Use of C-factor for monitoring of fouling in a shell and tube heat exchanger

Heat exchangers operating in process industries are fouled during operations and results in decrease in the thermal efficiency of a heat exchanger. Once the thermal efficiency decreases to a minimum acceptable level, cleaning of the equipment becomes necessary to restore the performance. This paper uses C-factor as a tool for investigation of the performance of a heat exchanger due to fouling which consequently gives information regarding the extent of fouling developed on the heat transfer surfaces. The fouling parameters are predicted by measurements of flow rate and pressure drop. In contrast to most conventional methods, the extent of fouling can be detected considering the flow rate and pressure drop when the heat exchanger operates in transient states. The C-Factor is first calculated through out cleaning period and then compared with the clean and the design value. The results show that the proposed tool is very effective in detecting the fouling developed and the corresponding degradation in heat transfer efficiency of a heat exchanger. Hence the results of this work can find applications in predicting the reduction in heat transfer efficiency due to fouling in heat exchangers that are in operation and assist the exchanger operators to plan cleaning schedules.     

Effect of helical baffles and water-based Al2O3, CuO,and SiO2 nanoparticles in the enhancement of thermal performance for shell and tube heat exchanger

In this study, Shell and tube heat exchanger (STHX) with 22% cut segmental baffles and helical baffles with 20°, 30°, 40° inclination angles are considered for three-dimensional CFD analysis using the ANSYS FLUENT tool to investigate the performance of STHX. OHTC and comprehensive performance index are higher for 40° helical baffles when compared to segmental baffle and 20°, 30° helical baffle heat exchangers with water as working fluid. Hence, further investigations are carried out for 40° helical baffle heat exchangers. Numerical investigations are extended with nanofluids (Al₂O₃, CuO, and SiO₂) at 1%, 3%, and 5% volume concentrations for each nanofluid. Under the same mass flow rates, 40° helical baffles with Al₂O₃ nanofluid as working fluid provided better heat transfer rates when compared to the other two nanofluids and base fluid. Also, the authors noticed that the 5% volume (vol) concentration nanofluids provided better heat transfer enhancements when compared to 1%, 3% volume concentrations, and base fluid. Enhancements (10.33%–8.24%) from lower to the higher mass flow rate in 40° HB with Al₂O₃ nanofluid at 5% volume concentration are observed when compared to water as base fluid.     

Comparative study of mechanical and chemical methods for surface cleaning of a marine shell‐and‐tube heat exchanger

In this article, experimental analysis is done on shell‐and‐tube heat exchanger of a marine vessel for removal of fouling using optimum surface‐cleaning techniques. The main objective is to compare the performance of the heat exchanger before and after maintenance. Two identical deteriorated systems of heat exchangers are taken and real‐time analysis is conducted. The log data are taken before and after undergoing maintenance for the two systems. Two different cleaning techniques are used, namely, chemical cleaning and mechanical cleaning. Detailed calculations are made for the shell‐and‐tube heat exchanger. From the obtained data, comparisons are made for different parameters on the tube side such as friction factor, heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop, as well as total heat transfer rate on the shell side. From the analysis and comparison, it was found that greater heat transfer takes place for the tubes cleaned using the chemical cleaning method than for tubes cleaned by the mechanical cleaning method. Pressure drop is found to be less for chemical cleaning method than mechanical cleaning method. This indicates that the fouling effect is reduced for tubes cleaned by the chemical cleaning method, and furthermore these tubes remain corrosion‐resistant for longer periods of time.     

Thermal performance investigation of SWCNT and graphene quantum dots nanofluids in a shell and tube heat exchanger by using fin blade tubes

The experimental study, thermal performance, and pressure drop of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) and graphene quantum dot (GQD) nanofluids in shell and tube heat exchanger with fin blade tubes are evaluated. The effects of the working fluid (water) volume flow rates ($\dot{V}=$ 2.5–10 L/min), volume concentration of nanoparticles ($\omega =$ 0.0%, 1%, 3%, and 5%), Reynolds number of working fluid (Re = 850–3300), and tube building (heat exchanger with fin blade tubes and without fin blade tube) have been analyzed. Results represent that with augmentation of volume concentration of SWCNT nanoparticle up to 1%, heat transfer rate increases by ∼5% and then up to 5% volume concentration of SWCNT nanoparticle decreased about 17%, also this calculation for GQD nanoparticle conducted and results represented decreasing 6% and approximately unchanged heat transfer rate, respectively. With regard to obtained results, heat transfer rate of heat exchanger can be improved by using the fin blades by 188%, compered without fin blade heat exchanger also most related increase for pressure drop of heat exchanger was recorded about 80% for 5% SWCNT of nanofluid. At the end, the mean enhancement in effectiveness of heat exchanger with various concentrations of SWCNT and GQD nanofluids and using the fin blades is about over 100% and 85%, respectively. In fact, the present study shows that applying the new finned tubes in the heat exchanger has more impact, related to the mentioned nanoparticles on the thermal properties of heat exchanger.     

折流板换热器壳程流场数值模拟与结构优化

基于多孔介质与分布阻力的概念,采用FLUENT软件对单弓形折流板换热器的壳侧流场进行了三维数值模拟,模拟结果与实验结果吻合较好。在此基础上针对折流板换热器壳程压降大、能耗高,存在传热死区等的缺点,提出了壳程流场的改进方案,通过数值模拟可以看到壳程流场改进后不仅具有压降低、场协同性能好、基本无传热死区等特点,而且在一定程度上还提高了管束抗流体诱导振动的性能。     

Numerical evaluation and the effects of geometrical and operational parameters on thermal performance of the shell and double coil tube heat exchanger

Heat exchangers are extensively used in various industries. In this study, the impact of geometric and flow parameters on the performance of a shell and double helical coil heat exchanger is studied numerically. The investigated geometric parameters include external coil pitch, internal coil pitch, internal coil diameter, and coil diameter. The influences of considered geometrical parameters are analyzed on the output temperature of the hot and cold fluid, convective heat transfer coefficient, pressure drop, and average Nusselt number. Water is considered as working fluid in both shell and tube. As an innovation, double helical coils are used instead of one in the heat exchanger. To compare the obtained results accurately, in each section, the heat transfer area (coil outer surface) is kept constant in all models. The results show that the geometrical parameters of double helical coils significantly affect the heat transfer rate.     

Enhancement of shell side forced convective heat transfer in the shell tube‐type heat exchanger using thin plate‐type supports

The shell side heat transfer and pressure drop in counterflowing water were experimentally investigated on the basis of the overall heat transfer coefficient. The investigation was intended to identify ways to get higher performance for the cooler in a BWR nuclear power plant. The following three conclusions were reached in the study. (1) Predicted performance of the heat exchanger, using the overall heat transfer coefficient based on the outside area of the tube K_o, indicated an enhancement by 92% compared with the measured performance of the conventional segmental baffle‐type heat exchanger. (2) The tube side pressure drop ΔP_t=20 kPa and the shell side pressure drop ΔP_s=70 kPa were obtained, and were within the allowable value ΔP_a=80 kPa. The shell side pressure drop of the low‐pressure drop spacer could be decreased by 20% as compared with that of the standard spacer. (3) The enhancement constant of the shell side heat transfer using the low‐pressure drop spacer was about 1.2 times as large as that of the standard spacer, regardless of the pumping power. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 32(5): 455–471, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.10097     

Experimental investigation of heat transfer in a triple tube heat exchanger with coiled spring inserts

Experiments have been performed to investigate the effect of coiled spring inserts on heat transfer, pressure drop, and performance parameters of a triple tube heat exchanger (TTHX). Three different spring inserts having a pitch of 5, 10, and 15 mm are used and the diameter of the spring wire is taken as 1 mm. The experiments were carried out under a turbulent flow regime, with water as a working medium in parallel and counter flow configurations. The variation in different performance characteristics like heat transfer coefficient, Nusselt number, and effectiveness have been compared at various Reynolds numbers ranging between 4000 and 16,000 in the considered flow patterns. The Nusselt number of TTHX with the lowest pitch spring is found to be higher than that of the plain TTHX by 57.27% at Re = 4000 for the counter flow configuration. Both the thermal performance factor and effectiveness increased as the pitch of the spring insert was decreased. The effectiveness of TTHX with the lowest pitch spring insert is found higher than that of the plain TTHX by 43.84% in the counter flow pattern.     

Exergy efficiency analysis of a shell and tube heat exchanger condenser based on its different design parameters

This paper evaluates the optimum coolant temperature considering the exergy loss in a shell and tube condenser in which vapor is at its saturated temperature. First, exergy loss was formulated mathematically and then presented as a function of operating temperatures and optimum coolant and steam mass flow rates. The optimization problem was defined by full condensation of vapor in a condenser and solved by a sequential quadratic programming method. The optimization results were obtained for an industrial condenser for two condensate temperatures of 46°C and 54°C. When the upstream steam mass flow rate increased, the optimum coolant temperature and the exergy efficiency decreased, and the exergy loss also increased simultaneously. The results showed higher values for the higher condensate temperature of 54°C compared with that for 46°C. For instance, if the condensate temperature increases from 46°C to 54°C, the coolant temperature will be increased from 16.76°C to 25.17°C. In addition, by assuming the ambient temperature of 15°C, the exergy loss will be decreased from 172.5 to 164.6 kW. A linear relationship was also shown between the exergy efficiency and the dimensionless temperature, which is presented as a ratio of the temperature difference rate between inlet cooling water and ambient temperatures to the temperature difference rate of condensate and ambient temperatures.     

Numerical evaluation of the heat transfer in a shell and corrugated coil tube heat exchanger with three various water-based nanofluids

In this paper, turbulence heat transfer and nanofluid flow in a shell and corrugated coil tube heat exchanger are evaluated numerically. The three-dimensional numerical simulations have been done by finite volume method using a commercial computational fluid dynamics code. The spatial discretization of mass, momentum, turbulence dissipation rate, and turbulence kinetic energy equations has been achieved by a second-order upwind scheme. A SIMPLE algorithm has been used for velocity–pressure coupling. To calculate gradients, Green-Gauss cell-based method has been utilized. The cross-section of the coil tube is lobe shaped. First, the impact of corrugated tube cross-section type and then, the impact of utilizing different types of nanofluid on thermal performance are investigated. The outcomes indicate that at high Reynolds number, utilizing a five-lobe cross-section causes augmentation in Nusselt number and pressure drop by about 4.8% and 3.7%, respectively. However, the three-lobe type shows the highest thermal performance. Moreover, water/CuO has the most thermal performance. As the volume concentration of the nanofluid increases, the thermal performance declines.     

Numerical and experimental study of a shell and tube heat exchanger for different baffles

In the present work, the shell and tube heat exchanger (STHX) is designed based on The Tubular Exchanger Manufacturers Association standards with hot fluid (water) flowing on the shell side and cold fluid on the tube side. A comparison is made between the Nusselt number and friction factor obtained from numerical and experimental results of segmental baffles (SBs) and helical baffles (HB) with different baffle inclinations. The results show that SB provided a higher Colburn factor (j_s) when compared with HBs STHXs (20°, 30°, 40°, and 50°), but shell side pressure drop is lower for 40° HBs STHXs for the same shell side fluid flow rates.     

Experimental study on the heat transfer enhancement of MWNT-water nanofluid in a shell and tube heat exchanger

Heat transfer enhancement of multi-walled carbon natube(MWNT)/water nanofluid in a horizontal shell and tube heat exchanger has been studied experimentally. Carbon nanotubes were synthesized by the use of catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CCVD) method over Co–Mo/MgO nanocatalyst. Obtained MWNTs were purified using a three stage method. COOH functional groups were inserted for making the nanotubes hydrophilic and increasing the stability of the nanofluid. The results indicate that heat transfer enhances in the presence of multi-walled nanotubes in comparison with the base fluid.     

Thermal modeling of a shell and tube type evaporator with R404A

In this study, the two‐phase heat‐transfer coefficient of R404A inside horizontal tubes is analyzed through the evaporator's overall heat‐transfer coefficient, obtained using the effectiveness—Number of Transfer Units thermal design approach. This method constitutes an approximation that can be used in the evaporator's thermal design with an attempt to break some of the initial assumptions established in the heat exchanger thermal design method development. For the analysis, an experimental refrigeration system that is commercially available is built up with a shell and tube evaporator. All the experiments are performed at different evaporator pressures (270, 570 kPa), evaporator temperatures (?20, 0°C) and cooling water temperatures (20, 40°C). For these parameters, overall heat‐transfer coefficient of the heat exchanger is found in the range of 0.05–0.35 kW °C^?1. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

低气压环境下开缝翅片管换热器换热性能研究

利用低气压环境模拟装置对开缝翅片管换热器在不同气压下的换热性能进行实验研究.研究结果表明:随着气压不断降低,换热器周围空气密度逐渐降低,换热器空气侧换热系数以及显热换热量逐渐降低,而空气含湿量随着气压降低逐渐升高,导致潜热换热量逐渐增加;当气压降至0.058 MPa以下时,换热器空气侧潜热换热量占主要部分,当气压为0.04 MPa时,换热器换热能力与常压下相比下降了36.63%.     

Economic optimization of shell and tube heat exchanger based on constructal theory

In this paper, the new approach of constructal theory has been employed to design shell and tube heat exchangers. Constructal theory is a new method for optimal design in engineering applications. The purpose of this paper is optimization of shell and tube heat exchangers by reduction of total cost of the exchanger using the constructal theory. The total cost of the heat exchanger is the sum of operational costs and capital costs. The overall heat transfer coefficient of the shell and tube heat exchanger is increased by the use of constructal theory. Therefore, the capital cost required for making the heat transfer surface is reduced. Moreover, the operational energy costs involving pumping in order to overcome frictional pressure loss are minimized in this method. Genetic algorithm is used to optimize the objective function which is a mathematical model for the cost of the shell and tube heat exchanger and is based on constructal theory. The results of this research represent more than 50% reduction in costs of the heat exchanger.     

径向热管换热器壳程压降数值模拟及参数优化

通过对径向热管换热器壳程压力场的数值模拟,分析入口烟气速度对换热器压降的影响规律,并对换热器结构参数进行优化。结果表明:换热器迎风侧压力高于背风侧压力,沿烟气流动方向压力逐渐降低且呈线性分布;换热器压降随入口烟气速度的增加而增加,且其增加速率也相应增大。通过改变换热器结构参数,对换热器壳程压降进行分析研究,得到其结构优化参数:翅片高度小于26.5mm,翅片间距大于6.5mm,热管横向间距108～111mm,纵向间距120～125mm。     

A numerical study of flow behavior in the shell and helical finned-tube heat exchanger

Extended surfaces mostly aim to improve the heat transfer upon increasing the area of heat transfer. In this paper, the influence of using fins on flow behaviors and the heat transfer of the shell and tube heat exchanger has been investigated. In this regard, the present results are verified with available experimental data in the literature for a helical tube without fins. The effects of fin density (fin per inch), its height, and material have been studied on the heat transfer rate. In addition, the effects of radial pitch and the number of coil loops are studied. The results indicate that implementing extended surfaces significantly increases the heat transfer rate. The increase of fin density from 8 to 12 and the height from 11.5 to 13.5 mm enhances heat transfer up to 48% and 43% depending on Dean number, respectively. The rise of coil pitch augments the overall heat transfer, and it is more efficient at lower Dean numbers. The predicted results also show that the fin material does not have any significant effect on heat transfer.     

Thermal-hydraulic performance of novel louvered fin using flat tube cross-flow heat exchanger

Experimental studies were conducted to investigate the air-side heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of a novel louvered fins and flat tube heat exchangers. A series of tests were conducted for 9 heat exchangers with different fin space and fin length, at a constant tube-side water flow rate of 2.8 m³/h. The air side thermal performance data were analyzed using the effectiveness-NTU method. Results were presented as plot of Colburn j factor and friction factor f against the Reynolds number in the range of 500–6500. The characteristics of the heat transfer and pressure drop of different fin space and fin length were analyzed and compared. In addition, the curves of the heat transfer coefficients vs. pumping power per unit heat transfer area were plotted. Finally, the area optimization factor was used to evaluate the thermal hydraulic performance of the louvered fins with differential geometries. The results showed that the j and f factors increase with the decrease of the fin space and fin length, and the fin space has more obvious effect on the thermal hydraulic characteristics of the novel louvered fins. __________ Translated from Journal of Shanghai Jiaotong University, 2007, 41(3): 380–383 [译自: 上海交通大学学报]     

Influence of transverse vibrations on convective heat transfer in parallel flow tube-in-tube heat exchanger

Tube-in-tube heat exchangers are widely used in food processing industries and wastewater treatment for both heating and cooling. Enhancement techniques namely active, passive, and compound are developed to reduce the thermal resistance in heat exchangers by improving convective heat transfer with or without increase in surface area. The present experimental study is aimed at analyzing the influence of vibrations on the convective heat transfer of a parallel flow tube-in-tube heat exchanger. The heat exchanger is placed in horizontal position and is subjected to transverse vibrations under turbulent fluid flow conditions. Experiments were performed at four frequencies (20, 40, 60, and 100 Hz), three amplitudes (1, 2, and 3 m/s²), and three vibration generator positions along its length, in the Reynolds number range of 10 710 to 21 420. An enhancement in Nusselt number is found with vibration than without vibration throughout the entire range of Reynolds numbers. A maximum enhancement of 33% at 40 Hz frequency, 3 m/s² amplitude, and vibration generator position at three-fourth of the tube length was observed. Empirical correlations are developed for Nusselt number to determine the heat transfer coefficient with vibration with an error of $\pm$10%.     

Experimental investigation on heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics in a smooth tube with different twisted tape inserts

Experiments are performed to investigate the impact of inserts (TTI, TBI, and TBHI) accompanied by different twist ratios (ie, y/w = 3.69, 4.39, and 5.25) with uniform heat flux condition to study the performance characteristics of pressure drop, rate of heat flow, and heat transfer enhancement. Experiments were carried out on different twisted tape inserts in a turbulent flow regime by choosing suitable Reynolds number between 3100 and 39 000. A plain tube is tested and compared with the empirical correlations and are found to be in good agreement with the experimental data. In the case of twisted tape inserts stronger swirl flow is observed along the length of the tube. The variation of reduction in pressure along the length of tube and heat flux in the form of the friction factor and Nusselt number are represented graphically. Thermal performance factor tends to increase with a decrease in the taper twist ratio. The maximum enhancement in Nusselt number and friction factor was found to be in the case of TBI and TBHI. Experimental results are justified and are found to be reliable and accurate with the analytical results, with ±5% and ±4.2% deviation for Dittus‐Boelter and Petukhov correlation in the case of Nusselt number and ±7.2% deviation, respectively, for loss in the friction.