Design Guidelines for Shell & Tube Heat Exchangers with High Viscosity fluids

Tube side guidelines

1. Allowable pressure drop may be ≥2 bar.

2. Tube side passes to be ≤20 with large shell diameters such as 1. 5m. For normal shell diameters of 0.3
to 0.6m the number of tube side passes do not exceed 6.

3. Tube side velocities may be lower for highly viscous liquids from the generally recommended
minimum value of 1.0 m/s.

4. For high viscosity fluids, 0.75” or 1” OD tubes are preferred. For high viscosity as well as high fouling
liquids 1” OD (25.4 mm) tubes shall be considered.

5. For dirty services in shell side, use square pitch.

6. For low Reynolds number (<2000) in shell, use rotated square pitch (45°).

Shell side guidelines

1. For high viscous / high fouling services the design shall be a “Channel and Removable Cover” front
head (Type “A” front head as per TEMA) and “Floating Head with Backing Device” rear end (Type “S”
Rear Head as per TEMA).

2. Baffle spacing can be from the range of 0.3 to 0.6 ratio of the baffle spacing to the shell inside
diameter. Too low baffle spacing shall be avoided.

3. Using a TEMA “A” type front end and TEMA “S” type rear end generally limits the shell diameter to
1.4-1.5m.

4. TEMA shell type “E” is recommended.

Conclusion:

Above guidelines (as applicable) shall be followed for the design of the E-603 heat exchanger.