THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL AND MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING

MECH3610 – ADVANCED THERMOFLUIDS

2019 – TERM 2

HEAT EXCHANGER LAB INSTRUCTIONS

1. INTRODUCTION

It is critical that you read and understand these instructions

BEFORE you arrive for your laboratory timeslot.

1.1. Heat Exchangers

Heat exchangers are key processing equipment in many industrial and mechanical systems.
They transfer heat between hot and cold fluids (usually 1 hot stream and 1 cold stream,
although other configurations are possible) without mixing them, thereby avoiding cross-
contamination. The fluids can have different compositions and be at different pressures.
Ideally, all the thermal energy lost by one fluid is gained by the other, however there can also
be heat lost to or gained by the surroundings. This experiment is intended to give the student
the opportunity to investigate a real heat exchanger process and perform appropriate
calculations to determine the effectiveness of the unit.

1.2. Crowd Sourcing of Experimental Data

Each group of students will conduct the experiment with slightly different operational
parameters. They will then enter their data into a central spreadsheet on a computer provided
by the Lab Instructor. This spreadsheet will be shared with all students so that they are able
to see how the equipment performs across a large parameter space. The analysis of this
complete set of data will be used in the analysis of your final report. It is important to be precise
with your measurements to assist your peers with their final reports.

1.3. Experiment Aim

To show how different cold-water flow rates and hot-water supply temperatures affect the
performance of two different heat exchanger designs.

2. PRELIMINARY WORK
1. (COMPULSORY) Read the Safe Work Procedure for the equipment (see Moodle for
link) and ‘Declare as Read’ in SafeSys.
2. (RECOMMENDED) Watch the instructional videos on Moodle, ensuring that you
understand the equipment and procedure.
You do not need to print the Results Table on the last page of this document: copies will be
available in the lab.
3. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS
3.1. Description

In this experiment, the heat exchanger transfers energy from a hot water stream to a cold
water stream without mixing the two streams. This is achieved by passing the streams on
either side of a series of aluminium plates (or tubes), forcing conductive heat transfer to occur
through the thickness of the plate. The main board of the experimental rig has a hot water tank
and heater to maintain the supply temperature of the hot water. The cold water is supplied by
an external source. Different types of heat exchangers can be installed in the rig: for this
experiment, a plate type and a shell and tube type heat exchanger are used. The flow rates
of the hot and cold fluid can be controlled using needle valves on the supply line to the heat
exchanger. The temperature of the inlet of each fluid and the outlet of each fluid is measured
using K-type thermocouples. All relevant variable values are displayed on the rig.

3.2. Parameter Space

Your group will test values from one row of the Parameter Space table.

Parameter 𝑻𝑯 (°𝐶) 𝑭𝑪𝑶𝑳𝑫 (𝐿. 𝑚𝑖𝑛−1 )

Space #1 #2 #1 #2 #3
1 35 40 1.0 2.0 3.0
2 40 45 1.0 2.0 3.0
3 50 55 1.0 2.0 3.0
4 60 65 1.0 2.0 3.0
5 45 50 0.7 1.7 2.7
6 55 60 0.7 1.7 2.7
7 40 45 1.3 2.3 3.3
8 50 55 1.3 2.3 3.3

3.3. Procedure

Before you arrive, two heat exchangers will be set up in a counter-flow arrangement. You will
be divided into two groups and will take measurements from ONE of the heat exchangers.
Your group will conduct 6 tests in total, using the values from one row of the Parameter Space
table. The Lab Instructor will inform your group which row to use.

BE CAREFUL OF THE HOT-WATER CONNECTIONS AND PIPES.

THEY CAN GET VERY HOT AND MAY POSE A BURN RISK.

Step 1: Check the type of heat exchanger (‘Plate (TD360B)’ or ‘Shell and Tube
(TD360C)’) and record this in your Results Table.
Step 2: Set the nominal heater temperature to the first 𝑻𝑯 value in your group’s
Parameter Space. Wait until thermal equilibrium at this temperature is reached (to within
±0.2°𝐶). See Figure 1.

Figure 1: Setting the nominal heater temperature

Step 3: Adjust the valve for the hot water supply until you have 𝑭𝑯𝑶𝑻 = 𝟑. 𝟎 ±
𝟎. 𝟐 L/min flow. Adjust the flow valve for the cold-water supply until you have the first 𝑭𝑪𝑶𝑳𝑫
value in your group’s Parameter Space (to within ±𝟎. 𝟐 L/min ) Figure 2 gives guidance on
the adjustment of the hot and cold needle valves.

Figure 2: Adjustment of the hot and cold flow

Step 4: Measure the room temperature adjacent to the experimental rig and record
your reading in the 𝑻𝑨𝑴𝑩 column of the Results Table.

Step 5: Wait for the system to come to thermal equilibrium (approx. 1-2 minutes),
adjusting the water supply valves as required to maintain the specified flow rates.

Step 6: Record the temperatures readings, 𝑇𝐻1 , 𝑇𝐻2 , 𝑇𝐶1 and 𝑇𝐶2 ,in your Results Table.
Step 7: Repeat steps 3 – 6 using the second and third values of 𝐹𝐶𝑂𝐿𝐷 in your group’s
Parameter Space

Step 8: Now set the nominal heater temperature to the second 𝑻𝑯 value in your group’s
Parameter Space. When thermal equilibrium is reached, repeat steps 3 – 7.

Step 9: Finally, one member of your group must enter all collected data in the
spreadsheet on the Lab computer.

4. Equations and Resources

4.1. Useful Equations

Heat transfer rate to/from a fluid stream:

|𝑄̇ | = 𝑚̇ ∙ 𝑐𝑝 ∙ |𝑇2 – 𝑇1 | = 𝑉̇ ∙ 𝜌 ∙ 𝑐𝑝 ∙ |𝑇2 – 𝑇1 | (1)

Heat rate lost to surroundings:

𝑄̇S = |𝑄̇𝐻 | − |𝑄̇𝐶 | (2)
Log-mean temperature difference:
Δ𝑇𝐴 − Δ𝑇𝐵
𝐿𝑀𝑇𝐷 = (3)
Δ𝑇
𝑙𝑛 ( 𝐴 )
Δ𝑇𝐵
Counterflow: Δ𝑇𝐴 = 𝑇𝐻1 − 𝑇𝐶2 Δ𝑇𝐵 = 𝑇𝐻2 − 𝑇𝐶1
Parallel: Δ𝑇𝐴 = 𝑇𝐻1 − 𝑇𝐶1 Δ𝑇𝐵 = 𝑇𝐻2 − 𝑇𝐶2
Overall heat transfer coefficient:
|𝑄̇𝐻 |
𝑈= (4)
𝐴 ∙ 𝐿𝑀𝑇𝐷

4.2. Constant Property Approximations

The following properties for water are approximately constant in the parameter space of this
experiment:
Property Value Units
𝑐𝑝 4180 𝐽. 𝑘𝑔−1 . 𝐾 −1
𝜌 996 𝑘𝑔. 𝑚−3

4.3. Nomenclature

Parameter Units Description

𝐴 𝑚2 Heat transfer surface area
𝑐𝑝 𝐽. 𝑘𝑔−1 . 𝐾 −1 Specific heat capacity at constant pressure
 𝐿𝑀𝑇𝐷 𝐾 Log-mean temperature difference
𝑚̇ 𝑘𝑔. 𝑠 −1 Mass flow rate
𝑄̇ 𝑊 Heat energy transferred to/from a fluid stream per unit time
𝜌 𝑘𝑔. 𝑚−3 Mass density
T 𝐾 𝑜𝑟 °𝐶 Static temperature
𝑈 𝑊. 𝑚−2 . 𝐾 −1 Overall heat transfer coefficient
𝑉̇ 𝑚3 . 𝑠 −1 Volumetric flow rate of fluid stream

Subscripts
𝐶, 𝐶𝑂𝐿𝐷 Cold fluid stream property
𝐻, 𝐻𝑂𝑇 Hot fluid stream property
𝑆 Surroundings
1 Inlet ports
2 Outlet ports

4.4. Heat Exchanger Specifications

Note: Equation (4) uses 𝐴 = 0.005𝑚2 for the Plate Heat Exchanger, 𝐴 = 0.02𝑚2 for the Shell
and Tube Heat Exchanger.
RESULTS TABLE Date: ____/____/2019

Name: _____________________________________ Student No: _____________________

𝑻𝑯 𝑻𝑨𝑴𝑩 𝑭𝑯𝑶𝑻 𝑭𝑪𝑶𝑳𝑫 𝑻𝑯𝟏 𝑻𝑯𝟐 𝑻𝑪𝟏 𝑻𝑪𝟐

Test Heat Exchanger
No. Type
°C °C L/min L/min °C °C °C °C