Heat Exchangers:

Design Considerations
Chapter 11
Sections 11.1 through 11.3
Types

Heat Exchanger Types

Heat exchangers are ubiquitous to energy conversion and utilization. They
involve heat exchange between two fluids separated by a solid and
encompass a wide range of flow configurations.

• Concentric-Tube Heat Exchangers

Parallel Flow Counterflow

 Simplest configuration.

 Superior performance associated with counter flow.

Types (cont.)

• Cross-flow Heat Exchangers

Finned-Both Fluids Unfinned-One Fluid Mixed

Unmixed the Other Unmixed

 For cross-flow over the tubes, fluid motion, and hence mixing, in the transverse
direction (y ) is prevented for the finned tubes, but occurs for the unfinned condit

 Heat exchanger performance is influenced by mixing.

Types (cont.)

• Shell-and-Tube Heat Exchangers

One Shell Pass and One Tube Pass

 Baffles are used to establish a cross-flow and to induce turbulent mixing of the
shell-side fluid, both of which enhance convection.
 The number of tube and shell passes may be varied, e.g.:

One Shell Pass, Two Shell Passes,

Two Tube Passes Four Tube Passes
Types (cont.)

• Compact Heat Exchangers

 Widely used to achieve large heat rates per unit volume, particularly
when
one or both fluids is a gas.
 Characterized by large heat transfer surface areas per unit volume, small
flow passages, and laminar flow.

(a) Fin-tube (flat tubes, continuous plate fins)

(b) Fin-tube (circular tubes, continuous plate fins)
(c) Fin-tube (circular tubes, circular fins)
(d) Plate-fin (single pass)
(e) Plate-fin (multipass)
Overall Coefficient
Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient
• An essential requirement for heat exchanger design or performance calculations.

• Contributing factors include convection and conduction associated with the

two fluids and the intermediate solid, as well as the potential use of fins on both
sides and the effects of time-dependent surface fouling.

• With subscriptsc andh used to designate thehot andcold fluids, respectively,

the most general expression for the overall coefficient is:

1 1 1
 
UA U A  c U A  h

1 R f , c R f , h 1
   Rw  
o h A  c o A  c o A  h o h A  h
Overall Coefficient

R f   K /W )
2
 F ou l i n g fact or for a u n i t su rf ace area (m
 T ab l e 1 1 .1

 Rw  W al l con d u cti on resi stan ce (K /W )

 o  O v eral l su rface effi ci en cy of fi n array (S ecti on 3 .6 .5 )

 Af 
o, c or h
 1  1   f  
 A c or h

A  At  total su rface area (fi n s an d ex p osed b ase)

A f  su rface area of fi n s on l y

Assuming an adiabatic tip, the fin efficiency is

 tan h  mL  
 f , c or h  
 mL c or h

mc or h
  2U p
/ k wt 
c or h

 h 
  p arti al
 1  h R  
U p , c or h
ov eral l coe ffi ci en t
 f 
c or h
LMTD Method
A Methodology for Heat Exchanger
Design Calculations
- The Log Mean Temperature Difference (LMTD) Method -
• A form of Newton’s Law of Cooling may be applied to heat exchangers by
using a log-mean value of the temperature difference between the two fluids:
q U A  T1 m
 T1   T 2
 T1 m 
1n   T1 /  T 2 

Evaluation of  T1 an d  T 2depends on the heat exchanger type.

• Counter-Flow Heat Exchanger:

 T1  T h ,1  T c ,1
 Th , i  Tc , o

 T2  Th , 2  Tc , 2
 Th , o  Tc , i
LMTD Method (cont.)

• Parallel-Flow Heat Exchanger:

 T1  T h ,1  T c ,1
 Th , i  Tc , i

 T2  Th , 2  Tc , 2
 Th , o  Tc , o

 Note thatTc,o can not exceedTh,o for a PF HX, but can do so for a CF HX.
 For equivalent values ofUA and inlet temperatures,
 T1 m , C F   T1 m , P F
• Shell-and-Tube and Cross-Flow Heat Exchangers:
 T1 m  F  T1 m , C F
F  F i g u res 1 1 .1 0 - 1 1 .1 3
Energy Balance

Overall Energy Balance

• Application to thehot (h) andcold (c) fluids:

• Assume negligible heat transfer between the exchanger and its surroundings
and negligible potential and kinetic energy changes for each fluid.

q  m h  ih,i  ih, o 

q  m c  ic, o  ic, i 
i  fl u i d en th al p y

• Assuming nol/v phase change and constant specific heats,


q  m h c p , h  Th , i  Th , o   C h  Th , i  Th , o 

q  m c c p , c  Tc , o  Tc , i   C c  Tc , o  Tc , i 
C h,C c  H eat cap aci ty r ate s
Special Conditions

Special Operating Conditions

 C h   .
 Case (a): Ch >>Cc orh is a condensing vapor
Th  Th , o  Th , i  .
– Negligible or no change in
 Case (b): Cc >>Ch orc is an evaporating liquid C c    .

Tc  Tc , o  Tc , i  .
– Negligible or no change in
 Case (c): Ch =Cc .
–  T1   T 2   T1 m
Problem: Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient

Problem 11.5: Determination of heat transfer per unit length for heat recovery
device involving hot flue gases and water.

K N O W N : G eo m etr y o f fi n n ed , an nu l ar heat ex ch ang er . G as- sid e tem p er atu r e and

co nv ectio n co effi ci ent. W ater - sid e flo w r ate and tem p er atu r e.

F I N D : H eat r ate p er u n it leng th.

D o = 60 mm
D i,1 = 24 mm
D i,2 = 30 mm
t = 3 m m = 0 .0 0 3 m
L = ( 6 0 - 3 0 ) /2 m m = 0 .0 1 5 m
Problem: Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient
(cont.)

A S S U M P T I O N S : ( 1 ) S tead y - state co nd it io n s, ( 2 ) C o nstant pro p erties, ( 3 ) O ne- d i m en sio nal

co nd u ctio n i n str u t, ( 4) A d iabat ic o uter su r face co n d it io ns, ( 5 ) N eg l i g i b l e g as- si d e r ad i atio n,
( 6 ) F u l l y - d ev elo p ed i nter nal f lo w , ( 7 ) N eg l i g i b l e f o u l i n g .

P R O P E R T I E S : T a b l e A - 6 , W ater ( 3 0 0 K ) : k = 0.6 1 3 W /m K , P r = 5 .8 3, = 855  10-6

N s/m .
2

A N A L Y S I S : T he heat r ate is

q U A   Tm , h
c
 Tm , c 

w her e

1/ U A 
c
 1 / hA 
c
R w  1 /  o h A 
h

l n  D i , 2 / D i ,1  ln  30 / 24 
R w    7 .1 0 1 0 4 K /W .
2 k L 2  5 0 W / m  K  l m
Problem: Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient
(cont.)

F r o m E q . 1 1 .4,

tan h  m L 
f 
mL
Problem: Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient
(cont.)

and

q  2 3 .6 W / K  800  3 0 0  K  1 1, 8 0 0 W <

fo r a 1 m lo ng sect io n.
Problem: Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient
(cont.)

C O M M E N T S : ( 1 ) T he g as- sid e r esistance is su bstantially d ecr eased by u sing the fins

 A f   D i , 2  and q is incr eased .

( 2 ) H eat tr ansfer enh ancem ent by th e fins co u ld be incr eased fu r th er by u sing a m ater ial o f
lar g er k , bu t m ater ial selectio n w o u ld be lim ited by th e lar g e v alu e o f T m , h .