Derivation of LMTD Page 1

Derivation of LMTD
As we know from 1
st
law of thermodynamics
Q = mc
p
(h
c,o
h
c,i
)
So with the specic heat assumption that we made (and treating the uids as incompressible), we can
write
Q = mc
p
T
Well also dene C
i
= m
i
c
p,i
as the heat capacity rate. We want to relate the inlet and outlet
temperatures,the U, and the A, to the rate of heat transferred, and we can do this as:
Q = U A T
mean

We now need to nd what this mean temperature is. To do this, well look at a dierential area of the
heat exchanger where a dierential amount of heat is transferred.
Using this equation to examine the hot and cold streams separately yields:
Q= C
h
dT
h
; C
h
= ( m cp)
h
(1)
Q= C
c
dTc ; Cc = ( m cp)
c
(2)
where or appears, the top sign designates parallel-ow, and the bottom sign designates
counterow.



c h
T T T =
m
T A U Q =
Derivation of LMTD Page 2

From the following steps LMTD for Double pipe Heat Exchangers can be done
1.
h h h h h
dT C dT c m dQ = =
2.
h
h
C
dQ
dT =
3.
h c c c c
dT C dT c m dQ = =
4.
c
c
C
dQ
dT =
5.
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ =
c h
C
1
C
1
T A d U T) ( d
6.
} } |
|
.
|

\
|
+ =
2
1 c h
T
T
dA
C
1
C
1
U
T
T) ( d
2
1

7.
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ =
|
|
.
|

\
|
c h 1
2
C
1
C
1
UA
T
T
ln
8.
) T (T
Q
C
o h, i h,
h

=
9.
) T (T
Q
C
i c, o c,
c

=
10.
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ =
|
|
.
|

\
|
c h 1
2
C
1
C
1
UA
T
T
ln
11. ] ) T (T ) T [(T
Q
UA
T
T
ln
i c, c,0 o h, i h,
1
2
+

=
|
|
.
|

\
|

12. ] ) T (T ) T [(T
Q
UA
o c, h,0 i c, i h,

= ] T T [
Q
UA
2 1

=
13.
) T / T ( ln
T T
UA Q
1 2
1 2

=
) T (T C
o h, i h, h
= ) T (T c m Q
o h, i h, h h
=