MENG 2012 - Heat Transfer

Tutorial sheet 5–Heat Exchanger

Reference and additional questions can be found in the recommended text book:Fundamentals
of Heat and Mass Transfer - Frank P. Incropera, David P DeWitt

1. Cold water at 20oC and 5000 kg/h is to be heated by hot water supplied at 80 oC and
10000 kg/h. You selected from a manufacturer’s listing a shell-and-tube heat exchanger
(one shell with two tube passes) having a UA value of 11600 W/K. Determine the hot
water outlet temperature.

2 The design requirements for a replacement air preheater at the Penal power plant is to
preheat atmospheric air from 304 K to 860 K before entering the furnace burners. The
design involves passing atmospheric air through a bank of tubes placed across the flow
path of the 1190 K exhaust gases. The required preheated airflow rate is 11.2 kg/s and
the exhaust gas flow rate is 16 kg/s. If the overall heat transfer coefficient is 110 W/m 2.K,
determine the total tube surface area required using both LMTD and -NTU methods of
analysis.

(useCp = 1077 J/kg.K for both air and exhaust gases)

3. A single-pass, cross flow heat exchanger uses hot exhaust gases (mixed) to heat water
(unmixed) from 30oC to 80oC at a rate of 3 kg/s. The exhaust gases, having
thermophysical properties similar to air, enters and exits the exchanger at 225 oC and
100oC, respectively. If the overall heat transfer coefficient is 200 W/m 2.K, estimate the
required surface area.

4. A boiler used to generate saturated steam is in the form of an un-finned, cross-flow heat
exchanger, with water flowing through the tubes and high temperature flue gas in cross
flow over the tubes. The flue gas with specific heat 1220 J/kg.K and mass flow rate 12
kg/s enters the heat exchanger at 1450 K. Saturated water at 460 K, 3.2 kg/s enters the
heat exchanger and leaves as saturated vapor at the same temperature. Determine the
required tube length if the overall heat transfer coefficient is 55 W/m 2.K and there are
500 tubes, each 25 mm outer diameter. Use both LMTD and -NTU methods.

5. A feedwater heater for a boiler supplies 10000 kg/h of water at 65 oC. The feedwater has
an inlet temperature of 20oC and is to be heated in a single shell, two tube pass heat
exchanger by condensing steam at 1.30 bars. The overall heat transfer coefficient is 2000
W/m2.K. Using both the LMTD and NTU methods, determine the required heat transfer
area. What is the steam condensation rate?
6. The plant engineer is required to design a concentric tube heat exchanger to
operate under the following conditions:
¿
Cold Fluid: m = 0.125 kg/s
Cp = 4200 J/kg.K
Ti = 40 oC
To = 95 oC
¿
Hot Fluid: m = 0.125 kg/s
Cp = 2100 J/kg.K
Ti = 210 oC

If the heat exchanger is characterized by uniform overall heat transfer

coefficient, using the LMTD method determine:
(a) The maximum possible heat transfer rate.
(b) The heat exchanger effectiveness.
(c) The ratio of the heat transfer area under parallel flow to the heat transfer
area under counter flow. Comment on the answer.

7. Water at the rate of 68 kg/min is heated from 35 to 75 oC by an oil having a specific heat
capacity of 1.9 kJ/kg.oC. The fluids are used in a counterflow heat exchanger, and the oil
enters the exchanger at 110oC and leaves at 75oC. The overall heat transfer coefficient is
320 W/m2.oC. Calculate the heat exchanger area.

8. An ammonia plant employs a two-shell, eight-tube-pass heat exchanger to condense

ammonia at 45oC. Heat removal is facilitated by water entering the heat exchanger at
20oC, 65 kg/s. The overall heat transfer coefficient is 300 W/m 2.K and the heat
exchange surface area is 500 m2. For an ammonia flow rate of 3 kg/s entering as
saturated vapour and leaving as saturated liquid, determine the water outlet temperature
and the heat exchanger effectiveness.
(Use the heat of vaporization of ammonia as 1078 kJ/kg and Cp for water as 4.180
kJ/kg.K)
9. After a long time in service, a counterflow oil cooler is checked to ascertain if its
performance has deteriorated due to fouling. In the test, engine oil flowing at 2 kg/s is
cooled from 420 K to 380 K by a water supply of 1 kg/s entering at 300 K. If the heat
transfer surface is 3.33 m2 and the design value of the overall heat transfer coefficient is
930 W/m2K, how much has it been reduced by fouling? (Use thermal properties for the
water at 320 K).
10. In the design of a waste heat recovery system 2.8 kg/s of domestic water is required to
be heated from 13 oC to 88 oC. This heat is recovered from hot engine oil at 158 oC
passing through the shell side of a shell and tube heat exchanger. The average
convective heat transfer coefficient of the oil is ho = 396 W/m2K on the outside of the
tubes. Twelve tubes pass the water through the shell. The tubes are of thin wall
construction and diameter 25 mm. The design requires the outlet temperature of the oil
to be 98 oC. Calculate the flow rate of the oil and the length of the tubes.

(use 130oC and 50oC as the mean temperatures of oil and water respectively from the
tables provided).
0 .8 0.4
NuD = 0 . 023 Re Pr for turbulent flow.

11. A cross flow heat exchanger with one fluid mixed and the other unmixed is used
to heat oil flowing in the tubes from 15 oC to 85oC. Blowing across the outside of
the tubes is steam which enters at 130 oC and leaves at 110oC with a mass flow
rate of 5.2 kg/s. The overall heat transfer coefficient is 275 W/m 2.oC. Calculate
the surface area of the heat exchanger. (For the oil, cp,oil= 1.9 kJ/kg.K and for the
steam cp,steam= 1.886 kJ/kg.K).

12. The boiler make-up water for a steam power plant is preheated from 35 oCto 85 oCin a
one shell pass two tube passes shell-and-tube heat exchanger. The energy for heating is
extracted from flue gases, assumed to have the properties of air, which enters the shell
side of the heat exchanger at 200 oCand exits at 93 oC. The overall heat transfer
coefficient is 180 W/m2.K. Using both effectiveness – NTU method and LMTD method
calculate the area of the heat exchanger if the water flow rate is 2.5 kg/s.

13. A shell-and-tube heat exchanger must be designed to heat 2.5 kg/s of water from 15 oC
to 85oC. The heating is to be accomplished by passing hot engine oil, which is available
at 160oC, through the shell side of the exchanger. The oil is known to provide an
average convection coefficient of ho = 400 W/m2K on the outside of the tubes. Ten
tubes pass the water through the shell. Each tube is thin walled, of diameter 25 mm, and
makes eight passes through the shell. If the oil leaves the exchanger at 100 oC, what is
the flow rate? How long must the tubes be to accomplish the desired heating?
14. A shell-and-tube heat exchanger designed for a steam power plant consists of a single
shell and 30,000 tubes. It is used to condense steam to liquid water. The tubes have a
nominal diameter of 25 mm and are of thin wall construction. Each tube makes two
passes. Water enters the tube at 20 oC. Steam condenses on the outer surface of the
tubes at 50 oC. The convective heat transfer coefficient on the outer surface is 11,000
W/m2.K. The design requires the heat transfer rate to be 2 x 109 W. The cooling water
flow rate is 3 x 104 kg/s. Using both the LMTD and the -NTU methods, determine
the outlet temperature of the cooling water and the required tube length per pass.
0 .8 0.4 0
(for turbulent flow : NuD = 0 . 023 Re L Pr ; Use T = 27 C )

15. Increased capacity of a manufacturing plant required the addition of a new heat
exchanger. Management decided that a shell-and-tube heat exchanger (one shell pass,
multiple tube passes) is to be used to condense the additional 3 kg/s of saturated steam
at 340 K. Condensation occurs on the outer surface of the tubes for which the
corresponding convection coefficient is ho = 12600 W/m2.K. The condenser will be
supplied with cooling water that enters the tubes at 291 K and is required to exit the
tubes at 303 K. Thin-walled tubes of diameter 20 mm are to be used and the mean
velocity of water flow through the tubes is to be maintained at 1.6 m/s. If the available
space dictates that the length of the heat exchanger is not to exceed 1.5 m, determine:-

(a) How many tubes must be used.

(b) How many tube passes should be made.
(c) The required tube length per pass.

k
hi = 0. 023 Re0D.8 Pr 0.4
D NTU = − ln ( 1 − ε )