectiveness
4. Fouling Factors and Typical
Overall U values
5. Heat Exchanger Design

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Heat exchangers:
 Heat transfer between 2 fluids.
 Common type:
 The hot & cold fluids do not come into
direct contact with each other but are
separated by a tube wall or a flat or
curved surface.
 Heat transfer from the hot fluid to the
wall or tube surface is accomplished by
convection, through the tube wall or
plate by conduction, & then by
convection to the cold fluid. 3
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Double-pipe (concentric-pipe) heat
exchanger:
The simplest exchanger, where one fluid
flows inside one pipe and the other fluid
flows in the annular space between the
two pipes.
The fluids can be in co-current or
counter-current flow.
It is useful mainly for small flow rates.

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 Figure 1: Flow in a double-pipe heat
exchanger.

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Shell-and-tube exchanger:
In these exchangers the flows are
continuous.
Many tubes in parallel are used, where
one fluid flows inside these tubes.
The tubes, arranged in a bundle, are
enclosed in a single shell & the other
fluid flows outside the tubes in the shell
side.

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 Figure 2: Shell-&-
tube heat exchangers:
(a) 1 shell pass & 1
tube pass (1-1
(a) exchanger)

The cold fluid enters & flows inside

through all the tubes in parallel in 1 pass.

(b) 1 shell pass and

2 tube passes (1-
2 exchanger).
(b) bblee@UniMAP
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1-2 parallel counter-flow exchanger:
 The liquid on the tube side flows in two
passes as shown & the shell-side liquid
flows in one pass.
 In the first pass of the tube side, the
cold fluid is flowing counter-flow to the
hot shell-side fluid; in the second pass
of the tube side.
 The cold fluid flows in parallel with the
hot fluid.

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Cross-flow exchanger:
It is commonly used to heat or cool a
gas.
One of the fluids (liquid), flows inside
through the tubes, and the exterior gas
flows across the tube bundle by forced
or sometimes natural convection.
The fluid inside the tubes is considered
to be unmixed, since it is confined and
cannot mixed with any other stream.

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 Figure 3: Flow
patterns of cross-
flow heat
exchangers: one fluid
mixed (gas) and one
fluid unmixed.

Both fluids unmixed type:

 It is typically used in air-conditioning
and space-heating applications.
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  In this type the gas flows across a
finned-tube bundle and is unmixed, since
it is confined in separate flow channels
between the fins as it passes over the
tubes.

Figure 4: Flow
patterns of cross-
flow heat
exchangers: both
fluids unmixed.

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When the hot & cold fluids in a heat
exchanger are in true counter-current flow
or in co-current (parallel) flow, the log
mean temperature difference should be:
Temperature
ΔT2 ΔT1 difference at one
ΔTlm end of the
ln ΔT2 ΔT1 exchanger

The equation holds for a double pipe heat

exchanger & a 1-1 exchanger with one shell
pass & one tube pass in parallel or counter-
flow.
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In cases where a multiple pass heat
exchanger is involved, it is necessary to
obtain a different expression for ∆Tlm.
Depending on the arrangement of the shell
& tube passes.
∆Tlm which applies either to parallel or to
counterflow but not to a mixture of both
types cannot be used without a correction.
The usual procedure is to use a correction
factor (FT) which is so defined that when
it is multiplied by ∆Tlm, the product is the
correct mean temperature drop ∆Tm to
use. bblee@UniMAP
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In using the correction factor (FT),
 It is immaterial
 the warmer fluid flows through the
tubes or the shell.
 For a 1-2 exchanger, two dimensionless
ratios are used: Outlet of hot fluid (K)

Thi Tho Tco Tci Outlet

Z Y of cold
Tco Tci Thi Tci fluid (K)

Inlet temperature
of hot fluid (K) Inlet of cold
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fluid (K) 14
Fig 5:
Correction
factor (FT) to
∆Tlm for 1-2 &
1-4 exchanger

Fig 6:
Correction
factor (FT) to
∆Tlm for 2-4
exchanger
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It is not recommended to use a heat
exchanger for conditions under FT < 0.75.
Another shell and tube arrangement
should be used.

(a) Single pass, shell fluid (b) Single pass, both fluids
mixed, other fluid unmixed. unmixed.
Fig 7: Correction factor (FT) to ∆Tlm for cross
flow exchangers bblee@UniMAP
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 Thi Tco Tho Tci
ΔTlm ln Thi Tco Tho Tco
Then, the equation for an exchanger is:

q U i Ai ΔTm U o Ao ΔTm

ΔTm FT ΔTlm
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Example 4.9-1:
A 1-2 exchanger containing one shell pass
and two tube passes heats 2.52 kg/s of
water from 21.1 to 54.4 0C by using hot
water under pressure entering at 115.6 and
leaving at 48.90C.
The outside surface area of the tubes in
the exchanger is A0 = 9.30 m2.
(a) Calculate the mean temperature
difference ∆Tm in the exchanger and the
overall heat-transfer coefficient U0.
(b) For the same temperatures but using a 2-
4 exchanger, what would be the ∆Tm?
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Solution [Example 4-9-1]:
(a)

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From Fig. 5:
FT = 0.74

ΔT FT ΔTlm o
0.74( 42 .3 ) 31 .3 C( K )

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From Fig. 6:
(b) FT = 0.94

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 In the design of heat exchangers, ∆Tlm was
used in the equation:
q UA ΔT lm
This form is convenient when the inlet &
outlet temperatures of the two fluids
are known or can be determined by a
heat balance.
The surface area can be determined if U
is known.
Heat exchanger effectiveness (ε) is used
which does not involve any of the outlet
temperatures.
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 ε is defined as the ratio of the actual rate
of heat transfer in a given exchanger to
the maximum possible amount of heat
transfer if an infinite heat transfer area
were available.
The temperature profile for a counter-
flow heat exchanger is shown:
Fig 8:
(mcp)H
Temperature
profile for
counter-
current heat
exchanger
(mcp)C bblee@UniMAP
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CH>CC and the cold fluid under-goes a
greater temperature change than the hot
fluid, Cc is designated as Cmin (minimum
heat capacity):
C H THi THo Cmax THi THo
ε
CC THi TCi Cmin THi TCi
If the hot fluid is the minimum fluid, THO =
Tci, CC TCO TCi Cmax TCO TCi
ε
C H THi TCi Cmin THi TCi

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The denominators of both equations are
the same, the numerator gives the actual
heat transfer:
q εCmin THi TCi
Only inlet temperatures
For the case of single-pass, counter-flow
exchanger,
C H THi THO CC TCO TCi
ε
Cmin THi TCi Cmin THi TCi

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We consider the case when the cold fluid
is the minimum fluid:
THO TCi THi TCO
q CC TCO TCi UA
ln THO TCi THi TCO
After re-arrangement & solving,

1 exp
UA
1
Cmin Graphical
ε
Cmin Cmax form
Cmin UA Cmin (See Fig.
1 exp 1
Cmax Cmin Cmax 9)

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NTU could be defined as the number of
transfer units: UA
NTU
Cmin
Same result,
CH = C min
For parallel flow,

UA Cmin
1 exp 1 Graphical
ε
Cmin Cmax form
1
Cmin (See Fig.
Cmax 10)
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 Fig 9: Heat-exchanger Fig 10: Heat-exchanger
effectiveness (ε) for effectiveness (ε) for
counter-flow exchanger. parallel flow exchanger. 28
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Example 4.9-2:
 Water flowing at a rate of 0.667 kg/s
enters a counter-current heat
exchanger at 308 K and is heated by an
oil stream entering at 383 K at a rate of
2.85 kg/s (cp=1.89 kJ/kg.K).
 The overall U = 300 W/m2.K and the
area A = 15.0 m2.
 Calculate the heat transfer rate and the
exit water temperature.

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In actual practice, heat-transfer surfaces
do not remain clean.
Dirt, soot, scale, & other deposits form
on one or both sides of the tubes of an
exchanger and on other heat-transfer
surfaces.
These deposits offer additional
resistance to the flow of heat & reduce
the overall heat-transfer coefficient, U.
 Biological growth (e.g. algae) can occur
with cooling water & in the biological
processes.
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Water velocities above 1 m/s are generally
used to help reduce fouling.
Large temperature differences may cause
excessive deposition of solids on surfaces
and should be avoided if possible.
The effect of such deposits & fouling is
usually taken care of in design by adding a
term for the resistance of the fouling on
the inside & outside of the tube:
1
Ui
1 1 ro ri Ai Ai Ai
hi hdi k A AAlm Ao ho Ao hdo
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 hdi: The fouling coefficient for the
inside (W/m2.K).
 hdo: The fouling coefficient for the
outside of the tube (W/m2.K).

Table 1: Typical Fouling Coefficients

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Table 2: Typical values of overall heat-transfer
coefficients in shell-and-tube exchangers

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A substantial number of parameters is
involved in the design of a shell-and-tube
heat exchanger for specified thermal and
hydraulic conditions and desired
economics, including:
tube diameter size of shell length
 number of number of shell pitch
passes baffles
square or baffle type thickness
triangular
baffle windows baffle spacing
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A logic diagram
of a heat
exchanger
design
procedure
appears in Fig.
11.
Fig 11: A procedure
for the design of a
heat exchanger,
comprising a
tentative selection of
design parameters
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The key elements of heat exchanger
design are:
i. Selection of a tentative set of design
parameters.
ii. Rating of the tentative design, which
means evaluating the performance with
the best correlations and calculation
methods that are feasible.
iii. Modification of some design parameters,
then rerating the design to meet
thermal and hydraulic specifications and
economic requirements.
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Stainless Steel Tubes:
The simplest method to increase heat
transfer is to increase the number of
tube-side passes, if the controlling
resistance to heat transfer is on the
tube side and current tube-side velocities
are low (< 3 ft/s).
Other than high velocities, the next best
method to control fouling on the both
shell and tube sides is to prevent the
formation of rough surfaces due to
corrosion.
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A smooth, mirror-finished surface will
retard the accumulation of fouling
deposits.
Two notes of caution regarding re-tubing
with stainless:
i. Do not put stainless tubes in direct
physical contact with carbon steel tube
support baffles/carbon steel tube
sheets.
 The results will be galvanic corrosion of
the carbon steel components.
 nine chrome tubes are consistent with
carbon steel components.
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 ii. 304, 316 and 317 stainless should not be
used in crude preheat.
 At least, not upstream of the desalter.
 The problem is chloride stress corrosion
cracking.

Sintered Metal Tubes:

Rough surfaces are bad for sensible heat
transfer due to fouling.
But in clean services, rough surfaces are
critically important to boil water and
hydrocarbons.
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  Rough surfaces provide nucleation sites
for bubbles to form.
 For one butane reboiler, an old reboiler
bundle with pitted carbon steel tubes had
double the heat transfer capacity of a new
bundle.
 There are two ways to prevent loss of heat
transfer on reboilers when a newly retubed
bundle is commissioned.
 A sintered metal coating can be applied to
the tubes, or
 the tubes can be lightly sand blasted to
roughen their surface. bblee@UniMAP
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Tube Inserts:
These are springs that are inserted into
the tubes.
Some types are fixed and some spin with
the flow.
The objective is to create turbulence
that reduces the tube-side film
resistance, and the rate of tube-side
fouling.

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Twisted Tubes:
 It looks like a 1-inch hollow drill bit.
 The idea is that the twisted surface
generates more turbulence on both the
tube side and the shell side than a
straight tube.
 The twisted tube does not require any
tube support baffles.
 The tubes touch and thus are self-
supporting.

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 However, without any tube support
baffles, an external sleeve or shroud is
needed to keep the tubes in place.
 Care must be taken in handling the
shroud so as not to alter the alignment of
the twisted tubes.

Fig 12:A twisted tube. Bundle does not have

tube support baffles. 44
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Helical Tube Support Baffles:
The flow through the tube side of this
type of exchanger is conventional.
 However, the shell-side flow is unique.
 It is neither perpendicular to the
tubes nor parallel.
 Rather, the shell-side flow follows a
screw-type pathway across the tubes.
It is the angled slope of the baffles that
induce this sort of helical or screw-type
flow to the shell-side liquid.
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Fig 13:Tube bundle with helical tube
support baffles. Liquid flows in a
screw type path.
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The advantage of this sort of flow is that
dead zones are eliminated in the exchanger
areas where ordinarily the flow changes
directions along the edge of the tube
support baffles.
For this strategy to work, the controlling
resistance to heat transfer must be on the
shell side.

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Practical ideas to enhance heat transfer
efficiency:
Several more conventional methods to
enhance heat transfer are:
i. Minimize clearance between tube support
baffles and shell ID, as per TEMA
specifications.
ii. Use ½-inch rather than the standard ¼-
inch space between tubes.
o This will reduce dirt bridging between
tubes on the shell side.
o This bridging problem creates dead
zones with no flow and no heat transfer.
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iii. Specify the highest possible allowable
pressure drops on the exchanger data
sheets.
o This permits vendors to design for a
high velocity, which suppresses fouling
rates.
iv. Include block valves and bypasses to
stop flow for brief periods.
o The result is thermal spalling and/or
melting of deposits from tube surfaces.

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 v. Use floating head, not U tube
exchangers.
o U tube exchangers cannot be visually
inspected after cleaning the tube side
of the bundle.
vi. Do not rerun cracked recovered slops
through heat exchangers after the slops
have been exposed to air.
o Polymerization will result at about
300°F to 350°F. The polymers form
gums which promote fouling.
o Virgin materials do not polymerize.
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vii. Use vertically cut baffles in boiling or
condensation services for the shell-side
flow.
viii.Charge from tanks with floating
suctions.
o Dirt will settle out of the bottom of
the tank
o Wait until just before a unit
turnaround to start the internal tank
mixers.
o Exchangers will then foul rapidly.
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ix. Watch for hydrocarbon leaks in cooling
water system.
o Hydrocarbons promote biological
fouling inside the tubes.
x. Elevate condensers above reflux drums
for drainage to avoid condensate backup.
xi. Place the fluid with the lowest Reynolds
number (i.e., the high viscosity fluid) on
the shell side.
o the most important point

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 o The resulting vortex shedding as the
liquid flows perpendicularly across the
tubes will avoid laminar flow and the
resulting high heat transfer film
resistance.
o As long as the tube pitch is rotated
square, the shell will still be able to be
cleaned even though the shell-side flow
is dirty.

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