MINDANAO POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

GENERAL SANTOS CITY

Mindanao Polytechnic College General

Santos City

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

BSME 4
SUBJECT: FME 18- ME LABORATORY 2

Heat Transfer in a Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger

Submitted by:
Fajardo, Ryan C.
STUDENT
Submitted to:
Engr. William R. Salazar, P.M.E.
INSTRUCTOR
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ABSTRACT

Heat exchangers are devices that transfer energy, in the form of heat, from one

working fluid to the next, whether that be solids, liquids, or gases. These devices are

essential for refrigeration, power generation, HVAC, and more, and come in many

shapes and sizes that can both introduce heat or remove it. Understanding what makes

one heat exchanger unique from another is often difficult, so this article will help readers

gain an introductory knowledge on one of the most popular heat exchangers, the shell

and tube heat exchanger.

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II. TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Abstract 2

II. Table of Contents 3

III. Introduction 4

IV. Theory 4

V. Experimental Setup and Procedure 5

VI. Experimental Results 6

VII. Conclusion and Recommendation 7

VIII. Acknowledgements 8

IX. References 9
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III. INTRODUCTION

OBJECTIVE:

The objective of this experiment is to investigate heat transfer in a shell-and

tube heat exchanger and to compute and compare the overall heat transfer coefficient

for both co-current and counter-current modes of operation.

BRIEF BACKGROUND:

A shell and tube heat exchanger is a class of heat exchanger designs. It is

the most common type of heat exchanger in oil refineries and other large chemical

processes, and is suited for higher-pressure applications. As its name implies, this type

of heat exchanger consists of a shell (a large pressure vessel) with a bundle of tubes

inside it. One fluid runs through the tubes, and another fluid flows over the tubes

(through the shell) to transfer heat between the two fluids. The set of tubes is called a

tube bundle, and may be composed of several types of tubes: plain, longitudinally

finned, etc. There are also multiple arrangements possible, including U-tube, fixed tube,

or a floating head configuration.

Heat exchangers are widely used in the process industries so their design has

been highly developed. Most exchangers are liquid-to-liquid, but gas and

noncondensing vapors can also be treated in them.

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The simple double-pipe exchanger is inadequate for flow rates that cannot

readily be handled in a few tubes. If several double pipes are used in parallel, the

weight of metal required for the outer tubes becomes large. The shell-and tube

construction, such as that shown in Fig. 1, where one shell serves for many tubes, is

more economical. This exchanger, because it has one shell-side pass and one tubeside

pass, is a 1-1 exchanger. In an exchanger the shell-side and tube-side heattransfer

coefficients are of comparable importance, and both must be large if a satisfactory

overall coefficient is to be attained. The velocity and turbulence of the shellside liquid

are as important as those of the tube-side liquid. To prevent weakening of the tube

sheets there must be a minimum distance between the tubes. It is not practicable to

space the tubes so closely that the area of the path outside the tubes is as small as that

inside the tubes. If the two streams are of comparable magnitude, the velocity on the

shell side is low in comparison with that on the tube side. Baffles are installed in the

shell to decrease the cross section of the shell-side liquid and to force the liquid to flow

across the tube bank rather than parallel with it. The added turbulence generated in this

type of flow further increases the shell-side coefficient.

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Shell and tube heat exchanger design:

There can be many variations on the shell and tube design. Typically, the ends of

each tube are connected to plenums (sometimes called water boxes) through holes in

tube sheets. The tubes may be straight or bent in the shape of a U, called U-tubes.

The biggest difference about u tube heat exchanger compared with other types of

heat exchanger is the tube buddle structure, the longer the tube diameter is , the longer

the minimum bending radius is. And the u tube heat exchanger bending radius should not

less than two times the outer diameter of the heat exchanger tube.

U tube heat exchanger usually designed according to the ASME Code, Section

VIII, Division 1. This high load U tube heat exchanger can prevent the stress damage

caused by container inflation during the process of heating or cooling. As one end of the
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tube bundle is float, the heat exchanger can be guaranteed safety even under the extreme

heat cycle. It is a ideal design method when the heat medium is steam.

Surface condensers in power plants are often 1-pass straight-tube heat

exchangers (see surface condenser for diagram). Two and four pass designs are

common because the fluid can enter and exit on the same side. This makes

construction much simpler.

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There are often baffles directing flow through the shell side so the fluid does not

take a short cut through the shell side leaving ineffective low flow volumes. These are

generally attached to the tube bundle rather than the shell in order that the bundle is still

removable for maintenance.

Counter current heat exchangers are most efficient because they allow the highest log

mean temperature difference between the hot and cold streams. Many companies

however do not use two pass heat exchangers with a u-tube because they can break

easily in addition to being more expensive to build. Often multiple heat exchangers can

be used to simulate the counter current flow of a single large exchanger.

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The shell and tube exchanger consists of four major parts:

The Tubes

Tubes are perhaps the most important component of a heat exchanger. Used to

transfer liquids, tubing may be welded or seamless, but welded tubing is known to be

more economical. Most heat exchangers have tube diameters of 5/8 inch, 3/4 inch or 1

inch. Some have smaller tubes, but these should be avoided if possible because they are

harder to clean. Plants that wish to achieve a lower pressure drop might use tubes with

larger diameters. Some tubes have inserts known as twisted tapes. These are installed

to improve heat transfer when handling fluids in laminar flow conditions. All tubes are

bundled together and held in a shell or casing.

Front and Rear Headers

The front and rear headers of heat exchangers are where the liquid enters and leaves

the tubes. Fluid enters the front header, sometimes known as the stationary header, and

then leaves the exchanger through the rear header before reentering the front header for

multiple passes through the tubes.

Transfer Line Exchangers

Transfer Line Exchangers (TLX) are used to cool very hot gas very rapidly and are

most prominent in very harsh conditions. The design of the TLX will depend on the
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arrangement of the tubes in the heat exchanger, but all require special designs in order

to efficiently meet process needs. They connect to the radiant coil outlets via flange or

welded joints and require internal insulation for areas that are exposed to hot gas but not

cooled by water.

The Air Cooling System

The air cooling system in a heat exchanger consists of fin fans, condensers and

chillers. The fin fans are designed to blow onto the hot tubes to effectively keep them cool.

Condensers cool substances until they change to a liquid from a gas. Chillers use water

as their cooling medium and keep the water temperature low enough to cool the

equipment without freezing the water.

Shell and Tube Exchanger: Geometric Terminology

The main components of a shell and tube exchanger are shown in Figure 2 a, b

and c and described in table.

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1 Stationary (Front) Head Channel 20

Slip-on Backing Flange
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2 Stationary (Front) Head—Bonnet 21

Floating Tubesheet Skirt

3 Stationary (Front) Head Flange 22

Floating Tubesheet Skirt

4 Channel Cover 23 Packing Box

Flange

5 Stationary Head Nozzle 24 Packing

6 Stationary Tubesheet 25 Packing

Follower Ring

7 Tubes 26 Lantern Ring

8 Shell 27 Tie Rods and Spacers

Transverse Baffles or Support

9 Shell Cover 28
Plates

Shell Flange—Stationary Head

10 29 Impingement Baffle or Plate
End

11 Shell Flange—Rear Head End 30

Longitudinal Baffle

12 Shell Nozzle 31 Pass Partition

13 Shell Cover Flange 32 Vent

Connection

14 Expansion Joint 33 Drain

Connection

15 Floating Tubesheet 34
Instrument Connection
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16 Floating Head Cover 35 Support

Saddle

17 Floating Head Flange 36 Lifting

Lug

18 Floating Head Backing Device 37

Support Bracket

19 Split Shear Ring

THEORY

The heat-transfer coefficient h1 for the tube-side fluid in a shell-and-tube

exchanger can be calculated from the following equation:

The viscosity correction term is omitted in the above equation as well as in all

equations that follow since the temperature difference is not much. In this equation the

physical properties of the fluid, are evaluated at the bulk temperature. The coefficient for

the shell (ho) cannot be so calculated because the direction of flow is partly parallel to

the tubes and partly across them and because the cross-sectional area of the stream
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and the mass velocity of the stream vary as the fluid crosses the tube bundle back and

forth across the shell. Also, leakage between baffles and shell and between baffles and

tubes short

Circuits some of the shell-side liquid and reduces the effectiveness of the

exchanger. An approximate but generally useful equation for predicting shell side

coefficients is the Donohue equation (5), which is based on a weighted average mass velocity Ge

of the fluid flowing parallel with the tubes and that flowing across the tubes. The mass velocity Gb parallel

with the tubes is the mass flow rate divided by the free area for flow in the baffle window Sb. (The baffle

window is the portion of the shell cross section not occupied by the baffle). This area is

the total area of the baffle window less the area occupied by the tubes, or

In crossflow the mass velocity passes through a local maximum each time the
fluid passes a row of tubes. For correlating purpose the mass velocity Gc for cross-flow is
based on the area Sc for transverse flow between the tubes in the row at or closest to
the centerline of the exchanger. In a large exchanger Sc can be estimated from the
equation
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. This equation tends to give conservatively low values of h , especially at low

o

Reynolds numbers. More elaborate methods of estimating shell-side coefficients are

available for the specialist. In j -factor form Eq. (5) becomes

Correction of LMTD for cross flow

If a fluid flows perpendicularly to a heated or cooled tube bank, the LMTD, as

given by the equation
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Applies only if the temperature of one of the fluids is constant. If the temperatures

of both fluids change, the temperature conditions do not correspond to either

countercurrent or parallel flow but to a type of flow called cross flow. When flow types

other than countercurrent or parallel appear, it is customary to define a correction factor

F
G, which is so determined that when it is multiplied by the LMTD for countercurrent

flow, the product is the true average temperature drop. Figure 2 shows a correlation for
F for crossflow derived on the assumption that neither stream mixes with itself during
G

flow through the exchanger. FG = 1 for 1-1 heat exchanger. Each curved line in the

figure corresponds to a constant value of the dimensionless ratio Z, defined as

The factor Z is the ratio of the fall in temperature of the hot fluid to the rise in

temperature of the cold fluid. The factor ηH is the heating effectiveness, or the ratio of the

actual temperature rise of the cold fluid to the maximum possible temperature rise

obtainable if the warm-end approach were zero (based on countercurrent flow). From

the numerical values of ηH and Z the factor FG is read from Fig. 2, interpolating between

lines of constant Z where necessary, and multiplied by the LMTD for counterflow to give

the true mean temperature drop.

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The true mean temperature drop will be used in the following equation to obtain overall

heat transfer coefficient, U.

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EXPERIMENTAL SETUP AND PROCEDURE

Description of Equipment:

The test unit consists of a graphite heat exchanger and a shell-and-tube heat

exchanger. A schematic sketch showing valves, pressure gauges, rotameters, and the

location of temperature sensors is given in Figure 1. The hot water, produced by the

graphite heat exchanger using steam, is on the tube side. The cold water on the shell side

can be directed co-current or counter-current to the hot water. Opening hand valve HV-3

while closing HV-6 and HV-7 will implement the counter -current mode of operation.

Reversing each valve position will implement the co-current mode. The length of the test

section is 1 m with 37 tubes each of outside diameter 1.15 cm and of 1 mm thickness.

The shell side has 4 baffles, each occupies 50% of its cross-sectional area, distanced 15

cm from each other. The inside diameter of the shell side is 15 cm.

A set of 6 thermocouples is provided to record pertinent process temperatures. A

selector switch and digital read-out are provided. The temperature indicators shown in

Figure 1 will measure the following temperatures.

T1 cold water inlet temperature

T2 hot water outlet temperature for the graphite heat exchanger

T3 cold water outlet temperature for shell and tube heat exchanger.

T4 hot water inlet temperature for the shell and tube heat

exchanger
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T5 hot water outlet temperature, for the shell and tube heat

exchanger

T6 Steam temperature
Cold water is supplied through a rotameter with a range of 0 - 1.2 CFM. Note the

wedge at the side of the rotameter must be used to read the flow rate. Flows are controlled

through manual control valves upstream of the rotameters (HV-1for hot water feed to the

shell-and-tube heat exchanger, and HV-2 for that of the cold water).

Experimental Procedure:

i) Keep HV-5 open all the time.

ii) Open HV-1 slowly. iii) Open HV-8 slowly.

iv) Adjust HV-1 and HV-8 such that T2 is approximately 50oC - 60oC; note that T2

should not exceed 85oC.

v) Choose the mode of operation in the shell and tube heat exchanger by opening and

closing the appropriate valves (start first in counter-current mode, by opening HV-3

while closing HV-6 and HV-7).

vi) For a fixed hot water flow rate measure the following for six different cold water flow

rates:

a) cold water flow rate to the shell-and-tube heat exchanger

b) hot water flow rate to shell and tube heat exchanger via the graphite heat

exchanger

c) cold water inlet temperature

d) cold water outlet temperature

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e) hot water inlet temperature

f) hot water outlet temperature vii) Repeat the experiment with co-current flow

conditions instead of that of the counter current (i.e. by closing HV-3 while opening

HV-6 and HV-7), but keep the hot water flow rate unchanged.

Shut Down Procedure - Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger

i) Close HV-8 ii)

Close HV-1 and HV-2 iii)

Close HV-4 iv) Close HV-3

and open HV-6

v) Leave the unit in a safe and clean condition

Experimental Program

A set of six measurements will be taken for each mode of operation. The cold

water flow rate will be varied in the range 6.1 - 23.1 Liter/min. The hot water flow rate

and temperature will stay approximately constant at about 12.6 Liter/min and 55oC,

respectively. Since the cold water for both the graphite and the shell-and-tube heat

exchangers is obtained from the same water main, the cold water to the graphite heat

exchanger must be checked whenever the cold water to the shell and tube heat

exchanger flow rate is changed. A log sheet suitable to record all experimental data is

attached.
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Data Analysis

The following items must be covered in the analysis:

1) Carry out an energy balance for the tube-side and the shell side. 2)

Compute the experimental overall heat transfer coefficient for the heat

exchanger.

3) Plot on a log-log scale the computed experimental overall heat transfer

coefficient vs the shell-side Reynolds’s number.

4) Calculate the theoretical heat transfer coefficient and compare with the experimental

one.
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EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

No laboratory due to not face to face class

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CONCLUSION

A shell and tube heat exchanger consists of a series of tubes housed within a cylindrical

container known as a ‘shell’. All tubes within the shell are collectively termed a ‘tube

bundle’ or ‘tube nest’). Each tube passes through a series of baffles and tube sheets

(also known as ‘tube stacks’). One of the tube sheets is fixed and one is free to move,

this allows for thermal expansion as the heat exchanger is heated. this type of heat

exchanger is widely used in the chemical process industries. One fluid flows on the

inside of the tubes, while the other fluid is forced through the shell and over the outside

of the tubes.
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VIII. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, praises and thanks to the God, the Almighty, for His showers of

blessings throughout my research work to complete the research. I would like to

express my deep and sincere gratitude to my research instructor, Engr. William R.

Salazar, P.M.E., Professor in Mindanao Polytechnic College G.S.C for giving me the

opportunity to do research and providing invaluable guidance throughout this research.

His vision, sincerity and motivation have deeply inspired me. He has taught me the

methodology to carry out the research and to present the research works as clearly as

possible. It was a great privilege and honor to work and study under his guidance. I am

extremely grateful for what he has offered me. I would also like to thank him for his

friendship, empathy, and great sense of humor. I am extremely grateful to my parents

for their love, prayers, caring and sacrifices for educating and preparing me for my

future. also I express my thanks to my sisters, brother and their support and valuable

prayers. My Special thanks goes to my friend, my thanks go to all the people who have

supported me to complete the research work directly or indirectly

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IX. REFERENCES

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1azVp1fxPilMQnYeF0p-pPEd0PAUuCR0k/view

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_and_tube_heat_exchanger

https://www.innovationinfo.org/articles/SJASR-6-168.pdf

https://www.thermopedia.com/content/1121/