International Journal of Mechanical and Production

Engineering Research and Development (IJMPERD)

ISSN (P): 2249-6890; ISSN (E): 2249-8001
Vol. 8, Issue 4, Aug 2018, 423-436
© TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.

AN INVESTIGATION ON THERMO-HYDRAULIC PERFORMANCE OF

SHELL AND TUBE HEAT EXCHANGER WITH RECYCLES

V. MADHUKAR1, K. V. NARASIMHA RAO2 & NITIN DATTATREYA KAMITKAR3

1
Research Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Koneru Lakshmaiah Education
Foundation, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India
2
Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Koneru Lakshmaiah Education
Foundation, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India
3
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Koneru Lakshmaiah Education
Foundation, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India
ABSTRACT

Heat transfer augmentation in heat exchangers has been a key research area in recent times. Over the years,
many methods were proposed for heat transfer enhancement such as providing fins, ribs, and twisted tape inserts, etc.
In addition to the above-mentioned techniques, utilization of recycles was proposed by few authors and it was
demonstrated that this method could effectively increase the heat transfer rate. Several theoretical research were

Original Article
conducted to investigate the effect of recycles on heat transfer rate. However, most of these works are limited to parallel
flow heat exchangers and very few works are related to cross-flow heat exchangers. This method of augmentation of heat
transfer can be extended to shell and tube heat exchangers as these kinds of heat exchangers are widely used in
industries. There is a need to establish a theoretical model to study the thermo-hydraulic performance of shell and tube
heat exchanger with recycling. The present work is aimed at developing a theoretical model and hence to do the
parametric study on the performance of shell and tube heat exchanger with recycles.

KEYWORDS: Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger, Internal and External Recycling, Length and Area of Heat Exchanger

NOMENCLATURE

• Inlet temperature at tube inlet, T1

• Outlet temperature at tube side outlet without recycling (normal heat exchanger), T2

• Outlet temperature at tube side outlet with recycle, T3

• A Temperature at tube inlet when external recycle is done, T21

• The Temperature at shell side inlet, S1

• A Temperature at shell side outlet before external recycle is done, S2

• Final outlet temperature after external recycle is done, S3

Received: May 10, 2018; Accepted: May 31, 2018; Published: Jul 07, 2018; Paper Id.: IJMPERDAUG201844

INTRODUCTION

Heat exchangers are widely used in most industries, in particular, chemical and process industries. Heat
Exchanger, as the name implies, transfers heat between two different fluids, phases, etc. which are at two different

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424 V. Madhukar, K. V. Narasimha Rao & Nitin Dattatreya Kamitkar

temperatures. In practice, no equipment gives 100% efficiency, those losses are very thinkable subject for industries and
they are equally dependent on resources like money, working factors, labor considerations, etc. If modern research could
decrease the loss percent, it directly improves the profit percent and other factors of a plant. Now the world is in a position
of recycling sewage water and use it for the non-cooking purpose; why can’t use the same recycling concept in the industry
for improving efficiency? A significant amount of research is being done by engineers/scientists and almost every
innovation plays its role in industries. In the present investigation, recycling concept is introduced to get improvement in
efficiency and heat transfer rate in a shell and tube heat exchanger. The analysis is done on ANSYS workbench 19.0. If this
method is able to save installation space then industries get benefitted. By using single pass shell and tube heat exchanger
with counterflow, the output temperatures are simulated.

LITERATURE OVERVIEW

To design any heat exchanger, there is some basic design configuration. This configured design gives output with
good heat transfer rate efficiency. Significant research has been done on heat exchanger size and design optimization in
different methods, different baffle sizes and positions. Nanofluids are used to enhance the heat exchanging process. Caputo
et al. (2006) [1] has reported useful information relating to heat exchanger design based on economic optimization. Chii-
Dong Ho, 2015 [2] calculated the recycle effect on double pass heat exchangers using asymmetric isotherm conditions with
some mathematical equations and got improved outputs. While making any corrections to any heat exchanger, the basic
methodology is not allowed to get disturbed and must satisfy all its international standards. Copper oxide (CuO)
nanoparticle is found to provide a significant improvement in the total annual cost and other parameters [Hassan
Hajabdollahi, 2017] [3]. Fins are used for improved heat transfer rate [Kim, 2010] [4]. To get high heat transfer coefficient
hexagonal vent baffles are developed and results clearly indicated higher efficiency, which is found to be higher than the
efficiency of trefoil hole baffles [Vijay Teja and Narasimha Rao, 2017] [5]. Theoretical mathematical models are
developed and applied to cross flow and parallel flow heat exchangers, and recycling of fluid improved heat transfer rate
than normal heat exchanger [Luo, 2017] [6] and Yonghua Youa, 2013 [7].

DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS

The following aspects are considered while designing the heat exchanger:

• When heat is being lost from the heat exchangers, industries get a huge amount of losses in terms of efficiency of
plant and profits of the plant. To make up that lost heat, some more heat needs to be added by using some external
energy which leads to losses.

• In this research, efforts are placing to reduce the heat loss and improve the heat transferring rate ‘Q’ and may
decrease the total length of the heat exchanger.

• If research can bring down the lost heat, industries will get good output with low heat inputs so that efficiency and
profits of the plant will increase. The simple shell and tube heat exchanger is designed.

The following values have been taken to design heat exchanger for ANSYS simulation:

Length of the shell: 2827 mm

Inner diameter of the shells: 1000 mm

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of Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger with Recycles

Number of tubes: 19

Tubes inner diameter: 38 mm

Tubes outer diameter: 40 mm

Length of the tubes : 3000 mm

External tube diameter: 80 mm

Velocity of flow at both shell and tube side: 4 m/s

Pressure inlet: 2.5 bar

Tube material: Copper

Shell material: Stainless steel

External tube material: Stainless steel

Total length of heat exchanger: 3300 mm

Figures 1, 2 and 3 shown below represent the shell and tube heat exchanger with the external tube. The first figure
is nurtured with all components of the heat exchanger. In the second figure, the shell is hidden and tubes of the heat
exchanger are shown. In figure 3, side view of the heat exchanger is depicted for the clearer view of inner diameters of
tubes.

Figure 1: Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger ANSYS igs File with All Components

Figure: 2 Shell and Heat Exchanger igs File, Shell is Hidden for Visibility of Tubes

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426 V. Madhukar, K. V. Narasimha Rao & Nitin Dattatreya Kamitkar

Figure 3: Shell and tube Heat Exchanger Side View

RECYCLING

The name “Recycling” reflects about the concept. Recycling of fluid means after completion of the process a
portion of both the fluids pass through their respective outlets to outside of heat exchanger. The normal process won’t
consider whether the heat exchanging of fluids is performed properly or not. In the process of recycling, some amount of
outlet side fluid is again added to inlet side fluid, which is added to their respective passing area before entering into the
heat exchanger.

Recycling is divided into two types: 1. External recycling, 2. Internal recycling.

External Recycling

The tube side outlet fluid, say, at T2 is mixed into tube side inlet, which is at, say, T1. In this process, the outlet
side fluid temperature is less than inlet side temperature as heat is already transferred once during the earlier cycle.
Through external tube (i. e. from outside of the system) fluid will be sent. When the outlet side fluid is sent to inlet side, as
inlet side temperature is more than outlet side temperature, heat transfer takes place before the fluid entering into the
respective heat exchanger, say, T21.

So at that time, the mixed fluid, which is entering into the heat exchanger has a temperature below the temperature
compared to when the same fluid is entering without recycling resulting in increased heat transfer.

Figure 4 depicts shell and tube heat exchanger with external tube (for recycling) in isometric view.

Figure 4: Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger in Isometric View

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of Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger with Recycles

Internal Recycling

Internal recycling is similar to external recycling but that additional tube passes through the inner side of the heat
exchanger, which results in higher heat transfer rate. However, this can’t be done for a shell and tube heat exchanger
because shell and tube heat exchanger already has its tubes inside the shell.

TEMPERATURE ANALYSIS

In the present investigation, different temperatures are considered for tube side fluid to simulate the temperatures.
Before making the software to run the heat exchanger file, it has to undergo meshing. The accuracy of the results depends
on meshing. Meshing allows all heat exchanger parts to share an equal amount of flow and obtain results accurately.

Figures 5 and 6 show meshed shell and tube heat exchanger with the external tube in isometric view and side
view.

Figure 5: Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger representing with its Meshing in Isometric View

Figure 6: Side View of Meshed Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger

While doing analysis, different temperatures at both shell and tube sides are noted. Table 1 gives those
temperatures:

Table 1: Representing the Temperatures used in Analysis

Tube Side Temperatures (0C) Shell Side Temperature (0C)
(T1) (S1)
50 25
60 25
70 25
80 25
90 25

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428 V. Madhukar, K. V. Narasimha Rao & Nitin Dattatreya Kamitkar

Figures 7 and 8 indicate shell and tube heat exchanger with the external tube when temperature analysis is under
simulation. This is a very important operation to obtain outputs.

Figure 7: Heat Exchanger Tubes are Shown

Figure 8: Representing the Heat Exchanger when the Analysis Pursuing in Fluent 19.0

After analyzing the problem with the above inputs, the results obtained are clearly showing the increase in heat
exchanging rate.

Output Values of Normal Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger

Following values are obtained from the normal shell and tube heat exchanger without any type of external pipe
added, i. e. no recycling process is done.

Table 2: Temperatures of Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger in 0C without Recycling

Tube Inlet (T1) Tube Outlet (T2) Shell Inlet (S1) Shell Outlet (S2)
50 49.7 25 25.3
60 59.5 25 25.8
70 69.1 25 26.4
80 78.6 25 27.1
90 88.5 25 27.9

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An Investigation on Thermo-Hydraulic Performance 429
of Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger with Recycles

Output Values of Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger with External Tube Placed for
Different Flow Rates used while Recycling with External Tube

Following values are obtained with the external tube is in force. When outlet of the tube is connected to inlet of
tube side, there will be a decrement in main fluid temperature before entering into the system so that additional heat
transfer will be delivered. The following table provides the inputs given and the resulting outputs after external recycle
done with a flow velocity of 1 kg/s.

Table 3: Results of Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger with External

Recycling using 1 kg/s Flow through External Tube
Tube Inlet Temp before Entering
Tube Outlet Shell Shell Outlet
Tube Inlet into Heat Exchanger after Flowing
with Recycle Inlet after Recycle
(T1) through External Tube (1 kg/s)
(T3) (S1) (S3)
(T21)
50 49.667 49.6 25 25.8
60 59.1 58.9 25 26.3
70 68.9 68.6 25 26.9
80 78.45 77.9 25 27.3
90 88.3 87.2 25 28.1

The following table gives the output values after external recycle done with a flow velocity of 1.5 kg/s.

Table 4: Results of Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger with External

Recycling using 1.5 kg/s Flow through External Tube
Tube Inlet Temp before Entering Shell Outlet
Tube Outlet with
Tube Inlet into Heat Exchanger after Flowing Shell Inlet after Recycle
Recycle
(T1) through External Tube (S1) (S3)
(T3)
(1.5 kg/s) (T21)
50 49.54 49.4 25 26.1
60 59.07 58.65 25 26.6
70 68.8 68.3 25 27.09
80 78.4 77.1 25 27.7
90 87.1 86.9 25 28.5

The following table summarizes the output values after external recycle done with a flow velocity of 2 kg/s.

Table 5: Results of Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger with External

Recycling using 2 kg/s Flow through External Tube
Tube Inlet Temperature before
Entering into Heat Exchanger after Tube Outlet with Shell Outlet
Tube Inlet Shell Inlet
Flowing through External Tube Recycle after Recycle
(T1) (S1)
(External Recycle Done) (T3) (S3)
(2 kg/s) (T21)
50 49.33 49.2 25 26.2
60 59.03 58.5 25 26.65
70 68.716 68.1 25 27.14
80 78.38 76.6 25 28.68
90 87.2 86.1 25 29.27

BAR CHARTS

The results are also plotted in the form of Bar charts. Bar Graphs indicating tube side heat transfer rate between
50 C to 900C with normal heat exchanger and external tube added heat exchanger (i. e. Recycling process).
0

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430 V. Madhukar, K. V. Narasimha Rao & Nitin Dattatreya Kamitkar

Note

• X-Axis indicating

• Without Recycle (Normal Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger)

• 1 kg/s external tube flow rate while recycling

• 1.5 kg/s external tube flow rate while recycling

• 2 kg/s external tube flow rate while recycling

• Y-Axis indicating tube side temperatures used in the analysis (0C)

• Shell side temperature is kept constant at 250C in the entire analysis

• Only tube side results are shown in bar graphs

Bar Chart 1: Heat Transfer Taking Place with Tube Inlet Temperature
at 500C without (1) and with Recycling (2, 3 & 4)

As could be seen from the above Bar chart, the tube side outlet temperatures are clearly indicating improvement in
heat transfer rate (by way of reduction in temperature).

Bar Chart 2: Heat Transfer taking place with Tube Side Temperature
at 600C without (1) and with recycling (2, 3 & 4)

As could be seen from the above Bar chart, the tube side outlet temperatures are clearly indicating improvement in
heat transfer rate (by way of reduction in temperature).

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of Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger with Recycles

Bar Chart 3: Heat Transfer taking place with Tube Side Temperature
at 700C without (1) and with Recycling (2, 3 & 4)

As could be seen from the above Bar chart, the tube side outlet temperatures are clearly indicating improvement in
heat transfer rate (by way of reduction in temperature).

Bar Chart 4: Heat Transfer taking place with Tube Side Temperature of 800C
without Recycling (1) and with Recycling (2, 3 & 4)

As could be seen from the above Bar chart, the tube side outlet temperatures are clearly indicating improvement in
heat transfer rate (by way of reduction in temperature).

Bar Chart 5: Heat Transfer takes place with Tube Side Temperature
at 900C without (1) and with Recycling (2, 3 & 4)

As could be seen from the above Bar chart, the tube side outlet temperatures are clearly indicating improvement in
heat transfer rate (by way of reduction in temperature).

LINE GRAPHS

Normal line graphs showing the increase in heat transfer rate are plotted and presented. The four values in each
line of the following graphs are indicating temperature outlets with and without recycling. The blue line on top indicates

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432 V. Madhukar, K. V. Narasimha Rao & Nitin Dattatreya Kamitkar

the values obtained after simulating the shell and tube heat exchanger without recycling. The red line is obtained for
simulating heat exchanger with recycling using 1 kg/s external tube flow velocity. The green line is obtained for 1.5 kg/s
external tube flow rate. And the last violet line is obtained with recycle rate of 2 kg/s of external tube. Each line graph
dealing with one tube inlet temperature. Heat transfer rate is increased from 0.3% to 1% for each recycling of different
recycling flow rates. The line graphs plotted below clearly show that the output temperature of the normal heat exchanger
is obtained much earlier in the heat exchanger with external recycling.

Note

• In X-Axis temperatures taken in the analysis are placed

• In Y-Axis length of tubes in a heat exchanger is placed

• Red line indicates tube side outlet temperatures without recycling applied.

• A blue line indicates tube side outlet temperatures when recycling applied with 1 kg/s flow rate in external tube

• The green line indicates tube side outlet temperatures when recycling applied with 1.5 kg/s flow rate in external
tube

• Violet line indicates tube side outlet temperatures when recycling applied with 2 kg/s flow rate in the external
tube.

Graph 1: Indicating the Heat Transfer Rate of Heat Exchanger without

and with Recycle at 500C in All Three External Tube Flow Rates

Graph 1 shows the tube side outlet temperatures for an inlet temperature of 500C with and without recycle. The
outlet temperature of the heat exchanger with recycling is better (lower) compared to the normal heat exchanger (without
recycling).

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An Investigation on Thermo-Hydraulic Performance 433
of Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger with Recycles

Graph 2: Indicating the Heat Transfer Rate of Heat Exchanger with and
without Recycle at 600C in All Three External Tube Flow Rates

Graph 2 shows the tube side outlet temperatures for an inlet temperature of 600C with and without recycle. The
outlet temperature of the heat exchanger with recycling is better (lower) compared to the normal heat exchanger (without
recycling).

Graph 3: Indicating the Heat Transfer Rate of Heat Exchanger with and
without Recycle at 700C in All Three External Tube Flow Rates

Graph 3 shows the tube side outlet temperatures for an inlet temperature of 700C with and without recycle. The
outlet temperature of the heat exchanger with recycling is better (lower) compared to the normal heat exchanger (without
recycling).

Graph 4: Indicating the Heat Transfer Rate of Heat Exchanger with and
without Recycle at 800C in All Three External Tube Flow Rates

Graph 4 shows the tube side outlet temperatures for an inlet temperature of 800C with and without recycle. The
outlet temperature of the heat exchanger with recycling is better (lower) compared to the normal heat exchanger (without
recycling).

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434 V. Madhukar, K. V. Narasimha Rao & Nitin Dattatreya Kamitkar

Graph 5: Indicating the Heat Transfer Rate of Heat Exchanger with and
without Recycle at 900C in All Three External Tube Flow Rates

Graph 5 shows the tube side outlet temperatures for an inlet temperature of 900C with and without recycle. The
outlet temperature of the heat exchanger with recycling is better (lower) compared to the normal heat exchanger (without
recycling). The above graph shows the difference in heat transfer rate between with and without recycle. 88.50C
temperature is obtained at around 2000 mm with recycle, but without the recycling same temperature is obtained at the end
of the process at 3000 mm. Here this recycling saves 1000 mm length from the heat exchanger. In industries, space is very
important; with this process industries could get same output within lesser space.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

External recycling is applied to shell and tube heat exchanger for three flow rates, viz. 1 kg/s, 1.5 kg/s, and 2 kg/s.
By using recycles the heat transfer rate is increased by about 1% for simple shell and tube heat exchanger. The increment is
shown in bar charts and line graphs. By using recycles, higher heat transfer rate occurs between hot and cold fluids.

The inlet and outlet temperatures of tube side fluids are shown in the form of Bar charts. It shows a clear
difference between heat transfer improvement without recycle and with recycling. Increase in external flow rate leads to
higher heat transfer rate. Also, the recycling external flow rate should be small. High external tube flow rate affects the
main hot fluid flow rate.

The heat exchange values at particular points in the heat exchanger from tube inlet to tube outlet are also plotted.
They clearly show improvement in the heat transfer with recycling. The outlet temperature of the heat exchanger, which is
attained with recycling, is higher than that without recycle. So the length of the heat exchanger could be trimmed by using
recycling concept.

CONCLUSIONS

The present investigation reports that efficiency and heat transfer rate of heat exchangers can be increased by
using recycling concept or alternatively, the length of the heat exchanger could be decreased to some extent, thereby
reducing the space requirements.

Impact Factor (JCC): 7.6197 SCOPUS Indexed Journal NAAS Rating: 3.11
An Investigation on Thermo-Hydraulic Performance 435
of Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger with Recycles

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1. Antonio C. Caputo, Marcello P. Pelagagge, Paolo Salini, Heat exchanger design based on economic optimization, ENCIT
Dec. 5-8, 2006 – Paper CIT06-0387.

2. Chii-Dong Ho, Yi-Chin Chen, Li-Pang Lin, “Recycle effect on heat transfer enhancement in double-pass heat exchangers
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3. Hassan Hajabdollahi, “Economic Optimization of Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Using Nanofluid”, International Journal of
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4. Kim, K.M., Kim, B.S., Lee, D.H., Moon, H. and Cho, H.H., 2010. Optimal design of transverse ribs in tubes for thermal
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5. Vijay Teja, G. and Narasimha Rao, K. V., “Numerical Investigation on Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow of Shell-Side for Shell
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8. Yonghua You, Aiwu Fan, Xiaojun Luo, Shiping Jin, Wei Liua, Suyi Huang, “An investigation in the effects of recycles on
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