Thermal design

flow rates of both streams.

inlet and outlet temperatures of
both streams.
operating pressure
allowable pressure drop
fouling resistance
physical properties
heat duty
type of heat exchanger.
line sizes
preferred tube size
maximum shell diameter
materials of construction
special considerations
Important parameters for thermal design
Process (thermal) design procedure
Shell and tube heat exchanger is designed by
trial and error calculations.

Kern method

Step #1 Obtain the required thermophysical
properties of hot and cold fluids
thermal conductivity
heat capacity,
thermal expansion
viscosity
Step #2 Perform energy balance and find out
the heat duty (Q)



Step #3 Assume a reasonable value of overall
heat transfer coefficient (U
o,assm
)





Step #4 Decide tentative number of shell and
tube passes. Determine the LMTD
and the correction factor F
T

Continued
Determine LMTD
Assumptions
1) U is constant over entire length
of path
2) C
p
and flow rates are also
constant.
3) No phase changes in the system
4) Heat losses are negligible
continued
Determination of correction factor

Step #5 Calculate heat transfer area (A)
required




Step #6 Calculate the number of tubes
Calculate tube side fluid velocity
If u <1 m/s, fix n
p
so that,





Step#7
Determine the equivalent diameter of shell.



Step 8
Decide type of shell and tube
exchanger (fixed tubesheet, U-tube
etc.).
A triangular (or rotated triangular) pattern
will accommodate more tubes than a
square (or rotated square) pattern
For services that require mechanical
cleaning on the shell side, square patterns
must be used
Baffle spacing and baffle cut

Step #9 Assign fluid to shell side or tube side






Step #10 Determine the tube side and shell
side film heat transfer coefficient
and calculate the overall heat
transfer coefficient
Shell side heat transfer co-efficient (h
o
):

Overall heat transfer coefficient U
Step #11


go the next step # 12. Otherwise go to step
#5,calculate heat transfer area (A) required
using calculated U and repeat the calculations
starting from step #5.
Step #12
Calculate % overdesign





Typical value of 10% or less is acceptable.

Step 13
Step #13 Calculate the
tube-side pressure drop

continued
Shell side pressure drop

Performance analysis
Ratio of quantity of heat removed form a fluid to the
maximum which might have been removed