HEAT

TRANSFER

CHAPTER 11

Heat Exchangers

Heat Transfer

#1

Su Yongkang
School of Mechanical
Engineering

Heat Exchangers, NTU- Method

Where weve been

Analysis of heat exchangers using log mean
temperature difference (LMTD)
q UA

Tout Tin
T
ln o
Ti

UATLMTD

dTh

Ti

dq

To
dTc

Where were going:

Computation of heat exchanger performance
compared to the theoretical maximum possible
for the flow conditions and HX type and size.

Heat Transfer

#2

Su Yongkang
School of Mechanical
Engineering

Heat Exchangers, NTU- Method

KEY POINTS THIS LECTURE

Concept of heat exchanger effectiveness,
based on the ratio of fluid heat capacity, C.
Concept of heat exchanger Number of Transfer
Units, NTU
Application of NTU- method to predict the
performance of a given heat exchanger

Heat Transfer

Text book sections: 11.4 11.5

#3

Su Yongkang
School of Mechanical
Engineering

Recall earlier discussion

For a condensing vapor or C h Cc

TCond
T

In

Out

For an evaporating liquid

or Ch Cc

T
TEvap
In

Out

What if Ch = Cc in a counterflow HX?

T
T1 T2
In

Heat Transfer

Out

#4

Su Yongkang
School of Mechanical
Engineering

Heat exchanger effectiveness

Maximum possible heat transfer rate for any

given inlet temperatures and flow rates occurs in
a infinitely long counterflow HX
T

Th,in
Tc,out

Th,out

Tc ,in

Length of heat exchanger

If Cc Ch , then: Tc,o Th,i

Cold fluid would reach hot fluid inlet T
and :
qmax Cc (Th ,i Tc ,i )

If Cc Ch , then: Th,o Tc,i

Hot fluid would reach cold fluid inlet T
and :

qmax Ch (Th ,i Tc ,i )

qmax Cmin (Th ,i Tc ,i )

Heat Transfer

#5

Su Yongkang
School of Mechanical
Engineering

Maximum T

Heat exchanger effectiveness (Contd)

Define: Heat exchanger effectiveness,

q
qmax

Actual heat transfer, q, can be determined from

simple energy balance

q qh m h c p ,h Th ,in Th ,out qc m c c p ,c Tc ,out Tc ,in

so :

q Ch Th ,in Th ,out Cc Tc ,out Tc ,in

Thus:

q
qmax

OR

Ch Th ,i Th ,o

Cmin Th ,i Tc ,i
Cc Tc ,o Tc ,i

Cmin Th ,i Tc ,i

If the heat exchanger effectiveness were known,

then the actual heat transferred could be found
from:

q qmax

Heat Transfer

#6

Su Yongkang
School of Mechanical
Engineering

Number of Transfer Units

Define: Number of Transfer Units, NTU

UA
NTU
Cmin

NTU depends on both the heat exchanger

design (UA) and the operating conditions
(Cmin).

Define: Capacity Ratio, Cr

C r C min /C max

C r 1

Effectiveness is a function of capacity ratio and

the NTU

Relationships between , NTU and Cr can be

computed.
Tables 11.3 and 11.4
and Figures 11.14 11.19 in textbook

Heat Transfer

f NTU , C r

#7

Su Yongkang
School of Mechanical
Engineering

NTU - Tables

Parallel
flow

Counter
flow

Heat Transfer

#8

Su Yongkang
School of Mechanical
Engineering

Summary of Solution Method

Typical scenario for using -NTU method:

Given:

Th,in , Tc,in , m h , m c , HX geometry

Find:

Th,out , Tc,out , q

Solution method:
1. Determine UA for this heat exchanger
1. Find U and A
2. Find Cc , Ch , Cr
2. Calculate

NTU UA / Cmin

3. Determine from tabulated formulas or

plots
4. Compute actual heat transfer

q qmax C min Th,i Tc ,i

5. Find outlet temperatures from

q
Th ,o Th ,i
, and
h c p ,h
m

Tc ,o Tc ,i
Heat Transfer

q
c c p ,c
m

#9

Su Yongkang
School of Mechanical
Engineering

Calculation Methodology

Performance calculation:

Given:

Th,in , Tc,in , m h , m c , HX geometry

Find:

Th,out , Tc,out , q

Solution method: NTU

Design problems:

h , m c , Th ,out (or Tc ,out )

Given: Th ,in , Tc ,in , m
Find:

Tc ,out (or Th ,out ), q, A

Solution method: LMTD

Heat Transfer

# 10

Su Yongkang
School of Mechanical
Engineering

Example #1
Situation:
Light lubricating oil (cp=2090 J/kg-K) is
cooled with water in a small heat exchanger.
Oil flow = 0.5 kg/s, inlet T = 375 K
Water flow = 0.2 kg/s, inlet T = 280 K
Part 1:
If desired outlet temperature of the oil is 350 K,
and you know the estimated overall heat
transfer coefficient, U = 250 W/m-K, from
manufacturers data for this type of HX
Find: Required heat transfer area for a parallel
flow HX and compare to the area needed for a
counter flow HX.
Solution Method?

Toil ,in 350 K

Toil ,in 375 K

Twater ,out ?

Twater ,in 280 K

Heat Transfer

LMTD

# 11

Su Yongkang
School of Mechanical
Engineering

Example (Contd)
Toil ,in 350 K

Solution, Part 1:
Toil ,in 375 K

Twater ,out ?

Twater ,in 280 K

Tc 295 K ,

c p ,c 4181J / Kg .K

q Ch Th ,i Th ,o 0.5 2090 (375 350)

26125 W

and

Tc ,o Tc ,i q / Cc 280 26125 /(0.2 4181)

311 K
For parallel flow, Tin 95 Tout 39

Tlm,PF

Tin Tout
95 39

63
ln Tin / Tout ln(95 / 39)

For counter flow, Tin 64 Tout 70

Tlm,CF
Heat Transfer

Tin Tout
64 70

67
ln Tin / Tout ln(64 / 70)

# 12

Su Yongkang
School of Mechanical
Engineering

Example (Contd)
Solution, Part 1 (Contd):
Now, compute the required area
Parallel flow

APF q /(UTlm , PF ) 1.66 m 2

Counter flow

ACF q /(UTlm ,CF ) 1.56 m

Part 2:
Use -NTU method to determine the required
NTU and heat transfer area for parallel and
counter flow
Solution Method?

Heat Transfer

# 13

Su Yongkang
School of Mechanical
Engineering

Example (Contd)
Solution, Part 2:

Tc 295 K ,

c p ,c 4181J / Kg .K

To determine the minimum heat capacity rate,

Ch 0.5 2090 1045 W / K

CC 0.2 4181 836.2 W / K Cmin

Then
qmax Cmin (Th ,i Tc ,i )

836.2 (375 280) 79440

q Ch Th ,i Th ,o 26125

The effectiveness is

q / qmax 26125 / 79440 0.33

Heat Transfer

# 14

Su Yongkang
School of Mechanical
Engineering

Example (Contd)
Solution, Part 2:
With

Cmin 836.2

0 .8
Cmax 1045

It follows from Figure 11.14 and 11.15 that

NTU PF 0.55

NTU CF 0.5

APF Cmin NTU PF / U 1.84

m2

ACF Cmin NTU CF / U 1.67

Heat Transfer

# 15

Su Yongkang
School of Mechanical
Engineering

Example #2

Heat Transfer

The oil in an engine is cooled by air in a

cross-flow heat exchanger where both fluids
are unmixed. Atmospheric air enters at 303K
and 0.53 kg/s. Oil at 0.026 kg/s enters at
348K and flows through a tube of 10-mm
diameter. Assuming fully developed flow and
constant wall heat flux, estimate the oil-side
heat transfer coefficient. If the overall
convection coefficient is 53 W/m2.K and the
total heat transfer area is 1m2, determine the
effectiveness. What is the exit temperature of
the oil?

# 16

Su Yongkang
School of Mechanical
Engineering

Heat Transfer

# 17

Su Yongkang
School of Mechanical
Engineering

Heat Transfer

# 18

Su Yongkang
School of Mechanical
Engineering

Heat Exchangers, NTU- Method

KEY POINTS THIS LESSON
Defined heat exchanger effectiveness,

where : q max

q
q max
C min Th,i Tc ,i

Defined term Number of Transfer Units, NTU

NTU

UA
C min

Defined the Capacity Ratio, Cr

C
C r min C r 1
C max

Identified methods
to determine relation
between , NTU
and Cr
(Table formulas
or charts)

Heat Transfer

# 19

Su Yongkang
School of Mechanical
Engineering

Appendix

The maximum possible heat transfer rate.

qmax Cmin (Th ,i Tc ,i )

qmax Cmax (Th ,i Tc ,i )

From the energy conservation,

Cc (Tc ,o Tc ,i ) Ch (Th ,i Th ,o )

If the fluid having the larger heat capacity rate

were to experience the maximum possible
temperature change, the other fluid would
experience a larger temperature change.
That is:
If Cmax Cc and Tc ,o Th ,i

(Th ,i Th,o ) (Cc / Ch )(Th ,i Tc ,i )

(Th ,i Th ,o ) (Th ,i Tc ,i )
Th ,o Tc ,i Tc ,o
Heat Transfer

impossible

# 20

Su Yongkang
School of Mechanical
Engineering