Kerns Description of Shell Side Flow in

SHELL-AND-TUBE HEAT EXCHANGER

P M V Subbarao
Professor
Mechanical Engineering Department
I I T Delhi

Another Peculiar Averaging

Method..

Thermal Analysis for Shell-Side

Conventional Methods are based on Non-dimensional
Analysis
Convection Heat Transfer demands Definition of
Nusselt Number Output
Reynolds Number Input
Prandtl Number -- Input

Shell Side Fluid Flow

Shell-Side Reynolds Number

Reynolds number for the shell-side is defined based on the
equivalent diameter and the velocity based on a reference flow:

sU s De Gs De
Re s

s
s

m s De
Re s

As s

Simplified Classification of Shell Side Flow

Fluid dynamic Similarity of Counter & Cross Flow

Heat Transfer ?!?!?!

Thermodynamic Similarity of Counter & Cross Flow

Heat Transfer

Tube Layout & Flow Structure

A Real Use of Wetted Perimeter !

Tube Layout
Tube layout is characterized by the included angle between
tubes.
Two standard types of tube layouts are the square and the
equilateral triangle.
Triangular pitch (30o layout) is better for heat transfer and
surface area per unit length (greatest tube density.)
Square pitch (45 & 90 layouts) is needed for mechanical
cleaning.
Note that the 30,45 and 60 are staggered, and 90 is in
line.
For the identical tube pitch and flow rates, the tube layouts
in decreasing order of shell-side heat transfer coefficient
and pressure drop are: 30,45,60, 90.
The 90 layout will have the lowest heat transfer
coefficient and the lowest pressure drop.

 The square pitch (90 or 45) is used when jet or

mechanical cleaning is necessary on the shell side.
In that case, a minimum cleaning lane of in. (6.35 mm)
is provided.
The square pitch is generally not used in the fixed header
sheet design because cleaning is not feasible.
The triangular pitch provides a more compact
arrangement, usually resulting in smaller shell, and the
strongest header sheet for a specified shell-side flow area.
It is preferred when the operating pressure difference
between the two fluids is large.

Tube Pitch
The selection of tube pitch is a compromise between a
Close pitch (small values of PT/do) for increased shell-side
heat transfer and surface compactness, and an
Open pitch (large values of PT/ do) for decreased shell-side
plugging and ease in shell-side cleaning.
Tube pitch Pt is chosen so that the pitch ratio is 1.25 < PT/do <
1.5.
When the tubes are to close to each other (PT/do less than
1.25), the header plate (tube sheet) becomes to weak for
proper rolling of the tubes and cause leaky joints.
Tube layout and tube locations are standardized for industrial
heat exchangers.
However, these are general rules of thumb and can be
violated for custom heat exchanger designs.

Identification of (Pseudo) Velocity Scale

Shell Side Pseudo Flow Area

The number of tubes at the centerline of the shell is
calculated by

Ds
N tc
PT

Ds
As N tc .C.B
C.B
PT
where is Asthe bundle cross flow area, Dsis the inner diameter of
the shell, C is the clearance between adjacent tubes, and B is the
baffle spacing

C PT d o

Pseudo Shell side Mass Velocity

The shell-side mass velocity is found with

m s
Gs
As
Ds
As
PT d o B
PT

Selection of Shell Diameter

Shell Diameter
The number of tubes is calculated by taking the shell
circle and dividing it by the projected area of the tube
layout. That is

Ashell

N t Apro tube
CTP

2
DS
4

where Apro-tube is the projected area of the tube layout

expressed as area corresponding to one tube, Ds is the
shell inside diameter, and
CTP is the tube count calculation constant that accounts
for the incomplete coverage of the shell diameter by
the tubes, due to necessary clearances between the
shell and the outer tube circle and tube omissions due
to tube pass lanes for multitude pass design.

Projected area of Tube Layout

Apro tube P

2
T

Apro tube CL P

2
T

Where PT is the tube pitch and CL is the tube layout constant.

Coverage of Shell Area

The CTP values for different tube passes are

given below:

Pseudo Shell side Mass Velocity

The shell-side mass velocity is found with

m s
Gs
As
Ds
As N tc .C.B
C .B
PT
C PT d o

2 N t CLPT2
DS
4
CTP

Shell side Equivalent (Hydraulic) Diameter

Equivalent diameter employed by Kern for correlating shell
side heat transfer/flow is not a true equivalent diameter.
The direction of shell side flow is partly along the tube
length and partly at right angles to tube length or heat
exchanger axis.
The flow area at right angles is harmonically varying.
This cannot be distinguished based on tube layout.
Kerns experimental study showed that flow area along the
axis showed excellent correlation wrt
Tube layout, tube pitch etc.

Equivalent Counter Flow : Hydraulic or Equivalent

Diameter
The equivalent diameter is calculated along (instead of
across) the long axes of the shell and therefore is taken as
four times the net flow area as layout on the tube sheet
(for any pitch layout) divided by the wetted perimeter.

Net Free - flow area

De 4
heattransferperimeter

Free Flow Area for Square Layout:

A flow

1 2
P 4 d O
4 4
2
T

2
P d O
4

2
T

Free Flow Area for Triangular Layout:

A flow
A flow

A flow

600 2
Atriangle 3
dO
0
360 4

600 2
1
base height 3
dO
0
2
360 4

600 2
1
PT
PT
3
dO
0
0
2
Tan 60
360 4

3PT2

2
dO
8

Perimeter for square Layout:

d O
Pe 4
d O
4

Perimeter for triangular Layout:

600
d O

Pe 3

O
0
360
2

Equivalent diameter for square layout:

De square

4 A flow
Pe

2
4 P d O
4

d O

Equivalent diameter for Triangular layout:

2
T

De triangular

4 A flow
Pe

3PT2

2
dO
8

d O

Shell-Side Reynolds Number

Reynolds number for the shell-side is based on the
equivalent diameter and the velocity based on a
reference flow:

m s De
Re s

As s

Identification of (Pseudo) Velocity Scale

Pseudo Shell side Mass Velocity: Perpendicular

Flow
The shell-side mass velocity is found with

m s
Gs
As
Ds
As
PT d o B
PT

Hydraulic or Equivalent Diameter : Axial Flow

A Hydraulic radius based on cross flow cannot recognize the
importance of tube layout.
The equivalent diameter is calculated along (instead of across)
the long axes of the shell and therefore is taken as four times
the net flow area as layout on the tube sheet (for any pitch
layout) divided by the wetted perimeter.

Net Free - flow area

De 4
heattransferperimeter

Free Flow Area for Square Layout:

A flow

1 2
P 4 d O
4 4
2
T

2
P d O
4

2
T

Free Flow Area for Triangular Layout:

A flow
A flow

A flow

600 2
Atriangle 3
dO
0
360 4

600 2
1
base height 3
dO
0
2
360 4

600 2
1
PT
PT
3
dO
0
0
2
Tan 60
360 4

3PT2

2
dO
8

Perimeter for square Layout:

d O
Pe 4
d O
4

Perimeter for triangular Layout:

600
d O

Pe 3

O
0
360
2

Equivalent diameter for square layout:

De square

4 A flow
Pe

2
4 P d O
4

d O

Equivalent diameter for Triangular layout:

2
T

De triangular

4 A flow
Pe

3PT2

2
dO
8

d O

Shell-Side Reynolds Number

Reynolds number for the shell-side is based on the
equivalent diameter (based on axial flow) and the
velocity on the cross flow area at the diameter of
the shell:

sU s De Gs De
Re s

s
s
m s De
Re s

As s

Justification for this peculiar Definition of Re

It is true that, this method of evaluating the hydraulic
radius (based on axial flow) and pseudo velocity (based on
perpendicular flow) does not account for relative
percentage of cross flow and parallel flow.
The proportions of normal flow and axial flow will be
influenced by baffle spacing.
Out of many possible definitions, this particular definition
could generate an accurate correlation for h & f.

Correlation for Shell side Heat Transfer Coefficient

Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient for the

Heat Exchanger
The overall heat transfer coefficient for clean surface
(Uc) is given by

Considering the total fouling resistance, the heat

transfer coefficient for fouled surface (Uf) can be
calculated from the following expression:

Outlet Temperature Calculation and Length of

the Heat Exchanger
The outlet temperature for the fluid flowing through
the tube is

The surface area of the heat exchanger for the

fouled condition is :

and for the clean condition

where the LMTD is always for the counter flow.

The over surface design (OS) can be calculated from :

The length of the heat exchanger is calculated

by

Hydraulic Analysis for Tube-Side

The pressure drop encountered by the fluid making Np
passes through the heat exchanger is a multiple of the
kinetic energy of the flow.
Therefore, the tube-side pressure drop is calculated by

The second term in above equation is the additional

pressure drop introduced by the change of direction in
the passes.
The tube fluid experiences sudden expansions and
contractions during a return that is accounted for
allowing four velocity heads per pass.

Hydraulic Analysis for Shell-Side

The shell-side fluid experiences a pressure drop as it passes
through the exchanger, over the tubes, and around the baffles.
If the shell fluid nozzles (inlet and outlet ports) are on the
same side of the heat exchanger, then the shell-side fluid
makes an even number of the tube bundle crossings, but if
they are on opposite sides, then it makes an odd number of the
bundle crossings.
The number of bundle crossings therefore influences the
pressure drop.

Based on experiments, the pressure drop experienced by the shellside fluid is calculated by

Where,

Gs : Shell side mass velocity

N b : Number of baffles
b
s
w

0.14

: Variable property correction.

f s : Shell side friction factor

b is the viscosity of the shell-side fluid at bulk

temperature, and w is the viscosity of the tubeside fluid at wall temperature.
The wall temperature can be calculated as follows:

Evaluation & Fine tuning of Design

Insufficient Thermal Rating
Insufficient Pressure Drop Rating

Insufficient Thermal Rating

If the output of the rating analysis is not acceptable, a
geometrical modification should be made
If the required amount of heat cannot be transferred to satisfy
specific outlet temperature,
one should find a way to increase the heat transfer coefficient
or increase exchanger surface area
One can increase the tube side heat transfer coefficient by
increasing the fluid velocity - Increase number of tube passes
One can increase the shell side heat transfer coefficient by
decreasing baffle spacing and/or baffle cut
One can increase the surface area by
Increasing the heat exchanger length
Increasing the shell diameter
Multiple shells in series

Insufficient Pressure Drop Rating

If the pressure drop on the tube side is greater than the
allowable pressure drop, then
the number of tube passes can be decreased or
the tube diameter can be increased which may result to
decrease the tube length (Same surface area)
increase the shell diameter and the number of tubes
If the shell side pressure drop is greater than the allowable
pressure drop then baffle spacing, tube pitch, and baffle cut
can be increased or one can change the baffle type.
THERE IS ALWAYS A TRADE-OFF BETWEEN
THERMAL & PRESSURE DROP RATINGS!

The Trade-Of
Between Thermal Balance & Flow
Loss
Heat transfer and fluid friction losses tend to compete with one
another.
The total energy loss can be minimized by adjusting the size of
one irreversibility against the other .
These adjustments can be made by properly selecting physical
dimensions of the solid parts (fins, ducts, heat exchanger
surface).
It must be understood, however, that the result is at best a
thermodynamic optimum.
Constraints such as cost, size, and reliability enter into the
determination of truly optimal designs.

Roadmap To Increase Heat Transfer

Increase heat transfer coefficent
Tube Side
Increase number of tubes
Decrease tube outside diameter

Shell Side
Decrease the baffle spacing
Decrease baffle cut

Increase surface area

Increase tube length
Increase shell diameter increased number of tubes
Employ multiple shells in series or parallel

Increase LMTD correction factor and heat exchanger

effectiveness
Use counterflow configuration
Use multiple shell configuration

Roadmap To Reduce Pressure Drop

Tube side
Decrease number of tube passes
Increase tube diameter
Decrease tube length and increase shell diameter
and number of tubes

Shell side

Increase the baffle cut

Increase the baffle spacing
Increase tube pitch
Use double or triple segmental baffles