General Designing Procedure

1. List the thermo-physical properties of both streams.

2. If the specification is incomplete, determine the unknown fluid temperature or fluid
flow-rate from a heat balance.
3. Calculate the heat duty, the rate of heat transfer required.
4. Calculate the log mean temperature difference (which is equal to corrected mean
temperature difference).
5. Assume the value of design overall heat transfer coefficient.
6. Calculate the approximate surface area required.
7. Select the plate dimensions.
8. Calculate plate length.
9. Calculate the heat transfer area provided.
10. Calculate outside diameter of spiral/diameter of heat exchanger.
(In spiral plate heat exchanger, to arrive at the compact design, the outside diameter of
spiral and plate width are kept approximately constant).
11. Calculate equivalent diameter of the flow channel.
12. Calculate the Reynold Number.
13. Calculate the critical Reynold Number (above which turbulent flow is achieved).
14. Calculate the cold and hot side heat transfer Coefficient.
15. Calculate the overall heat transfer coefficient.
16. Calculate the design overall heat transfer coefficient, allowing fouling factors.
Compare the calculated value with the assumed value. If satisfactory say is less than
10% proceed.
If unsatisfactory, return to step#7 and change the plate dimensions and repeat the
calculations so that the difference between two consecutive values is less than 10%.

17. Calculate the heat transfer area required.

18. Calculate the percent excess heat transfer area.
(It should be in the range of 10% to 20%).
19. Calculate the cold and hot side pressure drop.
(calculated pressure drop must be less or equal to the maximum allowable pressure
drop or optimum pressure drop).