HEAT EXHANGERS Parallel Flow - both the hot and cold fluids
enter the heat exchanger at the same end and
Heat exchangers are devices that facilitate the exchange
of heat between two fluids that are at different
temperatures while keeping them from mixing with each
other.
Heat exchangers are commonly used in practice in a
wide range of applications, from heating and air-
conditioning systems in a household, to chemical
processing and power production in large plants. Heat
exchangers differ from mixing chambers in that they
do not allow the two fluids involved to mix.
Heat transfer in a heat exchanger usually involves
convection in each fluid and conduction through the
wall separating the two fluids.
In the analysis of heat exchangers, it is convenient to
work with an overall heat transfer coefficient U that
accounts for the contribution of all these effects on
heat transfer.
 In the analysis of heat exchangers, it is usually
convenient to work with the logarithmic mean
temperature difference LMTD, which is an
equivalent mean temperature difference between the
two fluids for the entire heat exchanger.
TYPES OF HEAT EXCHANGERS
 Double-pipe heat exchanger
- One fluid in a double-pipe heat exchanger
flows through the smaller pipe while the other
fluid flows through the annular space between
the two pipes.
Two types of flow arrangement for Double-pipe
move in the same direction.
Counter Flow - the hot and cold fluids enter
the heat exchanger at opposite ends and flow in
opposite directions.
THE OVERALL HEAT TRANSFER
COEFFICIENT
A heat exchanger typically involves two
flowing fluids separated by a solid wall. Heat is
first transferred from the hot fluid to the wall by
convection, through the wall by conduction,
and from the wall to the cold fluid again by
convection. Any radiation effects are usually
included in the convection heat transfer
coefficients.
The overall heat-transfer coefficient U is
defined by the relation
In the analysis of heat exchangers, it is
convenient to combine all the thermal
resistances in the path of heat flow from the hot
fluid to the cold one into a single resistance R,
and to express the rate of heat transfer between
the two fluids as
where U is the overall heat transfer coefficient,
whose unit is W/m2 · °C, which is identical to
the unit of the ordinary convection coefficient
h.
Perhaps you are wondering why we have two
overall heat transfer coefficients Ui and Uo for a
heat exchanger. The reason is that every heat
exchanger has two heat transfer surface areas Ai
and Ao, which, in general, are not equal to
each other.
NOTE! The overall heat-transfer coefficient may be
based on either the inside or outside area of the tube at
the discretion of the designer. Accordingly,

In most practical problems the conduction resistance

is small compared with the convection resistances. Then,
if one value of h is markedly lower than the other value,
it will tend to dominate the equation for U.

SAMPLE PROBLEM:

1. A double-pipe (shell-and-tube) heat exchanger is

constructed of a stainless steel (k = 15.1 W/m · °C) inner ANALYSIS OF HEAT EXCHANGERS
tube of inner diameter Di = 1.5 cm and outer diameter
Do = 1.9 cm and an outer shell of inner diameter 3.2 cm. -the first law of thermodynamics requires that the rate of
The convection heat transfer coefficient is given to be hi heat transfer from the hot fluid be equal to the rate of
= 800 W/m2 · °C on the inner surface of the tube and ho heat transfer to the cold one.
= 1200 W/m2 · °C on the outer surface. determine the
overall heat transfer coefficients, Ui and Uo based on the
inner and outer surface areas of the tube, respectively.

where the subscripts c and h stand for cold and hot

fluids, respectively, and

Two special types of heat exchangers commonly used in

practice are condensers and boilers. One of the fluids in
a condenser or a boiler undergoes a phase-change
process, and the rate of heat transfer is expressed as

where m is the rate of evaporation or condensation of the

fluid and hfg is the enthalpy of vaporization of the fluid
at the specified temperature or pressure.
SAMPLE PROBLEM
As you would expect, the temperature of the hot fluid
decreases and the temperature of the cold fluid
increases along the heat exchanger, but the
LOG MEAN TEMPERATURE DIFFERENCE temperature of the cold fluid can never exceed that of
(LMTD) METHOD the hot fluid no matter how long the heat exchanger
- Earlier, we mentioned that the temperature difference is.
between the hot and cold fluids varies along the heat
exchanger, and it is convenient to have a mean COUNTER-FLOW
temperature difference ΔTm for use in the relation
The hot and cold fluids enter the heat exchanger from
𝑄 = 𝑈𝐴 𝐿𝑀𝑇𝐷 opposite ends, and the outlet temperature of the cold
fluid in this case may exceed the outlet temperature of
U = overall heat-transfer coefficient the hot fluid.
A = surface area for heat transfer consistent with
definition of U In the limiting case, the cold fluid will be heated to
LMTD = Log mean temperature difference across heat the inlet temperature of the hot fluid. However, the
exchanger outlet temperature of the cold fluid can never exceed
the inlet temperature of the hot fluid, since this would
∆𝑇1 − ∆𝑇2 be a violation of the second law of thermodynamics.
𝐿𝑀𝑇𝐷 =
∆𝑇
ln(∆𝑇1 )
2

Q = UAs ΔTm.

NOTE!
A condenser or a boiler can be considered to be either
a parallel- or counter-flow heat exchanger since both
approaches give the same result.
PARALLEL-FLOW

The temperature difference ΔT between the hot and

cold fluids is large at the inlet of the heat exchanger
but decreases exponentially toward the outlet.
ARITHMETIC TEMPERATURE DIFFERENCE AMTD = Arithmetic temperature difference
(AMTD) METHOD
∆𝑇1 + ∆𝑇2
𝐴𝑀𝑇𝐷 =
𝑄 = 𝑈𝐴 𝐴𝑀𝑇𝐷 2

U = overall heat-transfer coefficient

A = surface area for heat transfer consistent with
definition of U
SAMPLE PROBLEM