SHELL AND TUBE

HEAT EXCHANGER

Contents
1

Introduction
Theory
Experimental Apparatus
Experimental Method
Results
Discussion
Conclusions
References
List of Symbols
Appendices

3
4-5
6
7
8-11
12
13
14
15
16-17

Introduction
2

The basic premise of a heat exchanger is to transfer heat between two streams
without the streams coming in direct contact. A shell and tube heat exchanger
consists of a series of long tubes enclosed in a cylindrical shell. One fluid flows
through the inner tubes whilst a second fluid flows through the shell in the space
between the tubes and the inside of the shell. Heat transfer is achieved through
convection on both sides of the inner tube as well as conduction through the
tubes.
The aim of this experiment was to calculate overall heat transfer coefficients
through the use of experimental data. This would allow us to calculate shell and
tube side coefficients and these would be compared to known values from
literature.
The materials used in this experiment can be found in Appendix 1.

Theory
3

The shell and tube heat exchanger is the most commonly used heat exchanger in
industry. This is because there are several benefits which make it more viable
for use over other types of exchanger. These include the fact that the layout
allows for a greater surface area whilst using a small volume as well as being
beneficial for pressure operation. As well as this, the construction of the heat
exchanger can use a wide range of materials using well established fabrication
techniques, and also the fact that it can be cleaned easily when fouling occurs.
Determining the overall heat transfer coefficient is one of the most important
and usually the most uncertain aspect in the analysis of heat exchangers. This
coefficient accounts primarily for all of the convective and conductive
resistances, for fluids separated by a wall or tube as well as this it also takes
into account thermal resistances cause by fouling.
The heat load (Q) can be determined from either the increase in water
temperature or the rate of condensation of steam. This is given by the equation:

Q' =m' Cp ( T CO T CI ) =m' c fg

Heat transfer coefficients for the tubes are known as the tubes are made from a
standard construction material. The majority of the resistance to heat transfer
occurs at the tubes, both inside and outside as the steam flows inside the
tubes, the condensing steam usually displays less resistance than water and
hence the main resistance is the outer one. This is shown by the equation:

'

Q =U O AO T LM ( U i A i T LM )

Where:
4

And

When U O is calculated, inserting values into the above equation will isolate 4
unknowns. In the case of forced convection, film coefficients for turbulent flow
of tubular surfaces is proportional to the velocity of the fluid raised to the power
of 0.8. This is shown by the equation:

Substitution of the two equations above gives us the equation:

This equation gives us a straight line graph for

1
UO

vs W 0.8 this is

known as a Wilson Plot. The Y-axis intercept of this graph will give the
combined resistances of the steam film, exchanger wall and the fouling layers.
All of this allows hi to be calculated
5

Experimental Apparatus

The experiment was set up as follows:

Shell and Tube Heat
Exchanger

Experimental Method

The ambient pressure of the room was taken prior to the experiment being
carried out. The cooling water isolation valve was turned on, followed by the
valve at the bottom of the water flowmeter this allowed the maximum
flowrate of water to be found. The thermocouples T1 and T2 were switched on.
The condensate collect valve was closed; the condensate return valve was
opened and the steam isolation valve was turned on until the steam pressure
reached a required pressure. 15 minutes were allowed for the exchanger to reach
equilibrium.
Initially a bucket was filled with water and weighed on a digital balance this
was then placed under where the steam condensate exit the exchanger. The
condensate collect valve was opened and the condensate return valve closed,
allowing water to travel into the bucket values from the thermocouple,
pressure gauge and flowrate were measure every minute for 5 minutes. Once
completed, the bucket was weighed again to measure how much condensate had
been produced. This procedure was repeated for 5 different flow rates.

Results

Experimental data

RUN
1

RUN
2

RUN
3

RUN
4

RUN
5

Weight of bucket at
end of run (kg)

4.376

4.272

4.605

4.82

4.675

Weight of bucket at
start of run (kg)
(Calibrated)

Water outlet
temperature (C) @
0 min

42

43

42

40

47

Water outlet
temperature (C) @
1 min

40

41

39

49

49

Water outlet
temperature (C) @
2 min

41

39

44

49

51

Water outlet
temperature (C) @
3 min

40

39

43

46

48

Water outlet
temperature (C) @
4 min

40

39

44

45

47

Water inlet
temperature (C) @
0 min

15

17

15

15

15

Water inlet
temperature (C) @
1 min

15

17

15

15

15

Water inlet
temperature (C) @
2 min

16

17

16

16

16

Water inlet
temperature (C) @
3 min

17

17

16

16

17

Water inlet
temperature (C) @
4 min

17

18

17

17

17

Steam pressure (bar

g) @ 0 min

1.5

0.5

1.1

2.3

2.6

Steam pressure (bar

g) @ 1 min

1.35

0.4

1.05

2.35

2.35

Steam pressure (bar

g) @ 2 min

0.9

0.4

1.55

1.75

Steam pressure (bar

g) @ 3 min

0.7

0.3

0.9

1.25

1.4

Steam pressure (bar

g) @ 4 min

0.5

0.3

0.9

1.3

Water flowrate
(litre/min)

28

26

24

22

20

Interpreted data

RUN
1

RUN
2

RUN
3

RUN
4

RUN
5

Mean water inlet

temperature Tin (C)

16

17.2

15.8

15.8

16

Mean water outlet

temperature Tout (C)

40.6

40.2

42.4

45.8

48.4

Steam pressure P
(bar absolute)

1.99

1.38

1.99

2.69

2.88

Rate of
condensation (kg/s)

0.0183

0.0178

0.0192

0.02

0.0195

Mean water
temperature Tav (C)

28.3

28.7

21.1

30.8

32.2

Temp. change of
water (Tout - Tin) (C)

24.6

23

26.6

30

32.4

RUN

RUN

RUN

RUN

RUN

CP of water @ Tav
(J/kg.K)

4180.32

4180.48

4181.44

4178.16

4178.48

Water density @ Tin

(kg/m3)

998.36

998.55

998.33

998.33

998.36

Latent heat lfg of sat.

steam @ P (J/kg)

2.21x106

2.24x106

2.21x106

2.13x106

2.14x106

Temp. Tsteam of sat.

steam @ P (C)

118.76oC

107.54oC

118.76oC

128.83oC

131.44oC

Calculated Results

RUN
1

RUN
2

RUN
3

RUN
4

RUN
5

0.466

0.432

0.395

0.366

0.333

47921.51
40443

41537.25
39872

43934.39
42432

45876.19
42600

45082.46
41730

44182.25

40704.63

43183.19

44238.09

43406.23

102.76

90.34

102.96

113.03

115.44

T2 (deg C) i.e. exit

78.16

67.34

76.36

83.03

83.04

TLM (deg C)

89.9

78.28

88.99

97.26

98.35

Heat transfer area Ao

(m2)

0.365

0.365

0.365

0.365

0.365

Uo (W/m2K)

1346.46

1424.62

1329.47

1246.15

1209.6

Wilson plot

RUN
1

RUN
2

RUN
3

RUN
4

RUN
5

1/Uo (m2K/W)

0.000742688

0.000701942 0.000752179 0.000802472 0.00082672

1/W0.8
(min0.8/litre0.8)

0.069546227

0.073794046 0.078673959 0.084345488 0.09102821

intercept (m2K/W)

0.00035

0.00035

0.00035

0.00035

0.00035

inner diameter of
tubes (m)

0.027432

0.027432

0.027432

0.027432

0.027432

outer diameter of
tubes (m)

0.03175

0.03175

0.03175

0.03175

0.03175

conductivity of tube
wall (W/m.K)

16.2

16.2

16.2

16.2

16.2

Physical properties
data

Water flowrate
(kg/s)
Water heat duty (W)
Steam heat duty (W)
Average heat duty
Q (W)
T1 (deg C) i.e.
entry

10

tube wall resistance

(m2K/W)

0.00014325

0.00014325

0.00014325

0.00014325

0.00014325

water-side fouling
resistance (m2K/W)

0.0003

0.0003

0.0003

0.0003

0.0003

steam-side fouling
resistance (m2K/W)

0.00067

0.00067

0.00067

0.00067

0.00067

1/hi (m2K/W)

0.000368463

0.000394095 0.000340759 0.000302139 0.00027976

1/ho (m2K/W)

0.000318352

0.000340498 0.000294415 0.000261048 0.00024171

hi (W/m2K)

2713.980388

2537.461339

ho (W/m2K)

3141.181005

2936.876549 3396.561574 3830.708542 4137.16523

2934.6292

3309.732181 3574.51076

WILSON PLOT Of 1/U0 VS 1/W^0.8

0
0
0

1/W0.8 (min0.8/litre0.8)

0
0
0
0.07

0.07

0.08

0.08

0.09

1/Uo (m2K/W)

11

0.09

0.1

Discussion

The aim of this experiment was to calculate overall, shell side and tube side heat
transfer coefficients from experimental data and to compare these with values
from literature. This experiment can be considered a success for several reasons;
the experimental data obtained allowed calculations to be made to calculate heat
transfer coefficients; as well as this the values obtained are within a reasonable
percentage of those from literature.
However, there are several sources of error in this experiment. Firstly in the
equipment; the model number of the thermocouples was not available at the
time and this meant that percentage errors for this could not be calculate.
Secondly, the pressure gauge used was analogue and over a small scale this
meant that readings for pressure were not very accurate. Furthermore the water
flowrate was required to be constant throughout each run of the experiment,
however there was an error of 10% throughout each run of the experiment.
If this experiment were to be repeated, there would be several changes in order
to ensure greater accuracy. Firstly, all specifications of the equipment used
would be available, in order to have greater understanding of how specifications
affect the final results obtained. As well as this a different method of providing
pressure for the steam/water would be explored in order to keep the flow rates
as near to constant as possible throughout the experiment, and finally a more
accurate pressure gauge would be used.

12

Conclusions

Overall, despite the sources of error mentioned above, this experiment can be
considered a success as the aims from the start of the experiment were met. If
this experiment were to be repeated, the changes mentioned above would be put
into place in order to gain further accuracy. However as a next step, a second
experiment involving a different type of heat exchanger would be carried out
and the results compared this would allow further understanding of different
types of heat exchangers and their different uses.

13

References
Incropera, F.P., D.P. DeWitt (1996), Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer,
John Wiley & Sons, Pages 460, 582-612. (1996)
Sinnott, R. and Towler, G. (2010). Coulson and Richardson's Chemical
engineering. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Pages 634-650
Maloney, J. (2008). Perry's chemical engineers' handbook. [New York]:
McGraw-Hill.
UWS Lab Instruction Sheet

14

List of Symbols
2
A = heat transfer area of exchanger ( m )

CP = specific heat capacity of water (J/kg.K)

h = heat transfer coefficient for convection at the tube surface (W/m2K)
k = thermal conductivity of tube wall (W/m.K)
K1 = constant of proportionality between flowrate and h
m = mass flowrate of water through exchanger (kilograms per second)
mc = mass of steam condensed that has passed through exchanger (kilograms
per second)
Q = heat duty of exchanger (Watts)
Rf = resistance of fouling layer on tube surface (m2K/W)
T = fluid temperature (K or C) (subscripts: H = hot, C = cold, i = in, o = out)
T = difference in temperature between two different fluids (deg K)
TLM = log mean temperature difference (i.e. an average) between fluids (deg
K)
U = overall heat transfer coefficient of exchanger (W/m2K)
v = MEAN velocity of water passing through tubes (m/s)
15

W = volumetric flowrate of water (litres per minute)

fg = latent heat capacity of steam (J/kg)

Appendices
Appendix 1 Equipment Specifications

1) Shell-and-Tube Heat Exchanger

Material:

304 Stainless Steel

Length:

1.2192m

Inner Diameter:

0.02742m

Outer Diameter:

0.03175m

2) Thermocouple
Manufacturer: Omega
Model Specification unavailable.

16

Appendix 2 Sample Calculations

All calculations are based on results from Run 1

Meanwater temperature=

42+ 40+41+ 40+40

=40.6
5

||= Ambient

P+ P=1+0.99=1.99
Steam Pressure
Mass Steam 4.376
=
=0.0183 kg /s
Time
240

Rate of Condensation=

Heat Duty =cP TFlow Rate100

418048231000=41537.25 W

T LM =

U 0=

17

T 1 T 2
90.3467.34
=
=78.28
ln T 1ln T 2 ln ( 90.34 )ln (67.34)

Q'
A0 T LM

40704.63
=1424.62
0.36578.28

do
) 0.03175 ln ( 0.03175 )
di
0027432
=
=0.00014 m2 K / W
2 kp
216.2

d o ln (
Tube Wall Resistance=

18

h=hc A T = (1050 )( 0.00274321.2192 )( 24.6 )=2713.98