Heat Exchanger Lab

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Heat Exchanger Lab - Labs
Thermal Power Systems (San Francisco State University)
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Heat Exchanger Lab

San Francisco State University
ENGR 463: Thermal Power Systems
3/8/16

Michael Cornish
Maqren Alharbi
Faisal Shaji
Ethan Tseng
Faisal Alruwaished


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Abstract
The purpose of this experiment is studying the conduction and convection of heat
transfer process by using heat exchanger to simulate an irreversible and adiabatic
environment. In this experiment, student will get familiar on how to find heat transfer
coefficient with two different methods, the EffectivenessNumber of Transfer Units
(NTU) method and Log Mean Temperature Difference (LTMD) method.


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Table of Contents

1) Title Page
2) Abstract
3) Table of Contents
4) Introduction
5) Theoretical Background
6) Experimental SetUp and Procedure
7) Results
8) Discussion
9) Conclusions and Recommendations
10) References


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Introduction
Conduction, convection and radiation are the three possible mechanisms of thermal
heat transfer. A heat exchanger is a device that transfers heat from a lowtemperature
medium to a high temperature one. They are essential components in a various amount
of applications which include HVAC, power stations, chemical plants, computers,
natural gas processing, sewage treatment, and cars. In an internal combustion engine,
an example of a heat exchanger is the coolant circulating through the radiator coils
which heats the incoming air, while the air cools the coolant. In this experiment, we will
be testing and demonstrating convective heat transfer between two fluids in both
parallelflow and counterflow conditions. We will be adjusting the rate of cold water
flowing into the system and recording the temperatures at the various points throughout
the system and observing the key differences parallelflow and counterflow exert on the
heat transferred throughout the heat exchanger. We will also be calculating the overall
efficiency of the system at different fluid flow rates.


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Theoretical Background
In this experiment, the fluid flow in two forms, parallel and counterflow. Both forms are
widely used as application, for example, air conditioning or any other forms of
temperature controlling. Overall heat transfer coefficient is the key part of heat
exchanging analysis, it is based on the surface area, material and flow types, in fact,
there are many other factors can affect the value of Overall heat transfer coefficient.
Figures below show the different types of flow type.

The universal rule in any heat
exchanger, is the amount of energy loss from the hot side equals the amount of energy
of the cold side, which the heat transferred from the hot side to the cold side. For this
experiment, we also have to include the material factor of the heat exchanger which is
the stainless steel wall conduction resistance, it will directly influence the rate of hear
transfer during the experiment. There are two ways to calculate the hear transferred
between two sides of a hear exchanger:
Log Mean Temperature Difference (LMTD) Method
Effectiveness – NTU Method
In the LMTD method, the heat transfer is calculated through:
Q = U x A x LMTD
1/UA = 1/(Ac.hc) + R + 1/(Ah.hh)
LMTD = [dTmax – dTmin]/ln(dTmax/dTmin)
In the Effectiveness NTU method,

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E = Q / Qmax = (m x C x dT) / [(m x C)min x (Tmax – Tmin)]

Experimental Setup and Procedure

P.A. Hilton Heat Exchanger Major Components:
● Concentric cylinders that is used for parallel and counterflow heat exchanger
● Two rotameter flow meters for measuring hot and cold flow rates
● A 3 kW water heater for heating water on the hot side
● A centrifugal pump for circulating the hot water
● Thermometers for measuring (for parallel flow):
T1 Hot water inlet to the heat exchanger 3
T2 Hot water return to the heat exchanger
T3 Cooling water inlet to the heat exchanger
T4 Cooling water return to the heat exchanger
T5 Hot midposition for concentric tube
T6 Cold midposition for concentric tube
Procedure
1. Turn on Main Switch and then Heater Switch
2. Set the hot water temperature controller to 55 C.
3. Set the hot water flow rate Vhot to 50 g/sec
4. Set the cold water flow rate Vcold to 10 g/sec.

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5. Monitor the stream temperatures and the hot and cold flow rates to ensure they
stabilize and remain close to the original setting and record the following: Tl, T2,
T3, T4, T5, T6, Vcold and Vhot
6. Then adjust the 'COOLING WATER FLOW CONTROL' in increments of 10g/sec.
Maintain the Hot water flow rate at approximately 50g/sec.
7. Allow the conditions to stabilize and record the data.
Set the hot water flow rate Vhot to 25 g/sec and repeat the experiment. And then repeat
experiment with Counterflow configuration.

Results
Part 1:


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Part 2


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Part 4


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Part 5


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Discussion

Faisal Alruwaished
Most experiments have uncertainties when collecting data and applying it
to our given or acquired formulas. Results may be slightly, or significantly
different from our theoretical calculations. Uncertainties in this experiment
include, but are not limited to, human errors in collecting data, misreading
gages, equipment miscalibration, sudden fluctuations in flow, and/or air
pockets in the pipes, which can give us undesired readings/data.

Michael Cornish
During this lab, we were able to gain an understanding of how a heat exchanger works
and how through manipulation we can alter the amount of heat being transferred
throughout the system. From our results, we can see the amount of heat being
transferred within the system is decreasing as the amount of cold water flowing into the
system increases. As the flow rate of the hot water is decreased, the hot fluid is
spending more time traveling through the piping of the system and is therefore losing
more heat. We can see from the results that the counterflow setup if more efficient than
the parallelflow setup, due to the large temperature difference at the end of the tube in
a parallelflow setup. Parallel flow setup would be good in a situation where we need
both exit temperatures of the fluids to be similar. A counterflow setup will also minimize
the thermal stresses experienced throughout the heat exchanger.
There are distinct advantages and disadvantages to both methods depending on
the desired results. With counterflow, the outlet temperature of the cold fluid can
approach the highest temperature of the hot fluid at the inlet. It also produces a more
uniform temperature difference which therefore produces a more uniform rate of heat
transfer throughout the system.

Faisal Shaji
In testing our heat exchanger calculations we were able to to check and compare
many of our results with the professors sample report.For example, the energy loss of

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the warm fluid against the energy gain of the cold fluid we were able to determine
differences in the two flow patterns of our heat exchanger, counter flow and parallel
flow. When our machine is set up in counterflow, our data proves that the exit
temperature of the hot water is higher than the entrance temperature of the cold
fluid and also higher than the exit temperature of the cold fluid. Eventhough, our data
shows that the exit temperature of the hot water is still hotter than the exit
temperature of the cold water, it is not always the case in counter flow. However,
when our machine is set up in parallel flow the exit temperature of the hot fluid is
always higher than the exit temperature of the cold fluid, as can be seen in our data.
if we change the flow rates from being constant to having different flow rates, we
can see a change within the temperature differences relative to their change in the
flow rate. if the flow rate of a fluid is increased, the temperature change in that fluid
can be less. On the other hand, if the flow rate of the fluid is decreased, the
temperature change will increase.

Maqren alharbi
During this lab , we were able to Inspect and gain an intuitive
understanding how heat exchanger works during a cycle , and how the
configuration alters the heat transfer in system . For instance, when
conducting an energy balance for both configuration , we noticed that a
faster hot flow-rate lended to greater heat transfer for all flow -rates.
When examining the effect of increasing the cold flow rates , we noticed
the heat transfer actually decreased. Therefore ,That makes sense
because its spending less time in contact with the source of heat.
Similarly , it also makes sense that a faster moving hot flow would lend
to a greater heat transfer because if the fluid spends more time in the
tube , it loses more of its heat to the discrepancies between heat loss of
the hot fluid and heat gained by the cold fluid. There must have been
some heat loss that wasn’t accounted for. My guess is that the hot fluid
measurement was accurate but the error occurred in the cold fluid
reading due its capability of losing some heat to the surrounding
through the clear acrylic tube. However, a source of error for both fluids

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could also be the parts of heat exchanger near the fitting at minimum
insulation.
Ethan Tseng
A.
- Log Mean Temperature Difference (LMTD) Method
- Effectiveness – NTU Method
In the LMTD method, the heat transfer is calculated through:
Q = U x A x LMTD
1/UA = 1/(Ac.hc) + R + 1/(Ah.hh)
LMTD = [dTmax – dTmin]/ln(dTmax/dTmin)
In the Effectiveness NTU method,
E = Q / Qmax = (m x C x dT) / [(m x C)min x (Tmax – Tmin)]
B. What are the sources of error in experiment?

The sources of this experiment can come from operational error. For example, we
have a hard time during experiment while trying to maintaining the desire
temperature. We would have to constantly turn the node to make sure it stays at the
right level.
C. What does convective heat transfer coeff. in pipes depend on? Compare with a
typical result from text
The heat transfer coefficients in pipes depends on many different factors. Such as, the
fluid thermal properties, the physical properties and design of the heat exchange
itself and the dynamic and characteristic of the flow.


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Conclusion and Recommendations

Faisal Alruwaished

This experiment allowed us to have an understanding of how parallelflow
and counterflow of given hot and cold liquids at different flow rates in a
heat exchanger may differ in results when the set up changes and at different
points. We see that the counterflow produces more heat transfer between
the liquid, and as the flow rate increases, so does the temperature at the
outlet.

Faisal Shaji
In the experiment we can assume that the need of a faster heat flow rate
counter flow heat exchanger with higher hot fluid flow rate is appropriate.chosing
the parallel heat exchanger with higher fluid flow rate the larger temperature
difference can cause thermal stress of the material and damage the material in a long

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run. But in our experiment the generated heat is transferred in cold fluid. yet, Parallel
heat exchanger is beneficial if we want to the outlet temperature of the fluid to be
always lower than that of inlet.

Ethan Tseng
The purpose of this lab is to allow student to have a chance to analyst how heat
is transferred from hot to cold fluid under different situation. In this experiment, we
compare the two different flow setting, counter flow and parallel flow, and we prove
that counter flow has higher heat exchange flow rate than parallel rate. From the
date, we can also prove that as the flow rate increases the heat transfer rate is also
increased.
Michael Cornish
From the results we can see that the counterflow setup is a more efficient setup
than the parallelflow. We also found that adjusting the flow rate of cold water into the
system affected the amount of heat transferred throughout the system. When setup in
parallel flow, we can see the maximum amount of heat transferred is much greater than
that of counterflow, however counterflow seemed to be a more effective method of
maintaining a certain temperature in a given medium.

Maqren Alharbi
Based in the experiment in analyzing our heat exchanger we were able
to determine the how the temperatures and heat transfer is affected when using a heat
exchanger with counter flow and parallel flow. Moreover, we were able to calculate how
the effects of having different flow rates within each fluid. We were able to determine
that the lower the flow rate of a fluid the larger the difference in temperature will be.
Finally, based on the calculation and graphs we can say that the effectiveness of the
counterflow higher and more effective than the parallel flow.

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