Design of a novel, intensified heat exchanger for reduced fouling rates

This paper describes an integrated approach into the design and evaluation of a novel tube bundle heat exchanger that achieves higher heat transfer levels at lower levels of pressure drop, while remaining less susceptible to gas-side fouling. The approach combines laboratory scale experiments with industrial observations and numerical simulations of full-scale heat exchangers to study the thermal, hydraulic and fouling characteristics of tube bundle heat exchangers. Three arrangements are compared and the advantages of the proposed novel arrangement are demonstrated. Enhanced heat transfer rates are combined with reduced pressure drop and gas-side fouling rates through careful design of the shape of the tube cross-section and reduced transverse spacing.     

Numerical investigation of fouling on cross-flow heat exchanger tubes with conjugated heat transfer approach

Although fouling on heat exchanger tubes is extensively investigated, due to the lack of energy resources, the effects of fouling on heat exchangers is still an important area of study and gaining more and more attention every day. In this study we investigated the effects of fouling on heat transfer and flow structures numerically for cross-flow heat exchanger tube geometry. The distributions of temperature, heat transfer coefficient and heat flux at the surface of fouling were obtained for single and double layer fouling cases. In the analysis, Reynolds number and the blockage ratio were fixed to 100 and 0.1 respectively. We used ANSYS software in our analyses and compared some of our results with the literature.     

Numerical analysis of heat transfer and flow field around cross-flow heat exchanger tube with fouling

Fouling is one of the main problems of heat transfer which can be described as the accumulation on the heat exchanger tubes, i.e.; ash deposits on the heat exchanger unit of the boiler. A decrease in heat transfer rate by this deposition causes loss in system efficiency and leads to increasing in operating and maintenance costs. This problem concerns with the coupling among conduction heat transfer mode between solid of different types, conjugate heat transfer at the interface of solid and fluid, and the conduction/convection heat transfer mode in the fluid which can not be solved analytically. In this paper, fouling effect on heat transfer around a cylinder in cross flow has been studied numerically by using conjugate heat transfer approach. Unlike other numerical techniques in existing literatures, an unstructured control volume finite element method (CVFEM) has been developed in this present work. The study deals with laminar flow where the Reynolds number is limited in the range that the flow field over the cylinder is laminar and steady. We concern the fouling shape as an eccentric annulus with constant thermal properties. The local heat transfer coefficient, temperature distribution and mean heat transfer coefficient along the fouling surface are given for concentric and eccentric cases. From the results, we have found that the heat transfer rate of cross-flow heat exchanger depends on the eccentricity and thermal conductivity ratio between the fouling material and fluid. The effect of eccentric is dominant in the region near the front stagnation point due to high temperature and velocity gradients. The mean Nusselt number varies in asymptotic fashion with the thermal conductivity ratio. Fluid Prandtl number has a prominent effect on the distribution of local Nusselt number and the temperature along the fouling surface.     

Influences of bubble formation on different types of heat exchanger fouling

In this paper, a systematic comparison is performed to investigate fouling of suspended particles under forced convective and subcooled flow boiling heat transfer. For this purpose, two different types of fouling are separately considered: crystallization fouling of dissolved CaSO₄ particles in water and particulate fouling of suspended Al₂O₃ particles in n–heptane. The effect of hydraulic parameters such as fluid velocity and also bubble generation under subcooled flow boiling are studied. Results of the experiments demonstrate that creation of boiling condition in the heat exchanger has opposite influence in these two types of fouling. It means that bubble generation on the heat transfer surface promotes scale formation under crystallization fouling. This is due to the fact that increased bubble generation creates higher supersaturation beneath the vapor bubble, therefore, increasing the crystal concentration in the boundary layer. On the other hand, boiling condition inhibits the scale formation under particulate fouling because the suspended particles are repelled from the boundary layer by the strong turbulences created by the swarm of bubbles.     

不同材质换热管低温腐蚀研究

由于含硫燃料燃烧后易造成锅炉尾部受热面低温酸腐蚀,影响设备使用寿命,因此烟温区域必须选择不同耐腐蚀材料,以确保设备正常运行.依据酸露点温度计算结果及实际工程运行经验,提出了界限温度概念,即在尾部排烟酸露点温度基础上增加5~10℃后的温度.在管外壁温度高于界限温度的烟温区,受热面材料可选择碳钢;在管外壁温度低于界限温度30~40℃的烟温区,受热面材料可选择ND钢或316 L等不锈钢;若管外壁温度进一步降低,则需要选择双相不锈钢、塑钢管等特殊材料.采用试验手段研究了在硫酸质量分数不同时不同材质换热管的耐腐蚀性,试验结果显示:随着硫酸质量分数增大,硫酸腐蚀性增强;而316 L不锈钢在硫酸质量分数不同时都表现出良好的耐腐蚀性.     

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.     

Improved milk fouling simulation in a helical triple tube heat exchanger

Performance of a dairy heat exchanger declines as milk fouling deposits on the heating surface. It causes an increased resistance to heat flow thereby the milk outlet temperature decreases with increasing fouling thicknesses. Various models have been suggested for the prediction of fouling thickness and milk outlet temperature in a heat exchanger. The present paper describes an improved simulation model for the accurate estimation of fouling thickness and milk outlet temperature. Local fouling factor in terms of the Biot number is used in the work undertaken. Fouling thickness and milk outlet temperature are predicted as a function of time and over the entire length of the heat exchanger. Right from the beginning fouling occurred to a greater extent towards the outlet and with the progress of time the rate of increase of the fouling thickness decreased. The milk outlet temperature decreased with the time as the fouling increased.     

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.     

Conjugate fluid flow and kinetics modeling for heat exchanger fouling simulation

Thermal treatment of fluid foods represents a major unit operation in the food industry, to ensure the product's safety and quality features. But during the thermal treatments of such sensible fluids in common plate heat exchangers, food constituents such as proteins can be thermally damaged and precipitated to form fouling that greatly affect the treatment efficiency and alter the product's desired features.Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations can then be successfully exploited, bringing forth temperature and velocity information that yield for deposit distributions when coupled to biochemical notations for thermal denaturation of fluid constituents.The present work exploits such modeling for a single-channel heat exchanger during pasteurization of milk. The model enforces a conjugate system of differential equations to a heat exchanger's corrugated plate to combine flow, heat transfer and local transport of β-lactoglobulin. A preliminary computation has been performed that could be applied to geometry optimization (different corrugation shape and orientation) and for a variety of biochemically evolutive products.     

Study on oil fouling in a double pipe heat exchanger with mitigation by a surfactant

Fouling of oils on heat exchanger surfaces and pipelines is a common problem in a variety of industrial applications. This is because the oil deposits on the heat transfer surface causes an increase in pressure drop and a decrease in heat exchanger efficiency. In the current work, oil fouling in double pipe heat exchanger was investigated and mitigated using a surface‐active agent for the flow of a dispersion fluid containing different dispersed oil fractions in water. The effect of the dispersed oil fraction (5%vol and 10%vol) and temperature (35°C‐55°C) on the oil fouling rate was studied and discussed under turbulent flow conditions for both hot and cold fluids. Different amounts of alkylbenzene sulfonate as a surfactant were added to reduce the fouling rate under turbulent flow. It was found that the fouling thermal resistance (R_f) increases when the fluid temperature decreases. The higher the dispersed oil fraction, the higher the R_f for all temperatures due to higher oil deposition. Addition of 0.2%vol to 0.5%vol of alkylbenzene sulfonate caused an appreciable reduction in R_f depending on oil fraction and Reynolds number. The mitigation percent was higher for a lower Reynolds number, reaching up to 96%.     

基于污水换热器污垢不同生长阶段的除垢试验研究

为了提高污水换热器的除垢效果,文章以管壳式污水换热器为研究对象,以沙粒作为除垢粒子,以污垢热阻变化率表征除垢效果,在利用烘干灼烧失重法、能谱分析法和微观结构分析法分析污垢成分的基础上,运用污垢热阻法进行除垢试验研究。通过试验研究了在污垢生长的诱导期、生长期和渐近期3个阶段除垢对污垢热阻值的影响。试验结果表明:管壳式污水换热器管内污垢的主要成分为含水量较高的有机物;结垢工况下,污垢热阻渐近值为0.74×10^-3(m^2·K)/W;在污垢生长的诱导期、生长期和渐近期进行除垢后,污垢热阻渐近值分别为0.4×10^-3,0.42×10^-3,0.6×10^-3(m^2·K)/W,与结垢工况相比,污垢热阻渐近值分别降低了45.9%,43.2%,18.9%,除垢工况下污垢热阻增长速率较结垢工况明显减缓。     

Effect of heat exchanger material and fouling on thermoelectric exhaust heat recovery

Thermoelectric devices are being investigated as a means of improving fuel economy for diesel and gasoline vehicles through the conversion of wasted fuel energy, in the form of heat, to useable electricity. By capturing a small portion of the energy that is available with thermoelectric devices can reduce engine loads thus decreasing pollutant emissions, fuel consumption, and CO₂ to further reduce green house gas emissions. This study is conducted in an effort to better understand and improve the performance of thermoelectric heat recovery systems for automotive use. For this purpose an experimental investigation of thermoelectrics in contact with clean and fouled heat exchangers of different materials is performed. The thermoelectric devices are tested on a bench-scale thermoelectric heat recovery apparatus that simulates automotive exhaust. It is observed that for higher exhaust gas flowrates, thermoelectric power output increases from 2 to 3.8 W while overall system efficiency decreases from 0.95% to 0.6%. Degradation of the effectiveness of the EGR-type heat exchangers over a period of driving is also simulated by exposing the heat exchangers to diesel engine exhaust under thermophoretic conditions to form a deposit layer. For the fouled EGR-type heat exchangers, power output and system efficiency is observed to be 5-10% lower for all conditions tested.     

The collapse of heat exchanger tubes with ovality and simulated defects

Heat exchanger tubes of a pressurised water reactor steam generator form part of the boundary between the primary and secondary circuits of the reactor. It is important that no gross breach of this boundary occurs at anytime. Normally the tubes are subjected to internal pressure. However, should a loss of coolant occur in the primary circuit, these tubes are subjected to external pressure.This investigation compares theoretical and experimental results for such tubes, firstly with varying amounts of ovality and secondly with defects artificially induced to simulate: 1, Longitudinal tube cracking; 2, Fretting at tube supports; 3, Erosion.The collapse is compared with the strength of an original perfect tube. Collapse was found to be of a ductile nature in every instance, and in no case did the defect propagate through the wall of the tube.The findings are also of general interest for any externally pressurised tubing.     

Experimental study of heat transfer and flow of delta winglets inline arrays in a tube heat exchanger for enhanced heat transfer

This experiment was carried out using delta winglet arrays of vortex generators (VG) with inline arrangement in a tube heat exchanger to study enhanced heat transfer and flow behaviour. The experiment was conducted for the turbulent flow (Re = 6000 to 27000). In this experiment, different parameters, pitch ratios (PR = 1.6, 2.4, and 4.8), lengths (L = 10, 15, and 20 mm), and attack angles (B = 0°, 10°, 20°, 30°, and 45°) were studied and then their effect on thermal performance was observed. Results indicate that the PR affected f and Nu significantly. For PR = 1.6, VGs showed the highest f and Nu for all of the cases. Vortex generators with L10 B45 PR4.8 achieved the best TPE with 1.23 at Re = 6000. Attack angle B indicated a significant impact on thermal performance and 45 degree showed the TPE of 1.23 at lower Re. Oil film flow and smoke flow visualization were employed to identify the flow vortices and understand flow mechanism. The oil film flow and smoke flow visualization clearly traced longitudinal vortex, and induced vortex, which induced impingement flow and recirculation zone that lead to significant heat transfer enhancement.     

Numerical heat transfer studies of the fatty acids for different heat exchanger materials on the performance of a latent heat storage system

Theoretical investigations of fatty acids as a phase change material (PCM) for energy storage system have been conducted in this study. The selected fatty acids were capric acid, lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid and stearic acid. For the two-dimensional simulation model based on the enthalpy approach, calculations have been made for the melt fraction with conduction only. Glass, stainless steel, tin, aluminium mixed, aluminium and copper were used as heat exchanger materials in the numerical calculations. Theoretical results show that capric acid was found good compatibility with latent heat storage system. The large value of thermal conductivity of heat exchanger materials did not make significant contribution on the melt fraction.     

Performance evaluation of flat finned tube fin heat exchanger with different fin surfaces

When an extended surface is needed on only one fluid side (such as in a gas-to-liquid exchanger) or when the operating pressure needs to be contained on one fluid side, a tube-fin exchanger may be selected, with the tubes being round, flat, or elliptical in shape. The paper is concerned with the performance evaluation of flat tube fin heat exchangers (TFHE), having different fin configurations and flat tubes. The thermal performance of each configuration is based on the ε-NTU method. The extensive experimental research data of Kays and London available in the form of graphs are translated into algebraic relations for developing computational models. From the present work, a generalized heat transfer correlations is proposed based on geometrical parameters for the effectiveness of the heat exchanger. The generalization is with respect to the different fin surface geometry and not with the different combination of hot and cold fluids. The correlation is limited in its applicability to gas to water heat exchangers only. Further, guidelines are proposed for an easy way of designing a TFHE using correlations based on geometrical parameters and the same is compared with traditional ε-NTU method.     

板式换热器再生水污垢影响换热实验台的搭建和初步实验研究

经城镇污水处理厂处理后的二级再生水进入板式换热器会引起结垢,从而影响板式换热器的流动换热性能.针对这一问题搭建了现场实验台,在可调节工况下实时监测板换传热系数及流动压降,目的是研究板换再生水侧污垢的时变规律,并特别关注板换性能从初始清洁状态到预定清洗点之间的变化过程.研究为再生水源热泵系统及其板式换热器的设计与运行提供了重要参考依据.     

Detection of fouling in a cross-flow heat exchanger using a neural network based technique

This paper presents a method for the detection of fouling in a cross-flow heat exchanger. A numerical model is used to generate data when the heat exchanger is clean and corresponding data when fouling occurs. In a first step, the model is used to generate a long time series by simulating a clean heat exchanger. This allows the determination of a neural network model of the heat exchanger. Then, hundred sets of data are generated by simulating a fouled heat exchanger and it is checked that the simple Cusum test can be used to detect fouling without any false alarm, whatever the reference time series is.     

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.     

Complete and reduced models for metal hydride reactor with coiled-tube heat exchanger

Thermal effects during hydriding/dehydriding have a significant influence on the performance of metal hydride hydrogen storage system. The heat exchanger is widely used in the metal hydride reactor in order to improve the efficiency of system. In this work, based on mass balance, momentum balance, energy balance equations, equation of reaction kinetics and equilibrium pressure equation, a two dimensional axisymmetric model of metal hydride reactor packed with LaNi₅ is developed on Comsol platform. The model is validated by comparing its simulation results with the experiment data and the simulation results from other works. Then, the straight pipe heat exchanger and the coiled-tube heat exchanger are taken into consideration in order to improve heat transfer from metal hydride reactor to ambient environment. The complete three dimensional model is developed for the metal hydride reactor equipped with the coiled-tube heat exchanger. The case with coiled-tube heat exchanger shows better efficiency than the other. In general, the temperature in central area is higher than others. In order to cool central area effectively, two designs of heat exchangers, including the combination of coiled-tube heat exchanger and straight pipe heat exchanger and the concentric dual coiled-tube heat exchanger, are studied. The results show that it is an effective method to improve the efficiency of metal hydride reactor by equipping dual coiled-tube heat exchangers. Reduced two dimensional model is applied to metal hydride reactor with coiled-tube heat exchanger to reduce computing time. The simulation results of reduced model generally agree with those of complete three dimensional model.