Tutorial 2: Heat exchangers

1. A counter flow shell and tube type heat exchanger ( 1 shell and 8 tube passes) is used to
heat water coming in at 20 °C and oil at temp 150 °C in shell is used to heat water in tube.
The tubes are twin walled and its thermal resistance can be ignored. Internal diameter of
the tube is 1.4 cm and length of each pass is 5 m. Overall heat transfer coefficient between
oil and water is U = 310 W m−2 K−1 , Cp,oil = 2.13 kJ kg−1 K−1 , Cp,water = 4.18 kJ kg−1 K−1 ,
ṁoil = 0.3 kg s−1 , ṁwater = 0.2 kg s−1 .

Determine the following:-

a) Total heat transfer rate from oil to water

b) Exit temperature of water

c) Exit temperature of oil

Note: For a counter flow shell and tube heat exchanger with one shell and number of
tubes with multiple of two tube passes (two, four, six, etc.) use the following relation:

2
= h i
1+exp −(NTU)(1+Cr 2 )
0.5
 0.5
1 + Cr + 1 + Cr 2 · h i
1−exp −(NTU)(1+Cr 2 )
0.5

where,  is heat exchanger effectiveness and Cr = Cmin

Cmax

2. A fire-tube boiler has hot air flowing with a heat transfer coefficient of 55 W m−2 K−1
through 2 mm thick steel tubes with an inside diameter of 3.8 cm. On the outside of the
tubes is water boiling with a heat transfer coefficient of 7500 W m−2 . Estimate overall
heat transfer coefficient. Take ksteel = 50 W m−1 K−1 . The thermal resistance of air is
0.0004 m2 K W−1 and thermal resistance of water is 0.0002 m2 K W−1 .

3. In a single-pass heat exchanger, the hot fluid enters at 300 °C and leaves at 220 °C, while
the cold fluid enters at 75 °C and exits at 200 °C. Compute the LMTD for the following:-

a) parallel flow

b) counter flow

Comment on the relative exchanger area needed in both the cases.

4. Hot oil at a temperature of 180 °C enters a shell and tube heat exchanger and is cooled by
water entering at 25 °C. There is one shell pass and 6 tube passes in the heat exchanger
and the overall heat transfer coefficient is 350 W m−2 K−1 . The tube is thin walled, 15 mm
ID and length per pass is 5 m. Water flow rate is 0.3 kg s−1 and oil flow rate is 0.4 kg s−1 .
Determine the outlet temperatures of oil and water and also the heat transfer rate in the
heat exchanger. Given: Specific heat of oil is 1900 J kg−1 K−1 and specific heat of water is
4184 J kg−1 K−1 .
Note: For a counter flow shell and tube heat exchanger with one shell and number of

EN 317, DESE, IIT Bombay 24-8-2021 Page 1 of 2

 tubes with multiple of two tube passes (two, four, six, etc.) use the following relation:

2
= h i
1+exp −(NTU)(1+Cr 2 )
0.5
 0.5
1 + Cr + 1 + Cr 2 · h i
1−exp −(NTU)(1+Cr 2 )
0.5

where,  is heat exchanger effectiveness and Cr = Cmin

Cmax
.

5. A hot gas passing through a tube attached with fins on the outside which acts as a cross
flow heat exchanger. The inlet and outlet temperatures of the gas are 280 °C and 110 °C
respectively and its specific heat is 900 J kg−1 K−1 . The heat given out by the gas is being
used to heat water flowing at a rate of 1 kg s−1 from 30 °C to 120 °C and its specific heat
is 4197 J kg−1 K−1 . The overall heat transfer coefficient on the hot surface of the tube is
90 W m−2 K−1 . Find the required surface area on the hot side of the tube.
Note: For a cross flow heat exchanger with both fluids unmixed use the following relation:

1
   h i  
 = 1 − exp NTU0.22 · exp −Cr · NTU0.78 − 1
Cr

where,  is heat exchanger effectiveness and Cr = Cmin

Cmax
.

6. A counter flow, concentric tube heat exchanger is used to cool the lubricating oil for a large
industrial gas turbine engine. The flow rate of cooling water through the inner tube (Di =
25 mm) is 0.2 kg s−1 , while the flow rate of oil through the outer annulus (Do = 45 mm)
is 0.1 kg s−1 . The oil and water enter at temperatures of 100 °C and 30 °C, respectively.
How long must the tube be made if the outlet temperature of the oil is to be 60 °C? Cp,oil
= 2131 J kg−1 K−1 , Cp,water = 4178 J kg−1 K−1 , µoil = 0.0325 N s m−2 , µwater = 0.000725
N s m−2 , koil = 0.138 W m−1 K−1 , and kwater = 0.625 W m−1 K−1 . Nusselt number for oil
flowing through the annulus
ho Dh
Nuo = = 5.63
k
4/5
and for the water flowing through inside the inner tube is; Nui = 0.023 ReD · Pr0.4

Answers:

1. (a): 39.1 kW , (b): 88.8 °C, (c): 66.8 °C

2. 52.9 W m−2 K−1

3. (a): 84.69 °C, (b): 121.1 °C

4. (a): 115.7 °C, 63.9 °C (b): 48.84 kW

5. 41.7 m2

6. 65.9 m

EN 317, DESE, IIT Bombay 24-8-2021 Page 2 of 2