NAME ______________________ LAB SECTION __________ DATE __________

ME 4751 – DOUBLE-PIPE HEAT EXCHANGER PERFORMANCE

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this experiment is to investigate steady heat transfer in a double-pipe heat
exchanger, over a range of capacity rates. It is operated in overall counter flow, with water
in both tubes. Energy balances will be performed on the hot- and cold-sides, and the
resulting heat transfer rates will be compared. In addition, an overall heat transfer
coefficient will be determined by measuring the log-mean temperature difference.
Likewise, the heat exchanger effectiveness will be evaluated at a prescribed capacity rate,
and compared to an analytical expression.

APPARATUS
The apparatus for this experiment is shown in Figure 1. The concentric pipe heat exchanger
consists of a stainless steel inner tube having an outer diameter of 9.5 mm and a wall
thickness of 0.6 mm. The outer clear acrylic tube has an inside diameter of 12 mm, and a
wall thickness of 3 mm. The length of the active heat transfer section is 0.66 m, and the
effective heat transfer surface area is approximately 0.02 m2. The heat exchanger is
instrumented with thermocouples to measure the temperatures at the inlets and outlets of
the hot and cold fluids, as well as at the mid-point location for each tube. Moreover, the
volume flow rate is measured in each tube using a turbine flow meter. The flow rate of the
cold fluid is controlled using a pressure regulator to adjust the inlet water pressure. The hot
fluid flow rate is adjusted by means of a bypass valve. The hot water is first heated to a
desired temperature using an immersion heating element, and is then pumped in a
continuous loop through the hot-side tube. A clear acrylic priming vessel is used to
eliminate any air trapped in the hot fluid flow. The cold water is supplied from available
city water.

THEORY
A counter flow double pipe heat exchanger consists of a continuous run of two concentric
tubes. Two fluids with constant (but different) temperatures enter opposite ends of the heat
exchanger. The hot fluid flows through the inner pipe at a constant mass flow rate ṁhot ,
and the cold fluid enters the annulus at a constant mass flow rate ṁcold . Referring to Figure
2, an energy balance on the hot fluid yields the hot-side heat transfer rate:

q hot = (ṁcp ) (T1 − T3 ) (1)

hot

Similarly an energy balance on the cold fluid yields the following:

q cold = (ṁcp ) (T6 − T4 ) (2)

cold

In this instance c p ,hot denotes the heat capacity of the hot fluid, and c p ,cold indicates the heat
capacity of the cold fluid. It can be shown that an energy balance performed on the entire
heat exchanger can be expressed in terms of a log-mean temperature difference:

ME 4751 Fall 2018 S. Idem

 T1  T6   T3  T4 
q  UATlm  UA (3)
 T  T6 
ln  1 
 3
T  T4 

In this case, U is the overall heat transfer coefficient, and A represents the effective heat
transfer surface area. In general, the capacity rate ratio of a heat exchanger is defined such
that:

(ṁcp )
min
Cr =(ṁc (4)
p )max

The heat exchanger effectiveness  is the ratio of the actual heat transfer rate to the
maximum possible heat transfer rate:

q
 (5)
q max

The heat exchanger effectiveness is dimensionless, and lies within the range 0    1 . For
the special case where the hot fluid possesses the minimum capacity rate, this reduces to
the following expression:

T1  T3
 (6)
T1  T4

The number of transfer units is a dimensionless parameter used in heat exchanger analysis,
and is defined as follows:

UA
NTU = (ṁc (7)
p )min

For a double-pipe heat exchanger operated in overall counter flow, the heat exchanger
effectiveness is solely a function of the number of transfer units and the capacity rate ratio,
as follows:

1  exp  NTU 1  C r 
 (8)
1  C r exp NTU1  C r 
LABORATORY PROCEDURE
1. Turn on the main power switch to the apparatus. Likewise energize the pump/heater
assembly and adjust the set point of the hot fluid to 50 C. Using the bypass valve, set
the hot fluid volume flow rate to 1.0 L/min. Thereafter do not change these values.
2. Turn the control knob of the pressure regulator for the cold fluid completely
counterclockwise, and then open the city water supply valve. Turn the pressure
regulator control knob in the clockwise direction until the cold fluid volume flow rate
equals 2.0 L/min.

ME 4751 Fall 2018 S. Idem

3. Measure the inlet, outlet, and intermediate water temperatures on the hot- and cold-
sides of the heat exchanger. Record these values, as well as the measured hot and cold
fluid volume flow rates, in Table 1.

RESULTS
For simplicity, assume the heat capacity for water is constant over the range of
temperatures considered in this experiment, and is given by cp = 4180 J/kgC. Likewise
assume the density of water is a constant, and is equal to  = 1000 kg/m3. Note that 1 L =
0.001 m3. Perform sample hand calculations using the data from Table 1; clearly show all
your calculations on a separate sheet of paper (provided below).
1. Referring to Eqs. (1) and (2), determine the heat transfer rates (W) on the hot- and cold-
sides of the heat exchanger, respectively, and briefly compare the resulting values.
Calculate the log-mean temperature difference (C). Then using the heat transfer rate
measured for the hot fluid, estimate the overall heat transfer coefficient U (W/m2C)
by means of Eq. (3).
2. Employ Eq. (4) to evaluate the capacity rate ratio. Similarly, determine the heat
exchanger effectiveness using Eq. (6), and calculate the number of transfer units by
means of Eq. (7). In every instance these quantities are dimensionless.
3. Using the values of Cr and NTU obtained in part 2, evaluate the heat exchanger
effectiveness using Eq. (8). Briefly compare the resulting value to the heat exchanger
effectiveness determined in part 2.

Table 1. Temperature and Volume Flow Rate Data

T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 Qhot Qcold
(C) (C) (C) (C) (C) (C) (L/min) (L/min)

ME 4751 Fall 2018 S. Idem

Figure 1. Double-Pipe Heat Exchanger Apparatus

Figure 2. Measured Temperature Terminology

ME 4751 Fall 2018 S. Idem

CALCULATIONS

ME 4751 Fall 2018 S. Idem