A THESIS ON

CFD ANALYSIS OF HEAT EXCHANGER WITH AND

WITHOUT BAFFLES
A Thesis submitted to Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in partial fulfillment of
the requirements
For the award of the degree of

BACHELOR OF ENGINGINEERING
IN

MECHANICAL
BY
K .BALAJI

(109A1A0311)

PRABHAKAR

(109A1A0314)

SIRNIVASULU

(109A1A0321)

K.PHANINDRA KUMAR

(119A5A0303)

KUMARA SWAMY

(119A5A0304)

Under the esteemed Guidance of

SANDEEP
DEPT. OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

SREE VAANMAYI INSTITUE OF ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

Affiliated to Jawaharlal Nehru technological University
Kukatpally, Hyderabad-72,

2014

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

SREE VAANMAYI INSTITUE OF ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the project report entitled CFD
ANALYSIS OF HEAT EXCHANGER WITH AND WITHOUT
BAFFLES
submitted by
MR.K.BALAJI, bearing roll number 109A1A0311; MR.
PRABHAKAR
bearing roll number 10651A0314; MR.
SRINIVASULU bearing roll number 109A1A0321; MR.
K.PHANINDRA KUMAR bearing roll number 119A5A0303;
MR.S. KUMARA SWAMY bearing roll number 119A5A0304

in partial fulfilment for the award of Degree of Master

of Technology in Mechanical Engineering to the
Jawarharlal Nehru Technological University is a record
of bonofide work carried out by him under my
guidance and supervision. The result embodied in this
project report have not been submitted to any other
University or Institute for the award of any degree or
diploma.

Head of department.
M.A.FAIZAN
Mechanical Engg

Supervisor
Professor, Mechanical Engg.
Dept.
SVIET

SVIET
Coordinator
MECHANICAL DEPARTMENT.

DECLARATION

I here by declare that the work reported in the present thesis titled CFD
ANALYSIS OF HEAT EXCHANGER WITH AND WITHOUT BAFFLES
is a record of work done by me in the Department of Mechanical Engineering,
SVIET Hyderabad.
No part of the thesis is copied from books/journals. The reports are based on the
project work done entirely by me and not copied from any other source.

SIGNATURE OF THE STUDENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all we express our grateful thanks to our college principal Dr. ESWHAR
who initially initiated and encouraged to do our main project in this semester.

We express our heartfelt gratitude to M.A .FAIZAN (Head Of Department) who

supported us and allotted us a good guide for our project.

We express our sincere thanks and gratitude to MR. SANDEEP for her concern with
constant support and encouragement throughout our project work that helped us in making
our project successful.

We also express our special thanks to PROF: J.RAMESH BABU, Head of

Department of Mechanical Engineering, OSMANIA UNIVERSITY,who helped

us in the progress of our project and also thanks to our department staff, lab incharge and
students who helped us throughout our project and provided things whatever we needed
throughout the project.

Finally I would like to thank the almighty for his blessings without which this work
could not have been accomplished.

ABSTRACT

In this project an effort is made for CFD analysis of single pass heat exchanger with
and without nozzle baffle. In order to analyze the performance of the heat exchanger, hot
fluid was made to flow inside and cold fluid flows around the body of heat exchanger. The
baffle used in heat exchanger is nozzle baffle. The isertion of baffles, force the fluid to have a
turbulent flow, thus improving the heat transfer rate. The results of heat transfer rate for flow
of fluid with nozzle baffle in heat exchanger are compared with the heat exchanger without
baffle. The velocity and temperature profile are analyzed using the software ANSYS
FLUENT.

In this project we modeled the heat exchanger tube with and without baffle in the
ANSYS WORKBENCH and analyzed it in the ANSYS FLUENT. We did Study of heat
transfer coefficient by varying Reynolds number and other parameters like temperature,
pressure, enthalpy and entropy of heat exchangers to show the effect of baffles and present a
review of the work.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
ABSTRACT
S.NO

TOPIC

PAGE.NO

CHAPTER 1
1.1

INTRODUCTION TO ANSYS

1.2 WHY ANSYS FLUENT?

1.3

26

1.2.1 CFD AND ITS SUB STEPS

34

1.2.2 LIMTATIONS

46

ITNRODUCTION TO HEAT EXCHANGER

1.3.1 CLASSIFICATION

8 12

1.3.2 APPLICATIONS

12

1.4 WHAT ARE BAFFLES?

13

1.4.1 TYPES OF BAFFLES

1.4.2 ADVANTAGES OF BAFFLES
1.5

13
13

FOULING

14 16

1.5.1 FOULING MECHANISMS

16 18

1.5.2 PARTICLES IN THE FEED STREAM 19 20

1.5.2.1 PARTICLES FORMATION

2 0 23

CHAPTER 2
2.1

LITERATURE AND REVIEW

24

2.2

BAFFLING

25

2.2.1 TYPES OF BAFFLING

2.2.2 BAFFEL SPACING

25
25 27

2.3

EQUALIZE CROSS FLOW &WINDOW VEL

28

2.4

REVIEW RELATED TO DESIGN OF STHE

29

2.5

LITERATURE REVIEW RELATED TO STHE

30 32

DIFFERENT OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES

CHAPTER 3
3.1 CFD METHODOLOGY
3.1.1 CREATING GEOMETRIC/MESH
3.1.1.2 DEFINING THE PHYSICS OF MODEL

33
33 34
34 35

3.1.2 SOLVING THE CFD PROBLEM

36

3.1.3 VISUALIZING THE RESULTS IN THE

RESULTS IN POST PROCESSOR

36 37

CHAPTER 4
4.1 EXSISTING MODELS AND DESIGN
4.2 BOUNDARY AND CELL ZONE CONDITIONS

38
39 41

4.3

ASSUMPTIONS

41

4.4

EQUATIONS USED

43

5.1

SOLUTION INITIALISATION

44

5.2

RUN CALCULATION

44 46

5.3

PLOTS AND GRAPHS

46 49

CHAPTER 5

5.3.1 TOTAL TEMPERATURE

5.3.2 VELOCITY
5.3.3 TURBULENCE
5.3.4

REYNOLDS NUMBER

5.3.5 THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY

5.3.6
5.4

EXISTING MODEL AND ITS DESIGN

5.4.1
5.4.2

5.5

50

BOUNDARY AND CELL ZONE

CONDITIONS

50 - 52

EQUATIONS USED

53

SOLUTION INITIALISATION
5.5.1

5.6

SURAFACE HEAT TRANSFER COEFF.

RUN CALCULATION

PLOTS AND GRAPHS

53
54
55 57

3.6.1 TOTAL TEMPERATURE

3.6.2 VELOCITY
3.6.3 TURBULENCE
3.6.4

REYNOLDS NUMBER

3.6.5 THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY

3.6.6
CHAPTER 6

REFERENCES

6.1

SURAFACE HEAT TRANSFER COEFF.

CONCLUSIONS

58

59

CHAPTER 1
1.1 INTRODUCTION TO ANSYS:
ANSYS is a general purpose software, used to simulate interactions of all disciplines
of physics, structural, vibration, fluid dynamics, heat transfer and electromagnetic for
engineers.
So ANSYS, which enables to simulate tests or working conditions, enables to test in
virtual environment before manufacturing prototypes of products. Furthermore,
determining and improving weak points, computing life and foreseeing probable problems
are possible by 3D simulations in virtual environment.
ANSYS software with its modular structure as seen in the table below gives an
opportunity for taking only needed features. ANSYS can work integrated with other used
engineering software on desktop by adding CAD and FEA connection modules.

1.2 WHY ANSYS FLUENT?

Fluid dynamics plays a critical role in many of the products that we encounter
every day from obvious applications such as water treatment systems and auto and
aircraft aerodynamics to, HVAC systems, new plastic and glass materials, high-speed
roller coasters, and leading-edge medical therapies.
Behind the scenes, fluid dynamics is involved in the design and manufacture of
hundreds of consumer, industrial and defense products. In any application that involves
gas flow, liquid flow or heat transfer, fluid dynamics analysis can help deliver innovation
and greater efficiency.
As products and processes have become more complex, so too have your fluid
dynamics problems: complex moving parts that need transient analysis (such as pistons
and valves), phase changes caused by heating or cooling liquids (for example, boilers and
warmers) and metaphysics phenomena such as fluidstructure interaction (oil rig and
airfoil design). Engineering simulation software which enables product design and
analysis in a virtual environment has revolutionized fluid dynamics by

automating the solution, even for problems that are numerically large. By
identifying physical forces and flow characteristics that are sometimes
impossible to measure or gain insight into, CFD solutions from ANSYS can help
your company dramatically improve time to market, slash development costs and fulfill
your critical product promises minimizing warranty expenses and driving higher
customer satisfaction
Fluent is a powerful and flexible general-purpose computational fluid dynamics
software package used to model flow, turbulence, heat transfer, and reactions for industrial
applications. The physical models allow accurate CFD analysis for a wide range of fluids
problems - from airflow over an aircraft wing to combustion in a furnace.
ANSYS Fluent software contains the broad physical modeling capabilities needed
to model flow, turbulence, heat transfer, and reactions for industrial applications ranging
from air flow over an aircraft wing to combustion in a furnace, from bubble columns to oil
platforms, from blood flow to semiconductor manufacturing, and from clean room design
2

to wastewater treatment plants. Special models that give the software the ability to model
in-cylinder combustion, aero acoustics, turbo machinery, and multiphase systems have
served to broaden its reach.

1.2.1 CFD AND ITS SUB STEPS:

CFD is useful for studying fluid flow, heat transfer; chemical reactions etc by solving
mathematical equations with the help of numerical analysis.CFD resolve the entire system in
small cells and apply governing equations on these discrete elements to find numerical
solutions regarding pressure distribution, temperature gradients. This software can also build
a virtual prototype of the system or device before can be apply to real-world physics to the
model, and the software will provide with images and data, which predict the performance of
that design. More recently the methods have been applied to the design of internal
combustion engine, combustion chambers of gas turbine and furnaces, also fluid flows and
heat transfer in heat exchanger. The development in the CFD field provides a capability
comparable to other Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) tools such as stress analysis codes.
Basic Approach to using CFD
a) Pre-processor: Establishing the model
Identify the process or equipment to be evaluated.
Represent the geometry of interest using CAD tools.
Use the CAD representation to create a volume flow domain around the equipment

containing the critical flow phenomena.

Create a computational mesh in the flow domain.

b) Solver:
Identify and apply conditions at the domain boundary.
Solve the governing equations on the computational mesh using analysis software
c) Post processor: Interpreting the results
Post-process the completed solutions to highlight findings.

Interpret the prediction to determine design iterations or possible solutions, if needed.

1.2.1 .1: CHOOSING A TURBULENCE MODEL:

Turbulence arises due to the instability in the flow. Turbulent flows contain a wide range of
length, velocity and time scales and solving all of them makes the costs of simulations large.
Therefore, several turbulence models have been developed with different degrees of
resolution. There are several turbulence models available in CFD-software including the
3

Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and Reynolds Average Navier- Stokes (RANS). There are
several RANS models available depending on the characteristic of flow, e.g., Standard k-
model, k- RNG model, Realizable k- , k- and RSM (Reynolds Stress Model).

Today, thousands of companies throughout the world benefit from the use of
ANSYS
Fluent software as an integral part of the design and is used for optimization phases of the
product development. Advanced solver technology provides fast, accurate CFD results,
flexible moving and deforming meshes, and superior parallel scalability.
User-defined functions allow the implementation of new user models and the
extensive customization of existing ones. The interactive solver setup, solution and postprocessing capabilities of ANSYS Fluent make it easy to pause a calculation, examine
results with integrated post-processing, change any setting, and then continue the
calculation within a single application. Case and data files can be read into ANSYS CFD
POST PROCESSOR for further analysis with advanced post processing tools and side-byside comparison of different cases.
The integration of ANSYS Fluent into ANSYS WORKBENCH provides users
with superior bi-directional connections to all major CAD systems, powerful geometry
modification and creation with ANSYS DESIGN MODELLER technology, and advanced
meshing technologies in ANSYS MESHING. The platform also allows data and results to
be shared between applications using an easy drag-and-drop transfer, for example, to use a
fluid flow solution in the definition of a boundary load of a subsequent structural
mechanics simulation.
The combination of these benefits with the extensive range of physical modeling
capabilities and the fast, accurate CFD results that ANSYS Fluent software has to offer
results in one of the most comprehensive software packages for CFD modeling available
in the world today.
A native two-way connection to ANSYS STRUCTURAL MECHANICS products
allows capture of even the most complex fluidstructure interaction (FSI) problems in the
same easy-to-use environment, saving the need to purchase, administer or run third party
coupling software. Other metaphysics connections include electromagnetic fluid coupling.

The ANSYS FLUENT serial solver manages file input and output, data storage,
and flow field calculations using a single solver process on a single computer. ANSYS
FLUENT also uses a utility called cortex that manages ANSYS FLUENTs user interface
and basic graphical functions. ANSYS FLUENTs parallel solver enables you to compute
a solution using multiple processes that may be executing on the same computer, or on
different computers in a network. Parallel processing in ANSYS FLUENT involves an
interaction between ANSYS FLUENT, a host process, and a set of compute-node
processes. ANSYS FLUENT interacts with the host process and the collection of compute
nodes using the cortex user interface utility.

1.2.2 LIMITATIONS TO ANSYS FLUENT:

Value ranges reported by the function calculator may differ from the values shown by
a contour. The function calculator results are based on cell/face values while contours
show values based on node values.

CFD-Post does not account for surface tension forces.

Certain real gas properties are not available in CFD-Post for use: gas constant,
molecular viscosity, specific heat, and sound speed.

The variable Boundary Heat Flux Sensible is available only for boundary types
velocity-inlet, mass-flow-inlet, pressure-inlet, pressure-outlet, pressure-far-field, and
outflow.

For transient FLUENT cases, there is no support for adding or removing time steps in
the time step selector.

There is no support for loading of a subset of domains. All domains are always
loaded.

A DBNS solver with laminar flow will have zero shear stress on all walls. Force
calculations will not include viscous component in such cases.

CFD-Post will not display any shear stress values on coupled non-conformal
interfaces as shear stresses are undefined on such interfaces.
5

CFD-Post cannot read ANSYS FLUENT cases that have CAS and DAT files output in
different directories.

You cannot use X, Y, or Z variables in expressions or plots in moving mesh transient

cases. For example, instead of an Iso surface of X, use YZ Plane.

Surface streamlines cannot be created on wall boundaries as wall velocities are zero.
As a workaround, you can create an offset surface with small negative offset value
and plot surface streamlines on them instead.

It is not possible to group or color transient particles by stream.

When FLUENT particle tracks cross periodic boundaries, there will be a gap between
the point on one side of the periodic boundary and the point on the other side. This is
most visible if instancing is enabled, but appears only in Transient cases.

CFD-Post displays particle tracks as segments, where as ANSYS FLUENT displays

particle tracks as points. This is particularly shown by transient cases when viewing
tracks for a particular time step. ANSYS FLUENT shows points at the current time
step. Because of this, the range of the color variable will include data that is not
included by ANSYS FLUENT when displaying particle tracks.

1.
3 INTRODUCTION TO HEAT EXCHANGER :
A heat exchanger is a device that is used to transfer thermal energy (enthalpy) between two or
more uids, between a solid surface and a uid, or between solid particulates and a uid, at
dierent temperatures and in thermal contact. In heat exchangers, there are usually no
external heat and work interactions. Typical applications involve heating or cooling of a uid
stream of concern and evaporation or condensation of single- or multicomponent uid
streams. In other applications, the objective may be to recover or reject heat, or sterilize,
pasteurize, fractionate, distill, concentrate, crystallize, or control a process uid. In a few heat
exchangers, the uids exchanging heat are in direct contact. In most heat exchangers, heat
transfer between uids takes place through a separating wall or into and out of a wall in a
transient manner.
In many heat exchangers, the uids are separated by a heat transfer surface, and
ideally they do not mix or leak. Such exchangers are referred to as direct transfer type, or
simply recuperators. In contrast, exchangers in which there is intermittent heat exchange
between the hot and cold uidsvia thermal energy storage and release through the
exchanger surface or matrix are referred to as indirect transfer type, or simply
regenerators. Such exchangers usually have uid leakage from one uid stream to the
other, due to pressure dierences and matrix rotation/valve switching.
Common examples of heat exchangers are shell-and tube exchangers, automobile
radiators, condensers, evaporators, air preheaters, and cooling towers. If no phase change
occurs in any of the uids in the exchanger, it is sometimes referred to as a sensible heat
exchanger. There could be internal thermal energy sources in the exchangers, such as in
electric heaters and nuclear fuel elements. Combustion and chemical reaction may take
place within the exchanger, such as in boilers, red heaters, and uidized-bed exchangers.
Mechanical devices may be used in some exchangers such as in scraped surface
exchangers, agitated vessels, and stirred tank reactors. Heat transfer in the separating wall
of a recuperator generally takes place by conduction. However, in a heat pipe heat
exchanger, the heat pipe not only acts as a separating wall, but also facilitates the transfer
of heat by condensation, evaporation, and conduction of the working uid inside the heat
pipe. In general, if the uids are immiscible, the separating wall may be eliminated, and
the interface between the uids replaces a heat transfer surface, as in a direct-contact heat
exchanger.
7

1.3.1 Classification of Heat Exchangers :

Surface compactness

Heat exchangers are designed in so many sizes, types, configurations and flow
arrangements and used for so many purposes. These are classified according to heat
transfer process, flow arrangement and type of construction.

According to Heat Transfer Process:

(i) Direct contact type. In this type of heat exchanger, the two immiscible fluids at different
temperatures are come in direct contact. For the heat exchange between two fluids, one fluid
is sprayed through the other. Cooling towers, jet condensers, desuperheaters, open feed water
heaters and -scrubbers are the best examples of such heat exchangers. It cannot be used for
transferring heat between two gases or between two miscible liquids. A direct contact type
heat exchanger (cooling tower) is shown in Fig.
8

(ii) Transfer type heat exchangers or recuperators: In this type of heat exchanger, the cold
and hot fluids flow simultaneously through the device and the heat is transferred through the
wall separating them. These types of heat exchangers are most commonly used in almost all
fields of engineering.
(iii) Regenerators or storage type heat exchangers. In these types of heat
exchangers, the hot and cold fluids flow alternatively on the same surface. When hot fluid
flows in an interval of time, it gives its heat to the surface, which stores it in the form of an
increase in its internal energy. This stored energy is transferred to cold fluid as it flows over
the surface in next interval of time. Thus the same surface is subjected to periodic heating and
cooling. In many applications, a rotating disc type matrix is used, the continuous flow of both
the hot and cold fluids are maintained. These are preheaters for steam power plants, blast
furnaces, oxygen producers etc. A stationary and rotating matrix shown in Fig

The storage type of heat exchangers is more compact than the transfer type of heat
exchangers with more surface area per unit volume. However, some mixing of hot and
cold fluids is always there.

According to Constructional Features:

(i)

Tubular heat exchanger. These are also called tube in tube or concentric tube or
double pipe heat exchanger as shown in Fig. These are widely used in many sizes
and different flow arrangements and type.

(ii)

Shell and tube type heat exchanger. These are also called surface condensers
and are most commonly used for heating, cooling, condensation or evaporation
applications. It consists of a shell and a large number of parallel tubes housing in
it. The heat transfer takes place as one fluid flows through the tubes and other
fluid flows outside the tubes through the shell. The baffles are commonly used on
the shell to create turbulence and to keep the uniform spacing between the tubes
and thus to enhance the heat transfer rate. They are having large surface area in
small volume. A typical shell and tube type heat exchanger is shown in Fig.
10

(iii) Finned tube type. When a high operating pressure or an enhanced heat transfer rate is
required, the extended surfaces are used on one side of the heat exchanger. These heat
exchangers are used for liquid to gas heat exchange. Fins are always added on gas side. The
finned tubes are used in gas turbines, automobiles, aero planes, heat pumps, refrigeration,
electronics, cryogenics, air-conditioning systems etc. The radiator of an automobile is an
example of such heat exchanger.
(iv) Compact heat exchanger. These are special class of heat exchangers in which the heat
transfer surface area per unit volume is very large. The ratio of heat transfer surface area to
the volume is called area density. A heat exchanger with an area density greater than 700
m2/m3 is called compact heat exchanger. The compact heat exchangers are usually cross
flow, in which the two fluids usually flow perpendicular to each other. These heat exchangers
have dense arrays of finned tubes or plates, where at least one of the fluid used is gas. For
example, automobile radiators have an area density in order of 1100 m2/m3.

According to Flow Arrangement:

11

(i) Parallel flow: The hot and cold fluids enter at same end of the heat exchanger, flow
through in same direction and leave at other end. It is also called the concurrent heat
xchanger Fig.
(ii) Counter flow: The hot and cold fluids enter at the opposite ends of heat exchangers, flow
through in opposite direction and leave at opposite ends Fig

(iii) Cross flow: The two fluids flow at right angle to each other. The cross flow heat
exchanger is further classified as unmixed flow and mixed flow depending on the flow
configuration. If both the fluids flow through individual channels and are not free to move in
transverse direction, the arrangement is called unmixed as shown in Fig. if any fluid flows on
the surface and free to move in transverse direction, then this fluid stream is said to be mixed
as shown in Fig

12

1.3.2 Application of Heat Exchangers:

Typical applications involve heating or cooling of a fluid stream of concern,
evaporation or condensation of a single component fluid stream, and heat recovery or heat
rejection from a system. The objective may be to sterilize, pasteurize, fractionate, distill,
concentrate, crystallize, or control process fluid. The heat exchanger is mainly used in:

Boilers
Milk Plant
Chemical Process Industries
Automobile Radiators
Refrigerator
Pre-Heater
Economizers
petroleum-refining

1.4 WHAT ARE BAFFLES?

Baffles are flow-directing or obstructing vanes or panels used in some industrial
process vessels (tanks), such as shell and tube heat exchangers, chemical reactors, and
static mixers. Baffles are an integral part of the shell and tube heat exchanger design. A
baffle is designed to support tube bundles and direct the flow of fluids for maximum
efficiency.

1.4.1 TYPES OF BAFFLES

Implementation of baffles is decided on the basis of size, cost and their ability to lend support
to the tube bundles and direct

Longitudinal Flow Baffles (used in a two-pass shell)

Impingement Baffles (used for protecting bundle when entrance velocity is high)

Orifice Baffles.
13

Single Segmental

Double Segmental

1.4.2 ADVANTAGES OF BAFFLES IN HEAT EXCHANGER

Improvement in thermal & Hydraulic Performance.

High Thermal Effectiveness.
Lower Fouling & Cleaning ability.
To prevent the effect of vibration this is increased with both fluid velocity and the

length of exchangers.
Cost Saving on Total Life Cycle Basis.
Improving Plant Run Length.
To increase the stiffness of the system.
To promote mixing in static mixture
To increase the heat transfer area

14

1.5.FOULING:

Fouling is generally defined as the deposition and accumulation of unwanted materials such
as scale, algae, suspended solids and insoluble salts on the internal or external surfaces of
processing equipment including boilers and heat exchangers (Fig 1). Heat exchangers are
process equipment in which heat is continuously or semi-continuously transferred from a
hot to a cold fluid directly or indirectly through a heat transfer surface that separates the
two fluids. Heat exchangers consist primarily of bundles of pipes, tubes or plate coils.
Fouling on process equipment surfaces can have a significant, negative impact on the
operational efficiency of the unit. On most industries today, a major economic drain may be
caused by fouling. The total fouling related costs for major industrialised nations is
estimated to exceed US$4.4 milliard annually. One estimate puts the losses due to fouling of
heat exchangers in industrialised nations to be about 0.25% to 30% of their.
According to Pritchard and Thackery (Harwell Laboratories), about 15% of the maintenance
costs of a process plant can be attributed to heat exchangers and boilers, and of this, half is
probably caused by fouling. Costs associated with heat exchanger fouling include
production losses due to efficiency deterioration and to loss of production during planned
or unplanned shutdowns due to fouling, and maintenance costs resulting from the removal
of fouling deposits with chemicals and/or mechanical antifouling devices or the replacement
of corroded or plugged equipment. Typically, cleaning costs are in the range of $40,000 to
$50,000 per heat exchanger per cleaning.

Fouling in heat exchangers is not a new problem. In fact, fouling has been recognised for a
long time, and research on heat exchanger fouling was conducted as early as 1910 and the
first practical application of this research was implemented in the 1920s. Technological
15

progress in prevention, mitigation and removal techniques in industrial fouling was

investigated in a study conducted at the Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories for the U.S.
Department of Energy. Two hundred and thirty one patents relevant to fouling were
analysed . Furthermore, great technical advance in the design and manufacture of heat
exchangers has in the meantime been achieved. Nonetheless, heat exchanger fouling
remains today one of the major unresolved problems in Thermal Science, and prevention or
mitigation of the fouling problem is still an ongoing process. Further research on the
problem of fouling in heat exchangers and practical methods for predicting the fouling
factor, making use in particular of modern digital techniques, are still called for. One
significant and clear indication of the relevance and urgency of the problem may be seen in
the current international patent activity on fouling Major detrimental effects of fouling
include loss of heat transfer as indicated by charge
outlet temperature decrease and pressure drop increase. Other detrimental effects of fouling
may also include blocked process pipes, under-deposit corrosion and pollution. Where the
heat flux is high, as in steam generators, fouling can lead to local hot spots resulting
ultimately in mechanical failure of the heat transfer surface. Such effects lead in most cases
to production losses and increased maintenance costs.
Loss of heat transfer and subsequent charge outlet temperature decrease is a result of the
low thermal conductivity of the fouling layer or layers which is generally lower than the
thermal conductivity of the fluids or conduction wall. As a result of this lower thermal
conductivity, the overall thermal resistance to heat transfer is increased and the
effectiveness and thermal efficiency of heat exchangers are reduced. A simple way to
monitor a heat transfer system is to plot the outlet temperature versus time. In one unit at
an oil refinery, in Homs, Syria, fouling led to a feed temperature decrease from 210C to
170C. In order to bring the feed to the required temperature, the heat duty of the furnace
may have to be increased with additional fuel required and resulting increased fuel cost.
Alternatively, the heat exchanger surface area may have to be increased with consequent
16

additional installation and maintenance costs. The required excess surface area may vary
between 10-50%, with an average around 35%, and the additional extra costs involved
may add up to a staggering 2.5 to 3.0 times the initial purchase price of the heat
exchangers.
With the onset of fouling and the consequent build up of fouling layer or layers, the cross
sectional area of tubes or flow channels is reduced. In addition, increased surface roughness
due to fouling will increase frictional resistance to flow. Such effects inevitably lead to an
increase in the pressure drop across the heat exchanger, which is required to maintain the
flow rate through the exchanger, and may even lead to flow blocks. Experience with pressure
drop monitoring has shown, however, that it is not usually as sensitive an indicator of
the early onset of fouling when compared to heat transfer data; thus pressure drop is not
commonly used for crude preheat monitoring. In situations where significant swings in flow
rates are experienced, flow correction can be applied to both pressure drop and to heat
transfer calculations to normalise the data to a standard flow.
Different fouling deposit structures can lead to under-deposit corrosion of the substrate
material such as localised fouling, deposit tubercles and sludge piles. The factors that are
most likely to influence the probability of under-deposit corrosion include deposit
composition and its porosity and permeability. Even minor components of the deposits can
sometimes cause severe corrosion of the underlying metal such as the hot corrosion caused
by vanadium in the deposits of fired boilers .
Fouling is responsible for the emission of many millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide as well
as the use and disposal of hazardous cleaning chemicals. Data from oil refineries suggest
that crude oil fouling accounts for about 10% of the total CO2 emission of these plants.
Wastes generated from the cleaning of heat exchangers may contain hazardous wastes such
as lead and chromium, although some refineries which do not produce leaded gasoline and
which use non-chrome corrosion inhibitors typically do not generate sludge that contains

17

these constituents. Oily wastewater is also generated during heat exchanger cleaning. The
factors that govern fouling in heat exchangers are many and varied. Of such factors
some may be related to the feed properties such as its chemical nature, density, viscosity,
diffusivity, pour and cloud points, interfacial properties and colloidal stability factors. The
chemical nature of the feed in particular can be an important factor affecting to a large
degree the rate and extent of fouling. This includes the chemical composition of the feed and
the stability of its components and their compatibility with one another and with heat
exchanger surfaces as well as the presence in the feed of unsaturated and unstable
compounds, inorganic salts and trace elements such as sulphur, nitrogen and oxygen. The
feed storage conditions and its exposure to oxygen on storage in particular can in most cases
also affect materially the rate and nature of fouling.Other factors of equal importance to the
feed properties may be related to operating conditions and equipment design, such as feed
temperature, bulk fluid velocity or flow rate, heat exchanger geometry, nature of alloy used
and wettability of surfaces where fouling
occurs. The rate of fouling is feed temperature dependent with different rates of fouling
between the feed inlet and outlet sides of the heat exchanger. In a shell and tube heat
exchanger, the conventional segment baffle geometry is largely responsible for higher
fouling rates. Uneven velocity profiles, back-flows and eddies generated on the shell side of
a segmentally-baffled heat exchanger results in higher fouling and shorter run lengths
between periodic cleaning and maintenance of tube bundles.All these and other factors that
may affect fouling need to be considered and taken into account in order to be able to prevent
fouling if possible or to predict the rate of fouling or fouling factor prior to taking the
necessary steps for fouling mitigation, control and removal.

1.5.1. FOULING MECHANISMS AND STAGES

Fouling can be divided into a number of distinctively different mechanisms. Generally
speaking, several of these fouling mechanisms occur at the same time and each requires a
different prevention technique. Of these different mechanisms some represent different stages
in the process of fouling. The chief fouling mechanisms or stages include:
18

1. Initiation or delay period. This is the clean surface period before dirt accumulation. The
accumulation of relatively small amounts of deposit can even lead to improved heat transfer,
relative to clean surface, and give an appearance of "negative" fouling rate and negative total
fouling amount.
2. Particulate fouling and particle formation, aggregation and flocculation.
3. Mass transport and migration of foulants to the fouling sites.
4. Phase separation and deposition involving nucleation or initiation of fouling sites and
attachment leading to deposit formation.
5. Growth, aging and hardening and the increase of deposits strength or auto-retardation,
erosion and removal.

Detailed analysis of deposits from the heat exchanger may provide an excellent clue to
fouling mechanisms. It can be used to identify and provide valuable information about such
mechanisms. The deposits consist primarily of organic material that is predominantly
asphaltenic in nature, with some inorganic deposits, mainly iron salts such as iron sulphide.

The inorganic content of the deposits is relatively consistent in most cases at 22-26% .
Deposit analysis is performed by taking a sample and extracting any degraded hydrocarbon
oil by using a solvent, such as methyl chloride, that is effective at removing hydrocarbon oils
and low molecular weight polymers that may have been trapped in the deposit. The remaining
material from this extraction will consist of any organic polymers, coke, and inorganic
components. The basic analysis of the non-extractable material involves ashing in which
organic and volatile inorganic compounds are lost. By this means, volatile inorganics such as
chlorides and sulphur compounds which are lost on ashing, may be determined. The detection
of iron sulphide or other volatile inorganic materials determines the cause of inorganic
fouling. These values can be compared throughout the exchanger train . The non-volatile
material or ash will include all oxidised metallic salttype materials or corrosion products.
The presence of iron in the ash may indicate corrosion in tankage in an upstream unit or in
the exchanger train itself. This basic analysis indicates if the deposits are primarily organic or
inorganic. Special techniques and tools such as the use of optical microscopy and solubility in
solvents may be used for the analysis of the non-extractable material. Infrared analysis can
identify various functional groups present in the deposit which may include nitrogen,
carbonyls, and unsaturated paraffinic or aromatic compounds which are polymerisation
19

precursors, identified in feed stream characterisation . The carbon and hydrogen content of
the nonextractable deposit can be determined by elemental analysis. If the carbon to hydrogen
ratio is very high, it may indicate that the majority of the organic portion of the deposit is
coke.The coke may have been particles entrained in the stream or material which has been
thermally dehydrogenated in the heat exchangers. The carbon to hydrogen ratio also indicates
whether the deposit is more paraffinic or aromatic. This information helps identify the
polymers formed .In analytical results are shown from deposits obtained from the four chain
feed/effluent heat exchangers in which the hot product effluent is used for pre-heating the
cold naphtha feedstock for a naphtha hydrotreater plant at the Homs Oil Refinery . This plant
is one of the most important units at the Homs Refinery, with an annual capacity of 480,000
tons/yr. It is used to remove impurities such as sulphur, nitrogen, oxygen, halides and trace
metal impurities that may deactivate reforming catalysts. Furthermore, the quality of the
naphtha fractions is also upgraded by reducing potential gum formation as a result of the
conversion of olefins and diolefins into paraffins. The process utilises a catalyst (Hydrobon)
in the presence of substantial amounts of hydrogen under high pressures (50bars) and
temperatures (320C) (Fig. 2). A major fouling problem was encountered early on in the heat
exchangers, indicated by an increased pressure drop, decreased flow rate and
lower temperatures at the heat exchangers outlet.

Particulate fouling

Particulate fouling, which is the most common form of fouling, can be defined as the process
in which particles in the process stream deposit onto heat exchanger surfaces. These particles
include particles originally carried by the feed stream before entering the heat exchanger and
particles formed in the heat exchanger itself as a result of various reactions, aggregation and
flocculation. Particulate fouling increases with particle concentration, and typically particles
greater than 1 ppm lead to significant fouling problems.

20

1.5.2. PARTICLES IN THE FEED STREAM

Particles in the fluid feed stream are solid particles which are entrained or contained
in the feed stream before entering the heat exchanger and which can settle out upon
the heat exchanger surfaces. These solid particles are for the most part insoluble
inorganic particles such as corrosion products (iron sulphide and rust), catalyst
particles or fines, dirt, silt and sand particles, and other inorganic salts such as
sodium chloride, calcium chloride and magnesium chloride. The feed streams may
also contain some organic particles that may have been formed during their storage
or transport.

Many streams including cooling water and other product streams from different
units or plants may contain solid particles. In particular, streams from such oil
refinery units as vacuum units, visbreakers, and cokers may have more particulates
and metals than straightrun products due to the heavier nature of the feeds
processed. Streams can also be purchased from other refiners. Due to the increased
transit time and exposure to oxygen before being fed to the unit these feeds may have
higher particulate levels as a result of polymerisation reactions and corrosion

21

.Particles in the fluid stream, regardless of whether they are organic or inorganic in
nature, fall in general into tow classes: basic sediment and filterable solids.

Typically, particles in the fluid stream greater than 1 ptb (pounds per thousand
barrels) lead to significant fouling problems in the unit. Their effect on fouling can be
avoided however if these particles are removed by solid-liquid filtration,
sedimentation, centrifugation or by any of various fluid cleaning devices. The only
particles that need to be considered in this regard are those that are not filterable or
those particles that are left to proceed to the heat exchanger.

The amount of filterable solids in the stream, reported in ptb or wt% (weight
percent), may be determined by filtration of the unit feed. Filterable solids analysis
can evaluate a stream deposition potential by indicating the type of materials that
could contribute to fouling if allowed to pass through to the heat exchanger. shows
the analysis of filterable solids in the naphtha feed stream to the heat exchangers of
the hydrotreater unit at the Homs oil refinery. The feedstock for this unit is a blend of
light and heavy straight-run naphtha fractions from four different topping units. The
resulting blend is left in a blending tank for a sufficient period of time to allow for
equilibrium conditions to be established . To evaluate the quantity of particulate
solids which are entrained with the naphtha stream before entering the heat
exchangers, a number of samples of the naphtha feed were filtered and the amount
of entrained particles determined. Two samples of the filterable solids were taken,
one sample was taken from the feed entering a macrofilter on the unit boundary and
the other from a second macrofilter on the feed pump suction. The nature of the
materials entrained was then determined by ashing and analysing these two samples
. The size distribution of the filterable solid particles was also determined .

1.5.2.1.PARTICLE FORMATION
22

Chemical particle formation is the basic mechanism of particle formation in heat exchangers
fluid streams, although organic material growth and biological particle formation, or
biofouling, ay occur in sea water systems and in types of waste treatment systems. Biofouling
may be of two kinds: microbial fouling, due to microorganisms (bacteria, algae, and fungi)
and their products, and macrobial fouling, due to the growth of macroorganisms such as
barnacles, sponges, seaweeds or mussels. On contact with heat-transfer surfaces, these
organisms can attach and breed, reducing thereby both flow and heat transfer to an absolute
minimum and sometimes completely clogging the fluid passages. Such organisms may also
entrap silt or other suspended solids and give rise to deposit corrosion. Corrosion due to
biological attachment to heat transfer surfaces is known as microbiologically Chemical
particle formation can be the result of either corrosion or decomposition and polymerisation
reactions. Trace contaminants present in the fluid stream can have a influenced corrosion. For
open recirculating systems, bacteria concentrations of the order of 1 x 105 cells/ml and fungi
of 1 x 103 cells/ml may be regarded as limiting values significant effect on the fouling
encountered in certain chemical processes. Such contaminants may include oxygen, nitrogen,
NH3, H2S, CN, HCN, Hg, unsaturates, organic sulphides and chlorides, and heavy
hydrocarbon compounds such as paraffin wax, resins, asphaltenes, and organometallic
compounds. Individual metals, which may exist as metal salts in the feed stream, can catalyse
different polymerisation reactions. The concentrations of such metals are typically very low,
not exceeding few ppms. However, small concentrations of certain metals can have a
significant effect on catalysing different foulingrelated polymerisation reactions. Metal
detectors on unit feed samples can detect individual metals in the stream at less than 1 ppm.

23

24

Corrosion fouling is fouling deposit formation as a result of the corrosion of the

substrate metal of heat transfer surfaces. This type of corrosion should not be
confused, however, with the under-deposit corrosion, referred to earlier, which is one
of the aftereffects of fouling. Corrosion fouling is a mechanism which is dependent
on several factors such as thermal resistance, surface roughness and composition of
the substrate and fluid stream. In particular, impurities present in the fluid stream
can greatly contribute to the onset of corrosion. Such impurities include hydrogen
sulphide, ammonia and hydrogen chloride. In crude oil, for example, sulphur and
nitrogen compounds are two very common contaminants which are mostly
decomposed in certain situations to hydrogen sulphide and ammonia respectively.
Chlorides which may be found in oil streams are converted to hydrogen chloride by
the following reaction.
R-Cl + H2 HCl + R
The chlorides may enter the refinery as salt with the crude. Chlorides in the oil stream may
also be derived from various chemicals used in the oil industry which can contain highlevels
of chloride. Such chemicals include tertiary oil recovery enhancement chemicals andsolvents
used to clean tankers, barges, trucks and pipelines. As the crude oil is processed some of these
chemicals and solvents, which are thermally stable and not soluble in water,pass overhead in
the main tower of the atmospheric distillation unit along with the naphtha.In the hydrotreater
feed stream, chloride levels as high as 50 wt. ppm have been reported.High levels of chloride
were detected with the filterable solids in the naphtha feed stream tothe heat exchangers of
the hydrotreater unit at the Homs refinery (Table 3) and in thedeposits obtained from the heat
exchangers (Table 2). Furthermore, the makeup hydrogenfrom the platforming unit will
always contain trace quantities of hydrogen chloride. In orderto maintain catalyst
performance, modern platforming catalysts require a small, butcontinuous dosage of chloride,
some of which is always stripped and leaves the platformingunit in the net gas stream that
supplies the hydrotreater with makeup hydrogen.In a hydrogen sulphide environment the
sulphur reacts with the exposed iron to form ironsulphide compounds. This happens in both
the hot and cooler sections of the unit. The sulphureffectively corrodes the plant. However,
once reacted, the iron sulphide forms a complexprotective scale or lattice on the base metal,
which inhibits further corrosion. The sulphidelattice would remain in equilibrium with its
surroundings and the corrosion rate would be minimal if no other impurities were present in
the system. The presence of other impurities,
25

however, can accelerate corrosion as these impurities interact with the sulphide lattice. Of the
impurities that contribute to corrosion and fouling, hydrogen chloride may be the most
important. By itself hydrogen chloride does not cause a problem. It will not foulequipment or
corrode the carbon steel in the unit. Chloride corrosion and fouling, however, take place when
hydrogen chloride, ammonia, and water all interact in the colder sections of the unit to defeat
the protective sulphide lattice. The extent of the damage depends on their concentration and is
directly dependent on pH, with the corrosion rate increasing rapidly with pH decrease.
Hydrogen chloride will become corrosive when it comes in contact with free water, i.e. water
that is not in the vapour phase or is not saturated in the liquid hydrocarbon. Oil products are
almost always saturated with water, and entrained water, even if it is less of a problem, does
occur in most cases. Furthermore, continuous water wash at key locations is recommended as
part of the solution to minimise the effects of chloride corrosion and fouling and this further
contributes to the total water in the system. Hydrogen chloride is highly soluble in water, and
in a free water environment, any hydrogen chloride present in the vapour or hydrocarbon
liquid will be quickly absorbed by the water, thus driving the pH down to approximately 1.
If the iron sulphide lattice is intact this chloride competes with the bisulphate ion (SH-) for
the iron ions in the lattice:
S-Fe-S-Fe-SH + Cl- Fe-S-S-Fe-Cl + SHWith
a high concentration of hydrogen chloride present the reaction shifts to the right. As more and
more bisulphate is released from the sulphide lattice, it eventually dissolves.

26

CHAPTER 2
2.1 LITERATURE AND REVIEW
Heat exchange devices are essential components in complex engineering
systems related to energy generation and energy transformation in industrial
scenes. Modeling of shell and tube heat exchanger, for design and performance
evaluation, is now an established technique in industrial fields. In this paper,
heat exchangers with baffles based on periodic boundaries have been simulated.
All possible attempts were made to obtain the influence of baffle spaces on fluid
flow and heat transfer on the shell side of by using the same geometrical and
thermo physical conditions. The results of simulations indicate that for the same
mass flow rate, the heat transfer per unit area decreases with the increase of baffle
spaces; however, for the same pressure drop, the most extended baffle space
obtains higher heat transfer. We also found out that the pressure gradient
decreases with the increase of baffles space.
For many years, shell and tube heat exchangers (STHXs) have been the
most widely used equipment in the industrial fields including: power plant,
petroleum refining, steam generation, etc. STHXs provide relatively large ratios of
heat transfer area to volume and weight and can be easily cleaned Baffles are one
of the most important parts of STHXs, they force the fluid of shell side to flow
across the tubes to ensure high heat transfer rates and also provide support for tube
bundle. There are different types of baffle arrangement used in shell and
tube heat exchangers. The most commonly used baf.es, called segmentalbaf.es,
cause the shell-side fluid to flow in a zigzag manner across the tube bundle. This
action improves heat transfer by enhancing turbulence or local mixing on the
shell side; however, it also increases the shell side pressure drop and requires a
great pumping power and; as a result, increases electricity consumption. High
range of dead zones, back.ows and high risk of vibration failure on the tube
bundle are other Disadvantages of above-mentioned baffle types. Baffle spacing
and baffle cut ratio. Some authors considered the cost of heat transfer surface
area or capital investment as an objective function to be minimized While
27

others considered the sum of investment (related to the heat transfer surface
area)and operational (fluid head losses) costs as an objective function for
optimizing a shell and tube heat exchanger The sum of entropy generation of
streams as an objective function was also reported in Multi-objective optimization
of total annualized cost and the amount of cooling water required for shell and
tube heat exchanger was studied in reference .Hilbert et al. also, used a multiobjective optimization technique to maximize the heat transfer rate and to
minimize the pressure drop in a tube bank heat exchanger. Liu and Cheng
optimized a recuperate for the maximum heat transfer effectiveness as well as
minimum exchanger weight and pressure loss. In this paper after thermal modelling
of an industrial shell and tube.

Multi-objective optimization of shell and tube heat recovery heat exchanger was
performed with effectiveness and total cost as two objectives (not selected in
other available literature) using genetic algorithm._

The tube arrangement, tube diameter, tube pitch ratio, tube length, tube number,
baffle spacing ratio as well as baffle cut ratio were selected as design parameters
(not selected as a group of variables in other available literature)._
A closed form equation for the total cost in term of effectiveness at the optimal
design point was proposed. This equation can be modelled without change in its
procedure of deriving for any new input values._ Sensitivity analysis of change
in objective functions when the optimum design parameters vary was performed.

2.2 BAFFLING
2.2.1 TYPE OF BAFFLES: Baffles are used to support tubes, enable a
desirable velocity to be maintained for the shell side fluid, and prevent failure
of tubes due to flow-induced vibration. There are two types of baffles: plate and
rod. Plate baffles may be single-segmental, double-segmental, or triplesegmental, as shown in Figure 1

28

2.2.2 BAFFLES SPACING:

Baffle spacing is the centreline-to-centreline distance between adjacent baffles.
It is the most vital parameter in STHE design. The TEMA standards specify
the minimum baffle spacing as one-fifth of the shell inside diameter or 2 in.,
whichever is greater. Closer spacing will result in poor bundle penetration by
the shell side fluid and difficulty in mechanically cleaning the out.

Fig.1 Types of Baffles

29

Fig. 2. Positions of periodic boundaries baffle pitch and baffle space.

Sides of the tubes. Furthermore, a low baffle spacing results in a poor stream
distribution as will be explained later.
The maximum baffle spacing is the shell inside diameter. Higher baffle spacing
will lead to predominantly longitudinal flow, which is less efficient than crossflow, and large unsupported tube spans, which will make the exchanger prone to
tube failure due to flow-induced vibration. Optimum baffles pacing. For
turbulent flow on the shell side (Re > 1,000), the heat-transfer coefficient varies
to the 0.60.7 power of velocity; however, pressure drop varies to the 1.72.0
power. For laminar flow (Re < 100), the exponents are 0.33 for the heat-transfer
coefficient and 1.0 for pressure drop. Thus, as baffle spacing is reduced, pressure
drop increases at a much faster rate than does the heat-transfer coefficient. This
means that there will be an optimum ratio of baffle spacing to shell inside
diameter that will result in the highest efficiency of conversion of pressure drop to
heat transfer. This optimum ratio is normally between 0.3 and 0.6.

2.2.3 BAFFLE CUT:

As shown in Figure 2, baffle cut is the height of the segment that is cut in each
baffle to permit the shell side fluid to flow across the baffle. This is expressed as a
percentage of the shell inside diameter. Although this, too, is an important
30

parameter for STHE design, its effect is less profound than that of baffle spacing.
Baffle cut can vary between 15% and 45% of the shell inside diameter. Both very
small and very large baffle cuts are detrimental to efficient heat transfer on the
shell side due to large deviation from an ideal situation, as illustrated in Figure
3. It is strongly recommended that only baffle cuts between 20% and 35% be
employed. Reducing baffle cut below 20% to increase the shell side heat-transfer
coefficient or increasing the baffle cut beyond 35% to decrease the shell side
pressure drop usually lead to poor designs. Other aspects of tube bundle
geometry should be changed instead to achieve those goals. For example, double
segmental baffles or a divided-flow shell, or even a cross-flow shell, may be
used to reduce the shell side pressure drop. For single-phase fluids on the shell
side, a horizontal baffle cut (Figure2) is recommended, because this minimizes
accumulation of deposits at the bottom of the shell and also prevents
stratification. However, in the case of a two-pass shell (TEMA F), a vertical cut
is preferred for ease of fabrication and bundle assembly. Baffling is discussed in
greater detail in (2) and (3).

Fig.2 Baffle cut

31

Fig.3 Effect of small and large baffle cuts

2.3 EQUALIZE CROSS-FLOW AND WINDOW VELOCITIES:

Flow across tubes is referred to as cross-flow, whereas flow through the window
area (that is, through the baffle cut area) is referred to as window flow. The
window velocity and the cross-flow velocity should be as close as possible
preferably within 20% of each other. If they differ by more than that, repeated
acceleration and deceleration take place along the length of the tube bundle,
resulting in inefficient conversion of pressure drop to heat transfer.

32

2.4 REVIEW RELATED TO DESIGN OF STHE

Yusuf Ali Kara, Ozbilen Guraras: Prepared a computer based design
model for preliminary design of shell and tube heat exchangers with single phase
fluid flow both on shell and tube side. The program determines the overall
dimensions of the shell, the tube bundle, and optimum heat transfer surface area
required to meet the specified heat transfer duty by calculating minimum or
allowable shell side pressure drop.

He concluded that circulating cold fluid in shell-side has some advantages on hot
fluid as shell stream since the former causes lower shell-side pressure drop and
requires smaller heat transfer area than the latter and thus it is better to put the
stream with lower mass flow rate on the shell side because of the baffled space.

Su Thet Mon Than, Khin Aung Lin, Mi Sandar Mon: In this paper
data

is evaluated for heat transfer area and pressure drop and checking

whether the assumed design satisfies all requirement or not. The primary aim of
this design is to obtain a high heat transfer rate without exceeding the allowable
pressure drop.

The decreasing pattern of curves of Reynolds Number and heat transfer

coefficient shown in figure 4 and figure 5 shows that the Re and h are gradually
decreases corresponding as high as tube effective length. Gradual decrease in
Reynolds Number means there is significant decrease in pressure drop respectively.

33

Figure 4: Reynolds Number on Number of Baffles and Length of Tube.

Figure 5: Heat Transfer Coefficient on Number of Baffles and Length of Tube.

2.5
LITERATURE
REVIEW
RELATED
TO
DIFFERENT
OPTIMIZATION
TECHNIQUES:
Resat Selbas, Onder Kzlkan, Marcus Reppich: Applied genetic
algorithms (GA) for the optimal design of shell-and-tube heat exchanger by
varying the design variables: outer tube diameter, tube layout, number of tube
passes, outer shell diameter, baffle spacing and baffle cut. From this study it
34

was concluded that the combinatorial algorithms such as GA provide

significant improvement in the optimal designs compared to the traditional
designs. GA application for determining the global minimum heat exchanger
cost is significantly faster and has an advantage over other methods in obtaining
multiple solutions of same quality.

Sepehr Sanaye,

Hassan

Hajabdollahi:

considered

seven

design

parameters namely tube arrangement, tube diameter, tube pitch ratio, tube
length, tube number, baffle spacing ratio as well as baffle cut ratio. Fast and
elitist non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm with continuous and discrete
variables was applied to obtain the maximum effectiveness (heat recovery) and the
minimum total cost as two objective functions.

V.K. Patel, R.V. Rao: explores the use of a non-traditional optimization

technique; called particle swarm optimization (PSO), for design optimization of
shell-and-tube heat exchangers from economic view point. Minimization of
total annual cost is considered as an objective function. Three design variables
such as shell internal diameter, outer tube diameter and baffle spacing are
considered for optimization. Two tube layouts viz. triangle and square are
also considered for optimization.
The presented PSO technique's ability is demonstrated using different literature
case studies and the performance results are compared with those obtained by
the previous researchers. PSO converges to optimum value of the objective
function within quite few generations and this feature signifies the importance of
PSO for heat exchanger optimization.

In a computer-based design, many

thousands of alternative exchanger configurations may be examined. Computer
codes for design are organized to vary systematically the exchanger parameters
such as, shell diameter, baffle spacing, number of tube-side pass to identify
configurations that satisfy the specified heat transfer and pressure drops. A
computer-based design model was made for preliminary design of shell-and tube
heat exchangers with single-phase fluid flow both on shell and tube side. The
program covers segmental baffled U-tube, and fixed tube sheet heat exchangers
35

one-pass and two-pass for tube-side flow. The program determines the overall
dimensions of the shell, the tube bundle, and optimum heat transfer surface
area required to

meet the specified heat transfer duty by calculating

minimum or allowable shell-side pressure drop.

: In this paper, an optimization program

has been used to calculate the optimum baffle spacing and the number of sealing
strips for all types of shell and tube heat exchangers, using the procedure in HEDH
(heat exchanger design hand book). A set of correlation is presented for
determining the optimum baffle spacing wide range of design input specification
data are considered for all types of shell and tube exchangers, and their optimum
exchangers for different values of W1(heat transfer area weight factor).This
evaluation leads to correlation for determining the optimum baffle spacing.

Describes to consider suitable

baffle spacing in the design process, a computer program has been developed
which enables designers to determine

the

optimum

baffle

spacing

for

segmental baffled shell and tube condensers. Throughout the current research, a
wide range of design input data specification for E and J types shell and tube
condensers have been considered and their corresponding optimum designs for
different values of W1 have been evaluated. This evaluation has been led to some
correlation for determining the optimum baffle spacing.

studied that the optimum ratio of baffle spacing to shell

diameter is determined by applying the thermo economic analysis method.
Although there is no precise criterion to determine baffle spacing in the literature,
it is obvious that thermo economic analysis, as defined in this paper, is a powerful
tool for determining of the optimum baffle spacing. The results obtained,
corresponding to the different objective functions, are also discussed. The
results of these methods are then used to demonstrate how the optimum baffle
spacing ratio is affected by the varying values of the heat exchanger geometrical
parameters.

36

CHAPTER 3

3.1 CFD METHODOLOGY

CFD can be used to determine the performance of a component at the design stage, or it can
be used to analyze difficulties with an existing component and lead to its improved design.
For example, the pressure drop through a component may be considered excessive:

The first step is to identify the region of interest:

37

The geometry of the region of interest is then defined. If the geometry already exists in CAD,
it can be imported directly. The mesh is then created. After importing the mesh into the preprocessor, other elements of the simulation including the boundary conditions (inlets, outlets,
and so on) and fluid properties are defined. The flow solver is run to produce a file of results
that contains the variation of velocity, pressure and any other variables throughout the region
of interest.The results can be visualized and can provide the engineer an understanding of the
behavior of the fluid throughout the region of interest.
This can lead to design modifications that can be tested by changing the geometry of the CFD
model and seeing the effect.

The process of performing a single CFD simulation is split into four components:

1. Creating the Geometry/Mesh

2. Defining the Physics of the Model
3. Solving the CFD Problem
4. Visualizing the Results in the Post-processor

3.1.1 CREATING THE GEOMETRY/MESH

This interactive process is the first pre-processing stage. The objective is to produce a mesh
for input to the physics pre-processor. Before a mesh can be produced, a closed geometric
solid is required. The geometry and mesh can be created in the Meshing application or any of
the other geometry/mesh creation tools. The basic steps involve:

1. Defining the geometry of the region of interest.

38

2. Creating regions of fluid flow, solid regions and surface boundary names.
3. Setting properties for the mesh.This pre-processing stage is now highly automated. In
CFX, geometry can be imported from most major CAD packages using native format, and the
mesh of control volumes is generated automatically.

3.1.1.1. DEFINING THE PHYSICS OF THE MODEL

This interactive process is the second pre-processing stage and is used to create input required
by the Solver. The mesh files are loaded into the physics pre-processor, CFX-Pre.
This can lead to design modifications that can be tested by changing the geometry of the CFD
model and seeing the effect.

The process of performing a single CFD simulation is split into four components:

1. Creating the Geometry/Mesh

2. Defining the Physics of the Model
3. Solving the CFD Problem
4. Visualizing the Results in the Post-processor

CREATING THE GEOMETRY/MESH

This interactive process is the first pre-processing stage. The objective is to produce a mesh
for input to the physics pre-processor. Before a mesh can be produced, a closed geometric
solid is required. The geometry and mesh can be created in the Meshing application or any of
the other geometry/mesh creation tools. The basic steps involve:

1. Defining the geometry of the region of interest.

2. Creating regions of fluid flow, solid regions and surface boundary names.
39

3. Setting properties for the mesh.

This pre-processing stage is now highly automated. In CFX, geometry can be imported from
most major CAD packages using native format, and the mesh of control volumes is generated
automatically.

DEFINING THE PHYSICS OF THE MODEL

This interactive process is the second pre-processing stage and is used to create input required
by the Solver. The mesh files are loaded into the physics pre-processor, CFX-Pre. The
physical models that are to be included in the simulation are selected. Fluid properties and
boundary conditions are specified.

3.1.2 SOLVING THE CFD PROBLEM

The component that solves the CFD problem is called the Solver. It produces the required
results in a non-interactive/batch process. A CFD problem is solved as follows:

1. The partial differential equations are integrated over all the control volumes in the region
of interest. This is equivalent to applying a basic conservation law (for example, for mass or
momentum) to each control volume.
2. These integral equations are converted to a system of algebraic equations by generating a
set of approximations for the terms in the integral equations.
3. The algebraic equations are solved iteratively.
40

An iterative approach is required because of the nonlinear nature of the equations, and
as the solution approaches the exact solution, it is said to converge. For each iteration,
an error, or residual, is reported as a measure of the overall conservation of the flow
properties. How close the final solution is to the exact solution depends on a number of

factors, including the size and shape of the control volumes and the size of the final
residuals. Complex physical processes, such as combustion and turbulence, are often modeled
using empirical relationships. The approximations inherent in these models also contribute to
differences between the CFD solution and the real flow. The solution process requires no user

interaction and is, therefore, usually carried out as a batch process. The solver produces a
results file that is then passed to the post-processor.

3.1.3 VISUALIZING THE RESULTS IN THE POST-PROCESSOR

The post-processor is the component used to analyze, visualize and present the results
interactively. Post-processing includes anything from obtaining point values to complex
animated sequences.

Examples of some important features of post-processors are:

Visualization of the geometry and control volumes

Vector plots showing the direction and magnitude of the flow
Visualization of the variation of scalar variables (variables that have only magnitude, not
direction, such as temperature, pressure and speed) through the domain
Quantitative numerical calculations
41

 Animation
Charts showing graphical plots of variables
Hardcopy and online output.

42

CHAPTER 4
4.1 EXISTING MODEL AND ITS DESIGN:
In single tube Surface heat exchangers, the hot fluid flows inside the tube and the cold fluid
flows around the walls of the tube. The heat transfer takes place from inside of the tube to the
walls of the tube. The coolant that flows around the tube carries away the heat.
The main advantages of surface heat exchanger are:

They can be easily designed and constructed.

They are very cheap.
Ease of maintenance.
Handling the fluids is very convenient.

But the main disadvantage of this is its low heat transfer rate.

Cold
fluid

Hot
fluid
in

Hot
fluid
out

Cold
fluid

The line diagram of the surface heat exchanger without baffles as shown above is
designed in ANSYS work bench and analysed in ANSYS FLUENT.

43

4.2 BOUNDARY AND CELL ZONE CONDITIONS

The Boundary and the cell zone conditions applied during the analysis:

Inlet hot fluid temperature

Inlet velocity of hot fluid
Wall temperature
Material
Type of fluid

INLET HOT FLUID TEMPERATURE : Hot fluid is the working fluid. We allow it to flow
inside the tube. The hot fluid coming out from the industry should be cooled. Reducing the
temperature of that hot fluid is our main intention. So we chose one of the boundary
conditions as the inlet temperature of hot fluid.

INLET VELOCITY OF HOT FLUID: The hot fluid is allowed to pass through the tube
flowing with specific velocity. As the velocity decreases the heat transfer rate increases. The
velocity plays a major role, so we took its as one of the boundary conditions.

44

WALL TEMPERATURE: The wall temperature acts as the coolant temperature since the
coolant surrounds the wall. The heat transfer takes place through the walls. So the wall
temperature is takes as one of the boundary conditions.

45

MATERIAL: The metal with which the heat exchanger is made also plays a major role. Since
the heat transfer coefficient of the heat exchanger also depends on the type of material.
TYPE OF FLUID: The types of fluids that we are using in the heat exchangers are also
considered as cell zone conditions.

4.3 ASSUMPTIONS:

Inlet hot fluid temperature

Inlet velocity of hot fluid
Wall temperature
Material
Type of fluid

:
:
:
:
:

793k
45m/s
293k
Aluminium
Air

4.4 EQUATIONs USED:

The K-epsilon model is one of the most common turbulence models, although it just
doesn't perform well in cases of large adverse pressure gradients (Reference 4). It is a two
equation model, that means, it includes two extra transport equations to represent the
turbulent properties of the flow. This allows a two equation model to account for history
effects like convection and diffusion of turbulent energy.

46

The first transported variable is turbulent kinetic energy, . The second transported
variable in this case is the turbulent dissipation, . It is the variable that determines the
scale of the turbulence, whereas the first variable,

, determines the energy in the

turbulence.
There are two major formulations of K-epsilon models. That of Launder and Sharma
is typically called the "Standard" K-epsilon Model. The original impetus for the K-epsilon
model was to improve the mixing-length model, as well as to find an alternative to
algebraically prescribing turbulent length scales in moderate to high complexity flows.

Transport equations for standard k-epsilon model

For k

For dissipation

Modeling turbulent viscosity

Turbulent viscosity is modeled as:

Production of k

Where

is the modulus of the mean rate-of-strain tensor, defined as :

Effect of buoyancy

Where

Prt is the turbulent Prandtl number for energy

gi is the component of the gravitational vector in the ith direction.

47

For the standard and realizable - models, the default value of Prt is 0.85.
The coefficient of thermal expansion,

, is defined as

Model constants

48

CHAPTER 5
5.1 SOLUTION INITIALISATION:
The solver works in an iterative manner.
Therefore before the very first iteration, avalue must exist for every quantity in every
grid cell.
Setting this value is called Initialization
Here in this analysis we initialize from the inlet.

5.2 RUN CALCULATION:

The solver should be given sufficient iterations such that the problem is converged
At convergence, the following should be satisfied:
The solution no longer changes with subsequent iterations.
49

 Overall mass, momentum, energy, and scalar balances are achieved.

All equations (momentum, energy, etc.) are obeyed in all cells to a specified
tolerance

Monitoring convergence using residual history:

Generally, a decrease in residuals by three orders of magnitude indicates at
least qualitative convergence. At this point, the major flow features should be
established.
Scaled energy residual should decrease to 10-6 (for the pressure-based solver).
Scaled species residual may need to decrease to 10-5 to achieve species balance.

L5-17

ANSYS, Inc. Proprietary

2010 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.

50

Release

51

5.3 PLOTS AND GRAPHS

52

5.3.1 TOTAL TEMPERATURE

53

5.3.2 VELOCITY

54

5.3.3 TURBULENCE

55

5.3.4 REYNOLDS NUMBER

56

5.3.5 THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY

5.3.6 SURFACE HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT

57

5.4 PROPOSED MODEL AND ITS DESIGN:

In this we introduced a nozzle baffle inside the tube at the entrance of hot fluid. So
that it creates turbulence in the flow and most of the fluid passes along the sides of the wall
thus improving the heat transfer rate. This baffle will increase the efficiency of the surface
heat exchanger.
THE MAIN ADVANTAGE:
High heat transfer rate

The line diagram of the proposed design is shown below

Cold
fluid

Hot
fluid
in
58
Cold

Hot
fluid
out

5.4.1 BOUNDARY AND CELL ZONE CONDITIONS:

Inlet temperature of hot fuild

Inlet velocity of hot fluid
Wall temperature
Material
Type of Fluid

=
=
=
=
=

59

793k
45m/sec
293k
Aluminuim
Air

60

5.4.2 EQUATION USED:

61

5.5SOLUTION INITIALISATION:

5.5.1 RUN CALCULATION:

62

5.6 PLOTS AND GRAPHS:

63

5.6.1 TOTAL TEMPERATURE

64

5.6.2 VELOCITY

65

5.6.3 TURBULENCE

66

5.6.4 REYNOLDS NUMBER

5.6.5 THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY

67

5.6.5 SURFACE HEAT TRANFER COEFFICIENT

68

CHAPTER -6
6.1 CONCLUSION
In the current project, CFD analysis of single pass heat exchanger was done to
evaluate the performance of a single pass surface heat exchanger with and without baffles
situated at the nozzle.
Due to introduction of the baffles, the main modification is implicated by the
considerably large change in the turbulence. This change in turn leads to more heat transfer
rate as the working fluid interacts more efficiently with the coolant. Thus the primary goal of
high heat transfer is achieved using baffles. This can be more clearly observing the
comparisons of different parameters involved and plotting their histograms, contours and
simulations performed in ANSYS. And so, we can conclude that the output results coming
out from heat exchanger having baffles are more efficient from heat exchanger without
baffles.
These conclusions directly imply that for low capacity heat exchanger application,
one must not neccessesarily go for a costly heat exchanger. Instead, by installing baffles in
the surface type heat exchanger, its efficiency can be increased considerably.

69

REFERENCES:
1. Heat and mass transfer P K NAG, Tata Mc Graw Hill Education Private Limited,
NEW DELHI.
2. Fundamentals of Engg. Heat and Mass transfer / R.C.SACHEDAVA/ New Age
international.
3. Heat and Mass transfer Kondandaraman.
4. S.C.Arora and S.Domkundwar, Heat and mass transfer, New Delhi, Dhanpat Rai and Co.
(Pvt.) Ltd., 1998.

5. ANSYS reference guide by ansys.inc.

70