4.4.

Shell-and-tube heat
exchangers
This section covers shell-and-tube heat exchangers in more detail.
Types of shell-and-tube heat exchanger
• Common standards are promulgated by TEMA
(tubular exchanger manufacturers’ association)
• 3 main TEMA classes
• R = severe duties (petroleum refineries)
• C = moderate duty (commercial use)
• B = chemical process industries
• TEMA types
• 3-letter code defined as
• FRONT END – SHELL TYPE – REAR END
e.g.
BEM = bonnet head at front end – one shell pass –
fixed tube sheet like B at the rear end
AEM = channel with removable cover at front end –
one shell pass – fixed tube sheet B at the rear end
Tubes come in standard sizes → 19 mm is a
good preliminary choice most of the time
Tube sheets have standard patterns (Pt is the tube
pitch = distance between the centres of tubes)

Triangular Square

Rotated
square/
diamond
Shell design
• Shell diameter should be a tight fit to the tube bundle to prevent fluid
flow from bypassing the tubes → poor heat transfer!
• Baffles are used to direct flow
 BAFFLING
Types of Baffles
Segmental baffles Rod baffles

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Baffle spacing
• Centre line to centre line distance between baffles.
• Most vital parameter in STHE design.
• TEMA standards: minimum baffle spacing - 1/5 of shell ID or 2”;
whichever is greater.
• Sometimes baffle spacing of 0.2 – 1 (shell ID) is used.
• Closer spacing – poor bundle penetration by shell-side fluid, difficulty
in mechanical cleaning. But higher HTC and higher pressure drop.
• Small baffle spacing – poor stream distribution.

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Baffle spacing(contd)
• Maximum baffle spacing = shell ID.
• Larger baffle spacing - longitudinal flow will predominate, less
efficient than cross flow, large unsupported tube spans - HX
prone to tube failure
• Optimum baffle spacing:
o Turbulent flow on shell side Re > 1000, HTC varies to power 0.6 –
0.7 of velocity, but pressure drop varies to the power 1.7 – 2.
o Laminar flow Re < 100, exponents are 0.33 for HTC and 1.0 for
pressure drop.
o As baffle space is reduced, pressure drop increases at a much
faster rate than does the HTC. Optimum ratio of baffle spacing to
shell ID– usually between 0.3 & 0.6.

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 Baffle cut
Baffle cut Baffle cut orientation

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8.3 Baffle cut (contd)

• Expressed as % of shell-side ID.

• Important parameter for STHE design
• Varies from 15 – 45% of shell ID.
• Very small and very large baffle cuts - detrimental to efficient heat
transfer on the shell-side.

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Effect of small and large baffle cuts

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Baffle cut (contd)

• Use baffle cuts of 20% - 35%.

• Baffle cuts < 20% (increase the shell-side HTC) or > 35% (decrease shell-
side pressure drop) - poor designs.
• Change other aspects of tube bundle geometry e.g. double segmented
baffles, divided flow shell or cross-flow shell may be used to reduce the
shell-side pressure drop.
• Single phase fluids on the shell-side - horizontal baffle cut recommended -
minimises accumulation of deposits on the bottom of the shell.
• Two-pass shell – TEMA F - vertical cut - ease of fabrication and bundle
assembly.

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Reducing pressure drop by modifying baffle design

• Single-pass shell (TEMA E) and single-segmental baffles

• Shell-side pressure drop too high with single-segmental baffles in a single
pass shell, despite increasing baffle spacing and baffle cut -highest
recommended values.
• Occurs when shell-side flow rate is very high or when the shell-side fluid is a
low pressure gas. Consider using the double-segmental baffle

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Reducing pressure drop by modifying
baffle design (contd)
• Single-pass shell and double-segmental baffles
• Change single segmental to double segmental baffles at the same
spacing, all other aspects identical.
• Cross-flow velocity - reduced +/- half because shell-side flow divided
into two parallel streams.
• Big reduction in cross-flow pressure drop.
• Reduction in shell-side HTC, but considerably less than reduction in
pressure drop.

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Reducing pressure drop by modifying
baffle design (contd)
• Divided-flow shell (TEMA J) and single-segmental baffles
• If allowable shell-side pressure drop cannot be satisfied even with double
segmental baffles at a relatively large spacing, consider divided-flow shell
with single-segmental baffles.
• Pressure drop - proportional to v2 and distance travelled.
• Divided flow shell +/- 1/8 (pressure drop) of identical single-pass exchanger.
• Divided-flow shell - even larger pressure reduction than the double-
segmental baffles.
• Disadvantage - added cost of additional piping required.

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Heat and mass transfer analogy
Pressure difference is the driving force for mass flow

↕ANALOGY↕

Temperature difference is the driving force for heat flow

Mean temperature difference
• For pure counter-current or co-current flow:
∆Tm = ∆TLM = (∆T1 – ∆T2) / ln (∆T1 / ∆T2)
∆Ti = temperature difference at point i on the heat exchanger; for counter-current
flow; e.g.
∆T1 = T1 – t2 = hot fluid inlet T – cold fluid outlet T
• Generally, however, ∆Tm = F × ∆TLM → F = correction factor accounting for heat
exchanger geometry
• F is typically correlated as a function of two difference dimensionless
temperature ratios:
F = f(R,S)
R = (T1 – T2) / (t2 – t1)
S = (t2 – t1) / (T1 – t1)
Example: F for 1 shell pass and 2 or more
even numbered tube passes
Fluid allocation (no phase change)
• Corrosion → corrosive fluid in tubes
• Fouling → fouling fluid in tubes
• Temperature → hot fluid in tubes
• Operating pressure → high pressure fluid in tubes
• Pressure drop
• For equal ∆Ps, the higher U is obtained in the tubes
• The fluid with the lower allowable ∆P must go in the tubes → related to pumping
requirements and mechanical design
• Viscosity
• For turbulent flow, the more viscous (higher μ) fluid must be in the shell
• If turbulence is not guaranteed → place the viscous fluid in the tubes due to UNCERTAINTIES
in empirical correlations for film coefficients
• Flow rates → lower flow rate in the shell
Velocity constraints
• Fluid velocities
• Liquids
• 1-2 m/s for the tube side (except for water → 1.5-2.5 m/s)
• 0.3-1.0 m/s for the shell side
• Vapours/gases
• Vacuum pressure → 50-70 m/s
• Atmospheric pressure → 10-30 m/s
• High pressure 5-10 m/s
Temperature constraints
• Note: temperature differences occur at BOTH ends of a heat
exchanger
• Maximum ∆T ≥ 20 oC
• Minimum ∆T
• 5-7 oC for coolers with cooling water
• 3-5 oC for coolers with brine
• Maximum temperature rise for cooling water should be 30 oC
• For heat recovery between process streams, ∆T > 20 oC
Pressure drop constraints
• Liquids
• For μ < 1 mPa.s → ∆P ≈ 35 kPa
• For μ = 1-10 mPa.s → ∆P = 50-70 kPa
• Vapours/gases
• High vacuum pressure → ∆P = 0.4-0.8 kPa
• Medium vacuum pressure → ∆P = 0.1×Pabsolute
• 1-2 bar → ∆P = 0.5×Pgauge
• Greater than 10 bar → ∆P = 0.1×Pgauge
Condensers
• Basic configuration is similar to other shell-and-tube heat exchangers BUT with
wider baffle spacing (≈ shell diameter)
• 4 arrangements:
• Horizontal with shell-side condensation
• Horizontal with tube-side condensation
• Vertical with shell-side condensation
• Vertical with tube-side condensation
• Film-wise condensation is the normal mechanism
• Horizontal shell-side and vertical tube-side are most commonly used
• Film coefficients for condensation are typically correlated in terms of the vapour
and liquid densities and the liquid viscosity and thermal conductivity
• De-superheating = cooling from T > Tsat down to Tsat
• Sub-cooling = cooling from Tsat down to T < Tsat
Condensation of mixtures
• Total condensation = all components condense
• Typically, however, only some components in a mixture may actually
condense
• Condensation from a non-condensable gas is also possible (e.g. water
from air) → cooler-condensers are used
• Differential condensation = liquid separations from the uncondensed
vapour
• Integral condensation = vapour and liquid are in equilibrium
 Reboilers and vaporizers
Thermosiphon:
Most economical
Forced Not for high viscosity or
circulation: high vacuum P
Suitable for high Hydrostatic head need
viscosity, fouling, Vapour/liquid desnity
low vaporization differences drives fluid
rates, low flow
vacuum P
Pumping = added
costs

Kettle:
No vapour/ liquid
disengagement needed
Not for fouling fluids
Low U and high cost
Forced circulation reboiler design
• Calculate U assuming only convection
• Throttle valve at the outlet → liquid flashes as the pressure drops
going into the vapour/liquid disengagement vessel
• One shell pass + 2 tube passes → shell side vaporization
• One shell pass + 1 tube pass → tube side vaporization
• Velocity should be 3-9 m/s to reduce fouling
Thermosiphon reboiler design
• Calculate the vaporization rate mvap using the duty
• Assume U and calculate A → then set the layout (good starting point for many applications is
length = 2.44 m and tube diameter = 25 mm)
• Assume a circulation rate through the exchanger
• Calculate ∆P at the inlet (in the liquid phase)
• Calculate ∆P section-by-section up the exchanger (vapour/liquid phase mixture)
• Calculate ∆P at the outlet (vapour/liquid mixture)
• Calculate total ∆P by adding up ∆P for all of the sections and compare with available head → if it
is not balanced, go back to step 3
• Calculate h and Q, section-by-section up the tubes and calculate Qtotal by adding up the sections
• Calculate mvap from Qtotal and compare with mvap from step 1 → if they are not close, go back to
step 2 and use a new layout
• Check that the CRITICAL HEAT FLUX is NOT exceeded anywhere along the heat exchanger
• Optimize by trying to reduce the area (since cost is typically proportional to the area)
Kettle reboiler design
• Tube pitch = 1.5-2.0 times the outer diameter of the tubes to avoid
vapour blanketing → inefficient heat transfer
• Maximum vapour velocity (at the liquid surface) = 0.2 [(ρL – ρV) / ρV]0.5
• For a single component + steam → isothermal conditions (Tsteamsat =
Tfluidsat)
• For non-isothermal cases → MUST use ∆TLM
Costs of shell-and-tube heat exchangers
Equipment Units for sizing (S) Slower Supper a b n
U-tube shell-and-tube Area in m2 10.0 1,000 10,000 88 1.0
Floating head shell-and-tube Area in m2 10.0 1,000 11,000 115 1.0
Thermosiphon Area in m2 10.0 500 13,000 95 1.0
U-tube kettle Area in m2 10.0 500 14,000 83 1.0
Horizontal carbon steel pressure Mass in kg 250.0 69,200 -2,500 200 0.6
vessel
Horizontal stainless steel pressure Mass in kg 170.0 114,000 -15,000 560 0.6
vessel
Vertical carbon steel pressure vessel Mass in kg 150.0 69,200 -400 230 0.6
Vertical stainless steel pressure vessel Mass in kg 90.0 124,00 -10,000 600 0.6
Purchased equipment cost = a + b Sn