Effects of Baffle Overlap Proportion on Shell-Side Performance of Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger With Helical Baffles

Author(s):  
Bin Gao ◽  
Qincheng Bi ◽  
Zesen Nie

Different overlap configurations of discontinuous helical baffles affect the flow pattern of the shell-side fluid directly, and thus there is a significant impact on the flow and heat transfer characteristics of the shell-side fluid. In the present paper, experiments were carried out to study the impact of baffle overlap proportion on the shell-side flow and heat transfer performance of the shell-and-tube heat exchanger with helical baffles (STHEHB). Two different shell-side friction factors, the friction factor per helical pitch (fs,1B) and the friction factor per tube length (fs,1m), were defined based on different reference lengths. The results showed that, since the baffle overlap proportion leads to different helical pitch as well as flow fields in shell side, opposite conclusions are obtained by choosing different reference length. Based on the same Reynolds number, the shell-side Nusselt number of the STHEHB with 10% baffle overlap is higher than that with 50% baffle overlap. The reason is that the larger baffle overlap proportion produces more serious leak flows and weakens the heat transfer in shell side. The comparison of heat transfer coefficient per unit pressure drop versus shell-side flow rate showed that the STHEHB with smaller baffle overlap proportion has better comprehensive heat transfer performance, but the difference between the two decreases gradually with the increase of the flow rate.

Author(s):  
Sun-Joon Byun ◽  
Sang-Jae Lee ◽  
Jae-Min Cha ◽  
Zhen-Huan Wang ◽  
Young-Chul Kwon

This study presents the comparison of heat transfer capacity and pressure drop characteristics between a basic fin-tube heat exchanger and a modified heat exchanger with the structural change of branch tubes and coiled turbulators. All experiments were carried out using an air-enthalpy type calorimeter based on the method described in ASHRAE standards, under heat exchanger experimental conditions. 14 different kinds of heat exchangers were used for the experiment. Cooling and heating capacities of the turbulator heat exchanger were excellent, compared to the basic one. As the insertion ratio of the coiled turbulator and the number of row increased, the heat transfer performance increased. However, the capacity per unit area was more effective in 4 rows than 6 rows, and the cooling performance of the 6 row turbulator heat exchanger (100% turbulator insert ratio) was down to about 6% than that of 4 row one. As the water flow rate and the turbulator insertion ratio increased, the pressure drop of the water side increased. This trend was more pronounced in 6 rows. In the cooling condition, the pressure drop on the air side was slightly increased due to the generation of condensed water, but was insignificant under the heating condition. The power consumption of the pump was more affected by the water flow rate than the coiled turbulator. The equivalent hydraulic diameter of a tube by the turbulator was reduced and then the heat transfer performance was improved. Thus, the tube diameter was smaller, the heat flux was better.


Author(s):  
Rohitha Paruchuri ◽  
T. S. Ravigururajan ◽  
Arun Muley

The analysis of flow maldistribution in a shell and tube heat exchanger is presented. The flow field within the headers was obtained through numerical solution of conservation equations of mass and momentum in addition to the equations of the turbulence model. The flow maldistribution inside the header was a 3-D numerical simulation with the help of commercial software To increase the performance of the heat exchanger, flow maldistribution among the tubes should be minimized.. Flow maldistribution in the header affects the heat transfer performance. The effects of the pressure drop and velocity distribution in the headers were analyzed, as it effects the heat transfer performance. The study showed that by changing the header geometry, the maldistribution can be reduced leading to improved performance. Two types of headers were considered with varying header length and inlet flow velocities from 0.8373mm/sec to 2.344mm/sec are considered. The uniformity of flow distribution improved with increasing header length, whereas it decreased with increasing flow rate. As the header length increased to 1500mm the flow maldistribution decreased and the static pressure was almost equal for all the tubes in case of a conical header. The results show that conical header minimizes flow maldistribution compared to a cylindrical header.


2014 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mica Vukic ◽  
Mladen Tomic ◽  
Predrag Zivkovic ◽  
Gradimir Ilic

In this paper, the results of the experimental investigations of fluid flow and heat transfer in laboratory experimental shell-and-tube heat exchanger are presented. Shell-and-tube heat exchanger is with one pass of warm water on the shell side and two passes of cool water in tube bundle. Shell-and-tube heat exchanger is with 24x2 tubes (U-tube) in triangle layout. During each experimental run, the pressure drops and the fluid temperatures on shell side, along the shell-and-tube heat exchanger (at positions defined in advance) have been measured. Special attention was made to the investigation of the segmental baffles number influence of the shell-and-tube heat exchanger effectiveness.


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