Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger

MECH595 – Introduction to Heat Transfer

Professor M. Zenouzi

Prepared by:

Andrew Demedeiros, Ryan Ferguson, Bradford Powers

November 19, 2009

1
Abstract

2
Contents

Discussion of Theory: .................................................................................................................................... 4

Experimental Apparatus and Procedure ....................................................................................................... 7

Experimental Data ........................................................................................................................................ 8

Results ......................................................................................................................................................... 10

Discussion of Results ................................................................................................................................... 14

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Discussion of Theory:
A heat exchanger is a device that is used to transfer energy in the form of heat from one fluid to

another. They take two input fluids of different temperatures and as the two fluids run near each other

the fluids transfer heat between each other. The heat exchanger looks like a large pipe that consists of

37 small tubes. They are used in various configurations for all sorts of applications such as space heating,

refrigeration, air conditioning, power plants, chemical plants, and petrochemical plants.

Heat exchangers can be used in two different configurations parallel flow, Figure 1, or counter flow,

Figure 2.

Figure 1 ~ Cocurrent flow

Figure 2 ~ Counter current flow

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Each configuration refers to how the fluid moves through their respective flow passages relative to each

other. If each fluid is flowing in the same direction such as in figure 1 it is termed a parallel flow. On the

other hand if the fluids flow in opposite directions as in figure 2 it is termed counter flow.

Parallel flow in heat exchangers happens when both fluids enter the heat exchanger at their largest

temperature difference. The temperature difference becomes less over the length of the heat

exchanger. In the counter flow heat exchanger, the fluids enter at opposite ends and therefore at

different ends of the temperature scale Figure 2. As the fluids move through the exchanger, they both

warm up or cool down at roughly the same rate. The temperature differential between the two fluids is

relatively constant over the length of the exchanger.

The heat transfer process which occurs in any basic heat exchanger can be summarized by the following

equations.

Qh = m h c ph ∆Th
Qc = m c c pc ∆Tc
F (LMTD )
Q= = F (UA)(LMTD )
RT

Where in the last equation F is the correction factor which equals 1 for this experiment. LMTD is the Log

Mean Temperature Difference which is described latter in this section. Q is the heat transferred

between the hot water and cold water.

The overall resistances can be calculated using:

RT = Rhf + Rw + Rcf

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Where

1
Rhf =
A1 hh
ln[D2 D1 ]
Rw =
2πLk w
1
Rcf =
A2 hc

hc and hh from the above equations can be found using the appropriate Nusselt number for hot and cold

water.

For the hot water (fluid inner tubes)

hh = Nu h  h 
K

 D h

Nu h = 0.023 Re 0h.8 Prh0.3 For Cooling

For the cold water

hc = Nu c  c 
K

 D c 

Nu c = 0.36 Re 0c .55 Prc0.33 For Heating

The log-mean temperature difference is given by the following equation where a and b represent the

ends of the heat exchanger. The LMTD is used because the heat must pass through four resistances the

hot tube to the cold water.

(∆Ta − ∆Tb )
∆Tm =
ln (∆Ta ∆Tb )

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Heat exchanger effectiveness is defined as the ratio of the actual heat transfer rate of the praticlar heat

exchanger to the maximum possible heat transfer rate for the same unit.

ε = Q Qmax

Qmax = C min (Thi − Tci )

Where Cmin is equal to either Cc or Ch, whichever is smaller and are defined as, Ch = mh cph and Cc = mccpc.

C h (Thi − Tho )
ε=
C min (Thi − Tci )

Experimental Apparatus and Procedure

For this experiment a HT30X Heat exchanger services unit was used along with an HT33 shell

and tube heat exchanger. This device included four K-type thermocouples at the hot and cold inlet and

outlets.

The exchanger consisted of seven stainless steel tubes 6.35 mm in diameter with a 0.6 mm wall

thickness. The outer annulus was constructed from clear acrylic tubing 39.0 mm inner diameter with a

3.0 mm wall thickness. The length of the tube bundle is 144 mm giving a total heat transfer area of

20,000 m2.

The procedure for the laboratory is listed below.

1. Set the cold water pressure regulator. Adjust the knob until a flow rate of 3.00 liters per minute

is established. Lock down this setting.

2. Prime the hot water circuit. Switch on the hot water circulating pump and expel any air bubbles.

Do not let the water level fall below the height of the priming vessel to prevent air from entering

the system.

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 3. Set the computer software to countercurrent flow and maintain a hot water temperature of 60

°F.

Experimental Data
The results of the experiment are displayed in the tables below.

m_cw m-ht Th in Th out Tc in Tc out

RUN l/s l/s ˚C ˚C ˚C ˚C
1 1 3 60.7 56.5 15.9 29.7
2 1.5 3 60.5 55.2 15.1 25.1
3 2 3 60.2 54.5 14.5 22.9
4 2.5 3 60.5 53.7 14.8 21.3
5 3 3 60.5 53.8 14.3 20.5
Table 1 ~ Parallel flow temperature data

m_cw m-ht Th in Th out Tc in Tc out

RUN l/s l/s ˚C ˚C ˚C ˚C
1 1 3 61.3 56.6 15.1 28.3
2 1.5 3 60.4 55 15 24.8
3 2 3 60.5 54.5 16 23.5
4 2.5 3 60.5 54 15.6 22
5 3 3 60.8 53.9 15.7 21.2
Table 2 ~ Counter current flow temperature data

Sample Calculations:
Calculating hot water heat rate:

Calculating cold water heat rate:

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Calculating Reynolds Number:

Calculating Nusselt Number:

Calculating heat transfer coefficient:

Calculating overall heat transfer coefficient:

Calculating Log-Mean Temperature Difference:

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Calculating heat transfer rate:

Calculating maximum heat transfer:

Calculating Efficiency:

Results
Hot Water Heat Rate Cold Water Heat Rate
Run Qh Run Qc
1 52.03833 W 1 56.99436 W
2 65.66742 W 2 61.9504 W
3 70.62345 W 3 69.38444 W
4 84.25254 W 4 67.11293 W
5 83.01353 W 5 76.81849 W
Table 3 ~ Cocurrent Heat Rates

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 Hot Water Heat Rate Cold Water Heat Rate
Run Qh Run Qc
1 58.23337 W 1 54.51635 W
2 66.90643 W 2 60.71139 W
3 74.34048 W 3 61.9504 W
4 80.53551 W 4 66.08042 W
5 85.49155 W 5 68.14544 W
Table 4 ~ Counter Current Heat Rates

1.8

1.6

1.4
Total Thermal Resistance (K/m)

1.2

0.8
Total Resistance

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5
Cold Water Flow Rate (kg/s)

Figure 3 ~ Total Thermal Resistance

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 90

80

70

60
Heat Rate (W)

50

40 Hot Water Heat Rate(Cocurrent)

Hot Water Heat Rate (Concurrent)
30

20

10

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5
Cold Water Flow Rate (kg/s)

Figure 4 ~ Hot Water Heat Rate

90

80

70

60
Heat Rate (W)

50

40 Heat Rate Cold Water (Cocurrent)

Heat Rate Cold Water (Concurrent)
30

20

10

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5
Cold Water Flow Rate (kg/s)

Figure 5 ~ Cold Water Heat Rate

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 50

45

40

35
Heat Rate (W)

30

25
Total Heat Rate (Cocurrent)
20
Total Heat Rate (Concurrent)
15

10

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5
Cold Water Flow Rate (kg/s)

Figure 6 ~ Total Heat Rate

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Efficiency

4
Cocurrent Efficiency
3 Concurrent Efficiency

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5
Cold Water Flow Rate (kg/s)

Figure 7 ~ Exchanger Efficiency

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Discussion of Results
The results of this laboratory show that the effectiveness of the heat exchanger is related to the

cold-water flow rate. This is due to the decrease of thermal resistance decreases with increased cold

water flow. Each trend in the Figures 4 through 7 above increases with flow rate.

There was no noticeable advantage to using counter current versus concurrent flow in the data.

For each run the data collected for heat transfer rate did not vary greatly.

Conclusions
The data presented in this report shows that heat exchanger performance increase linearly with

increasing cold water flow rate. This follows logically since more cold water is delivered to carry away

heat per unit of time. Additionally increased flow rate results in more turbulent flow. This also increases

the heat transfer rate.

Contrary to heat exchanger theory however, there was no noticeable difference in the heat

transfer rate between parallel flow and counter current flow. The counter current flow should show

enhanced heat transfer ability.

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