Heat Exchangers Design

An air heater consists of a steel tube (k = 20 W/m⋅K) with an inner

and outer radii of r1 = 13 mm and r2 = 16 mm, respectively, and
eight integrally machined longitudinal fins (see figure below), each
of thickness t = 3 mm. The fins extend to a concentric tube, which
is of radius r3 = 40 mm and is insulated on its outer surface. Water
at a temperature of Tw,i = 90°C flows through the inner tube, while
air at Ta,i = 20°C flows through the annulus finned region formed
by the larger concentric tube.

Note that in the figure, Tw,i

= T∞,i and Ta,i = T∞,o.
 (a) Sketch the equivalent thermal circuit of the heater and relate
each thermal resistance to appropriate system parameters.

𝑟2
1 ln 1
′ ′ 𝑟1 ′ =
𝑅𝑤,𝑖 = , 𝑅𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙 = , 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑅𝑎,𝑜
2𝜋𝑟1 ℎ𝑖 2𝜋𝑘 𝜂𝑜 𝐴𝑜 ℎ𝑜
Where:
𝑁𝐴𝑓′
𝐴′𝑜 = 𝑁𝐴𝑓′ + 2𝜋𝑟2 − 𝑁𝑡 , 𝐴𝑓′ = 2 𝑟3 − 𝑟2 , 𝜂𝑜 = 1 − 1 − 𝜂𝑓
𝐴′𝑜
And: tanh 𝑚𝑙
𝜂𝑓 =
𝑚𝑙

Also 𝑚= ℎ𝑜 2 𝐿 + 𝑡 /𝑘𝑡𝐿, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙 = 𝑟3 − 𝑟2

(b)If for water flow, hi = 5000 W/m2⋅K, and for air flow ho = 200
W/m2⋅K, what is the heat transfer rate per unit length of this
exchanger?
The heat transfer rate per unit length of the exchanger is given by:
𝑇𝑤,𝑖 − 𝑇𝑎,𝑖
𝑞′ = ′ ′ ′ [𝑊/𝑚]
𝑅𝑤,𝑖 + 𝑅𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙 + 𝑅𝑎,𝑜
′ 1 −1
𝑅𝑤,𝑖 = = 2𝜋 × 0.013 × 5000 = 2.45 × 10−3 𝑚 ∙ 𝐾/𝑊
2𝜋𝑟1 ℎ𝑖
𝑟2 0.016
ln ln
′ 𝑟1 0.013
𝑅𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙 = = = 1.65 × 10−3 𝑚 ∙ 𝐾/𝑊
2𝜋𝑘 2𝜋 × 20
𝑚= ℎ𝑜 2(𝐿 + 𝑡)/𝑘𝑡𝐿 = 200 × 2 × (7 + 0.003)/20 × 0.003 × 7 = 81.667𝑚−1

And 𝑙 = 0.024𝑚
tanh 𝑚𝑙
𝜂𝑓 = = 0.49 → 𝜂𝑜 = 0.575
𝑚𝑙
′ =
1 −1
𝑅𝑎,𝑜 = 0.575 × 200 × 0.461 = 18.86 × 10−3 𝑚 ∙ 𝐾/𝑊
𝜂𝑜 𝐴𝑜 ℎ𝑜
 𝑇𝑤,𝑖 − 𝑇𝑎,𝑖
𝑞′ = ′ ′ ′ [𝑊/𝑚]
𝑅𝑤,𝑖 + 𝑅𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙 + 𝑅𝑎,𝑜
Heat Exchanger Sizing Problem: Ethylene glycol is heated from 20°C to 40°C at a
rate of 1.0 kg/s in a horizontal copper tube (k = 386 W/m⋅K; inner diameter di = 2.0
cm; outer diameter do = 2.5 cm) of a double-pipe heat exchanger. A saturated vapor
(@ Tg = 110°C) condenses on the outside-tube surface, and for which the heat
transfer coefficient (in kW/m2⋅K) is given by hg = [9.2/(Tg – Tw)0.25], where Tw is
the average outside-tube-wall temperature. What should be the length of this heat
exchanger (or length of the heated tube) to achieve the required heat duty? Take the
properties of ethylene glycol to be ρ = 1109 kg/m3, cp = 2428 J/kg⋅K k = 0.253
W/m⋅K, μ = 0.01545 kg/m⋅s, and Pr = 148.5.

The overall heat transfer rate can be determined from the ethylene
glycol flow condition as:
𝑻
𝑻𝒉 = 𝟏𝟏𝟎𝒐 𝑪

𝚫𝑻𝒐
𝚫𝑻𝒊

𝑻𝒄𝒐 = 𝟒𝟎𝒐 𝑪

𝑻𝒄𝒊 = 𝟐𝟎𝒐 𝑪 1.0 kg/s

𝟏 𝟐 𝑳
 Nu × k
h= = 1174.9W/m2 K
di
A finned-tube, single-pass, crossflow heat exchanger with both fluids unmixed, is
used to heat air with hot water. The total heat transfer rate is 200kW. The water
enters the tube at 85oC and leaves at 30oC, while the air enters the finned side at
15oC and leaves at 50oC. The overall heat transfer coefficient is 75W/m2K.
Calculate the surface area required.

The desired heat transfer area can be determined from:

𝑄
𝐴=
𝑈𝐹Δ𝑇𝐿𝑀
𝑻 𝑻𝒉𝒊 = 𝟖𝟓𝒐 𝑪

𝚫𝑻𝒊

𝑻𝒉𝒐 = 𝟑𝟎𝒐 𝑪
𝑻𝒄𝒐 = 𝟓𝟎𝒐 𝑪 𝚫𝑻𝒐
𝑻𝒄𝒊 = 𝟏𝟓𝒐 𝑪

𝟏 𝟐 𝑳
With:
𝑇𝑐𝑜 −𝑇𝑐𝑖 50−15
𝑃= = = 0.5
𝑇ℎ𝑖 −𝑇𝑐𝑖 85−15

𝑇ℎ𝑖 −𝑇ℎ𝑜 85−30

𝑅= = = 1.57
𝑇𝑐𝑜 −𝑇𝑐𝑖 50−15
It follows from figure that 𝐹 ~ 0.8, and:

Δ𝑇1 − Δ𝑇2 35 − 15
Δ𝑇𝐿𝑀 = = = 23.5𝑜 𝐶
Δ𝑇1 35
ln ln
Δ𝑇2 15

so

𝑄 200 × 103
𝐴= = = 141.2𝑚2
𝑈𝐹Δ𝑇𝐿𝑀 75 × 0.8 × 23.6