INSTITUTION: DEDAN KIMATHI UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

COURSE OF STUDY BSC.MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

YEAR OF STUDY 3.2

NAME REGISTRATION NUMBER

DUNCAN KIPLANGAT E023-01-0890/2017

DORCAS CHEPKORIR E023-01-0785/2017

DENIS KIMUTAI E023-01-

UNIT NAME: THERMODYNAMICS

UNIT CODE: EMG2306

TASK: A REPORT ON PLATE HEAT EXCHANGER

ENERGY BALANCE AND OVERALL EFFICIENCY

 ABSTRACT

The concept of energy conservation as expressed by an energy balance equation is crucial part of
mechanical engineering to solving many problems in our societies and in our day to day encounters for
instance energy accounting on a system within an industry where measuring and analyzing the energy
consumption of different activities is done to improve energy efficiency.

In this lab experiment plate heat exchanger was used to analyze the rate of heat exchange from one
fluid of different temperature to another fluid of different temperature, the temperature difference was
then taken by the sensors and given as T 1, T2, T3, and T4 the overall efficiency is then calculated using the
data obtained and some future recommendations given to ensure a more accurate results is obtained in
the future.

OBJECTIVE

To perform an energy across a plate heat exchanger and calculate the overall efficiency at different fluid
flow rates.

To use the counter current data collected in the experiment to draw a graph and make a relation
between flowrate and efficiency

INTRODUCTION

Heat exchanger is an important unit operation that contributes to efficiency and safety of any processes
in our day to day activities. The tubular heat exchanger being the simplest form of heat exchanger which
consists of two concentric tubes. The inner metal tube carries a hot fluid and the outer cyclic annulus
caries the cold fluid, such that the inner tube’s outer surface is in direct contact with the cold fluid. Any
temperature difference across the metal tube wall will result in the transfer of heat between the two
fluid streams. The hot water flowing through the inner tube will be cooled and the cold water flowing
through the outer annulus will be heated. Sensors are placed at output and the input of the set up and
these take readings of the temperature variations across the whole set up.

The plate heat exchanger was configured where the flow of the hot and cold fluid was in opposite
directions i.e. counter flow. The collected data was then used to carry out some calculations therefore
making a relationship between the overall efficiency of the plate heat exchanger and the theoretical
values.

METHOD

Measuring changes in temperature of two systems separated by plates in plate heat exchanger and
calculating the heat energy transferred to or from each stream to determine the overall efficiency.

EQUIPMENT REQUIRED

HT30XC Heat Exchanger service unit

HT31 plate Heat Exchanger

THEORY

The heat exchanger is configured for counter current flow where the two fluid streams flow in the
opposite directions

Mass flowrate (qm)= volume flowrate(qv)× density of the fluid¿)

Heat power(Q)= Mass flowrate (qm)×specific heat (Cp)×∆T(W)

Therefore;

Heat power emitted from hot fluid, Qe(W)= qmh(Cph) (T1-T2)

Heat power absorbed by cold fluid, Q A(W)=qme(Cph) (T4-T3)

Heat power lost (or gained) Qf=Qe-QA (W)

Overall efficiency (ɳ)=100× (QA /QC)

Theoretically, QC=QA. However, they differ experimentally due to losses or gains to/from the
environment respectively.

PROCEDURE

The temperature was set to 66◦C and hot water calculator switched on until the set temperature was
attained.

After that cold-water flow was adjusted to give a flow of 1 litre/min and hot water circulator controller
was set to 3.5 litre/min and was allowed to stabilize.
The sensors temperature T1,T2,T3 and T4 outputs were recorded by clicking on the ‘GO’ icon on the
laptop software .

The cold water was then adjusted to 2litre/min and the values recorded again. And the data obtained
saved.

EXPERIMENT SET UP

The experiment set up was set up as shown below.

DATA OBTAINED
 Temp Temp Temp Temp Hot Water Hot Water Cold Water Cold Water Specific Heat Specific Heat Hot Fluid Density Cold Fluid Density Thot Tcold Hot Mass Cold Mass Heat Power Heat Power Heat Power Overall Temp Temp Mean Overall Heat Questions
Sample Flow LMTD
T1 T2 T3 T4 Pump Flowrate Valve Flowrate Hot Fluid Cold Fluid Average Hot Fluid Average Cold Fluid Flow Rate Flow Rate emitted absorbed lost Efficiency Efficiency Efficiency Temp Transfer Score
Number Orientation Notes
Setting Fhot Setting Fcold Cph Cpc Temperature Temperature qmh qmc Qe Qa Qf for hot fluid for cold fluid Efficiency Coefficient
[°C] [°C] [°C] [°C] [%] [l/min] [%] [l/min] [kJ/kg K] [kJ/kg K] [%] [kg/m³] [%] [kg/m³] [°C] [°C] [kg/s] [kg/s] [W] [W] [W] [%] [%] [%] [%] U [%]

1 65.5 55.1 22.7 49.4 47 3.5 100 1.45 Countercurrent 4.184 4.178 60.31433105 983.0 36.02624512 993.7 10.4 26.7 0.058 0.024 23.3 2824.586
2 63.2 52.9 21.0 47.4 48 3.6 100 1.49 Countercurrent 4.183 4.178 58.00891113 984.2 34.19165039 994.3 10.3 26.4 0.059 0.025 22.9 2906.118
3 60.9 51.0 20.3 45.5 48 3.5 100 1.51 Countercurrent 4.182 4.178 55.93078613 985.2 32.90905762 994.7 9.8 25.2 0.058 0.025 22.1 2823.931
4 59.2 49.5 20.1 44.2 48 3.5 100 1.53 Countercurrent 4.182 4.178 54.33972168 986.0 32.14599609 995.0 9.6 24.1 0.057 0.025 21.4 2847.104
5 58.1 48.5 20.0 43.3 48 3.4 100 1.46 Countercurrent 4.181 4.178 53.33312988 986.5 31.65893555 995.1 9.6 23.3 0.056 0.024 Hidden Hidden Hidden Hidden Hidden Hidden Hidden 20.9 2810.101
6 57.8 48.3 20.0 43.0 48 3.5 100 1.49 Countercurrent 4.181 4.178 53.05712891 986.6 31.49658203 995.2 9.5 23.1 0.057 0.025 20.8 2894.272
7 57.4 48.0 20.0 42.7 48 3.5 100 1.45 Countercurrent 4.181 4.178 52.73242188 986.8 31.33422852 995.2 9.4 22.7 0.058 0.024 20.7 2885.554
8 57.2 47.8 20.0 42.6 49 3.4 100 1.43 Countercurrent 4.181 4.178 52.4888916 986.9 31.28552246 995.3 9.4 22.6 0.056 0.024 20.5 2812.138
9 56.9 47.7 20.0 42.5 49 3.4 100 1.48 Countercurrent 4.181 4.178 52.27783203 987.0 31.23681641 995.3 9.2 22.5 0.056 0.025 20.3 2778.885
10 56.7 47.5 20.0 42.4 49 3.5 100 1.48 Countercurrent 4.181 4.178 52.06677246 987.1 31.171875 995.3 9.2 22.4 0.058 0.025 20.2 2918.078

DATA ANALYSIS