Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering -Structural Mechanics

January 2021

Heat Transfer Analysis on the

Applications to Heat Exchangers
Degree Project for Master of Science in Engineering
with an Emphasis on structural Mechanics

Jagadeesh Reddy Medapati

Raghu Lakshman Gundra

Faculty of Engineering, Blekinge Institute of Technology, 371 79 Karlskrona, Sweden

This thesis is submitted to the Faculty of Engineering at Blekinge Institute of Technology in
partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering
-Structural Mechanics. The thesis is equivalent to 20 weeks of full time studies.

The authors declare that they are the sole authors of this thesis and that they have not used
any sources other than those listed in the bibliography and identified as references. They further
declare that they have not submitted this thesis at any other institution to obtain a degree.

Contact Information:
Author(s):
Jagadeesh Reddy Medapati
E-mail: jamd19@student.bth.se

Raghu Lakshman Gundra

E-mail: ragu19@student.bth.se

University advisor:
Wureguli Reheman
Department of Mechanical Engineering

Faculty of Engineering Internet : www.bth.se

Blekinge Institute of Technology Phone : +46 455 38 50 00
SE–371 79 Karlskrona, Sweden Fax : +46 455 38 50 57
 Abstract

A heat exchanger is a device used to transfer thermal energy between two or more flu-
ids, at different temperatures in thermal contact. They are widely used in aerospace,
chemical industries, power plants, refineries, HVAC refrigeration, and in many in-
dustries. The optimal design and efficient operation of the heat exchanger and heat
transfer network plays an important role in industry in improving efficiencies and to
reduce production cost and energy consumption. In this paper, significance of shape
of inner pipe of double pipe heat exchanger was analyzed with respect to triangular,
hexagonal and octagonal shaped inner pipes. The performance of double pipe heat
exchangers was investigated with and without dent pattern using CFD analysis in
ANSYS and efficient heat transfer results are identified from CFD outputs. On ba-
sis of literature review, few factors influencing the efficiency of heat exchanger and
method to improve the efficiency are discussed.

Keywords: CFD anlysis, Heat exchangers, Heat transfer analysis, Heat equation
temperature, Temperature equilibrium.
 Acknowledgments

We express our warmest thanks to our supervisor Wureguli reheman, mechanical en-
gineering over the entire duration of the thesis for her valuable supervision, patience,
suggestions, and exceptional guidance. We wish to express our deep gratitude to
our parents, Naganna dora, Padmavathi and Raghavareddy, Padmaja, and to our
roommates for their enduring, unparalleled love and continual support. Finally, I
want to thank all my friends who were standing next to us. It helped us a lot to
complete our thesis through my good and bad times and made our thesis journey so
good.

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 Contents

Abstract i

Acknowledgments iii

1 Introduction 3
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.1 Tubular heat exchanger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2 Literature Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.3 Aims and Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.4 Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.5 Research Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.6 Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.7 Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2 Theory and related works 13

2.1 Principle of Heat Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1.1 Heat Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.2 Heat Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.3 One-Dimensional Heat Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.4 Three-Dimensional Heat Conduction Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.5 Multi-Dimensional Heat Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.6 Fluid kinematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.6.1 Continuity equation in cardesian coordinates. . . . . . . . . . 19
2.6.2 Reynold’s number. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.7 Computational fluid dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.7.1 Concept of computational fluid dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.7.2 Navier stokes equation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.7.3 Grids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

3 Numerical Method 28
3.1 Numerical Methods in Heat Conduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.1.1 Importance of Numerical Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.1.2 Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.1.3 Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.1.4 Flexibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.1.5 Modelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.1.6 Boundary Conditions and Meshing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

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4 Results 34
4.0.1 Influence of heat transfer in the presence of triangular inner pipe. 34
4.0.2 Influence of heat transfer in the presence of Hexagonal inner
pipe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.0.3 Influence of heat transfer in the presence of octogonal inner pipe. 37
4.0.4 Influence of heat transfer in the presence of dent to the inner
pipe of heat exchanger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

5 Conclusions and Discussions 43

6 Future works 45

A Supplemental Information 48

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 List of Figures

1.1 Heat exchanger flow configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1.2 Shell and tube heat exchanger with one tube pass.[2] . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3 Shell and tube heat exchanger with two tube pass.[2] . . . . . . . . . 5
1.4 Tube configuration used in shell and tube heat exchanger.[2] . . . . . 6
1.5 Single phase baffle.[2] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.6 Double phase baffle.[2] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.7 Rod baffle exchanger supported by four rodes.[2] . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.8 Tubes with triangular layout. [2] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.9 Assembly of double pipe heat exchanger. [2] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.10 Classification of heat transfer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

2.1 Graph illustrating sign convention for conduction heat flow. . . . . . 14

2.2 Direction of heat conduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.3 One-dimensional heat conduction through a volume element in a large
plate wall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.4 Three-dimensional heat conduction through a rectangular volume el-
ement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.5 Three dimensional fluid elements.[20] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.6 Flow chart of computational fluid dynamics.[4] . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.7 Grid domain[26] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.8 Structured grid and Unstructured grid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

3.1 Diagrammatic representation of dimension from numerical modelling. 30

3.2 Diagramic representation of dimension from dent model. . . . . . . . 31
3.3 Meshing for octagon and hexagon inner pipes of the double pipe heat
exchanger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.4 Meshing for triangular inner pipe of the double pipe heat exchanger. . 33
3.5 Meshing for dent model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

4.1 Temperature distribution along the length of the triangle shaped inner
pipe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4.2 Pressure distribution along the length of the triangle shaped inner pipe. 35
4.3 Temperature distribution of ethanol for triangular inner pipe. . . . . 35
4.4 Temperature distribution of water for triangular inner pipe. . . . . . 35
4.5 Temperature distribution along the length of the hexagonal inner pipe. 36
4.6 Pressure distribution along the length of the hexagonal inner pipe . . 36
4.7 Temperature distribution of ethenol for hexagonal inner pipe . . . . . 37
4.8 Temperature distribution of water for hexagonal inner pipe . . . . . . 37

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4.9 Temperature distribution along the length of the octogonal inner pipe. 38
4.10 Pressure distribution along the length of the octogonal inner pipe. . . 38
4.11 Temperature distribution of ethenol for octagonal shaped inner pipe. 38
4.12 Temperature distribution of water for octogonal shaped inner pipe . 39
4.13 Temperature between various pipe shapes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.14 temperature with dent along the length of the pipe. . . . . . . . . . . 40
4.15 Pressure distribution with dent along the length of the pipe. . . . . . 40
4.16 Temperature distribution for dent pattern along the length of the pipe. 40
4.17 Temperature distribution without dent along the length of the pipe. . 41
4.18 Pressure distribution without dent along the length of the pipe. . . . 41
4.19 Temperature distribution without dent pattern along the length of the
pipe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.20 Comparison of temperature distribution between with and without dent. 42

viii
 List of Tables

3.1 Geometric properties for numerical model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

3.2 Geometric properties for numerical model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.3 Material properties of numerical model for copper. . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.4 Material properties of numerical model for brass. . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.5 Material properties of numerical model for Ethanol. . . . . . . . . . . 32

ix
 List of Abbreviations

qk Rate of conduction.
T Temperature.
dT
dx
Temperature gradient.
a area.
k Thermal conductivity.
Ġ Rate of heat genearation per unit volume.
ġ Heat generation.
Q̇x Rate of heat conduction along x-axis
Δx Thickness of the element.
ΔE Rate of change of energy in element.
ρ Density.
c Specific heat.
ΔT Change in time.
v̇element Volume of the element.
Q̇x = Q̇y = Magnitudes of heat transfer in respective directions.
Q̇z
σxx Normal stress along x-axis.
σyy Normal stress along y-axis.
σzz Normal stress along z-axis.
xx Normal strain along x-axis.
yy Normal strain along y-axis.
zz Normal strain along z-axis.
γ Shear strain.
u Deflection.
 Strain tensor.
P Pressure.
r Radius.

1
σH Hoop stress.
d Inside diameter.
t Thickness.
Q Rate of flow.
Re Reynold’s number.
μ Dynamic viscosity.
Dh Hydraulic diameter of the pipe.
Pe Peclet number.
Sc Schmidt number.
Pr prandtl number.

2
Chapter 1
Introduction

1.1 Introduction
Industrial heat exchangers are industrial equipment that is designed to exchange heat
from one medium to another. The primary purpose of heat exchangers is heating
the element or cooling it down[22]. Within the industrial sector, cooling has a more
important function to prevent equipment from overheating. There are many types
of heat exchangers, each has its advantages and drawbacks. Heat exchangers have
a broad range of industrial applications[24]. They are used as air conditioning com-
ponents in various cooling systems and heating systems. In general, many industrial
processes need to be operated at certain degree of heat. For this, Great care must be
taken to maintain these processes at optimum temperature. Within industrial plants,
heat exchangers are highly required to keep machinery, chemicals, water, gas and the
other substances within a safe operating temperature. Heat exchangers are also used
to capture the excessive heat or steam, that is released as a byproduct during the
operation, So that heat can be put to better use elsewhere, thereby efficiencies are
improved.[16].

Different types of heat exchangers function in different ways, use different flow ar-
arrangements, equipment, and design features. One common thing in all heat ex-
changers is that, they all function to directly or indirectly expose a warmer medium
to a cooler medium. Heat exchangers are usually accomplished with a set of tubes
within some type of casing.
Heat exchangers are generally classified by following ways,

• Nature of the heat exchange process.

• The physical state of the fluid.

• Heat exchangers flow arrangements.

The heat exchanger classification method depends on, whether or not the substance
between which the heat is being exchanged come into direct contact with each other
or not, whether they are separated by a physical barrier such as the walls of their
tubes. In direct contact heat exchangers, the hot and cold fluid comes into direct
contact with each other within the tubes rather than on radiant heat or convection.
Direct contact is an extremely effective means of transferring heat since the contact
is direct, These Direct contact heat exchangers must function in a safe environment.

3
Direct contact heat exchangers are suitable if the hot and cold fluid have slight tem-
perature variation. When it comes to the in-direct contact heat exchanger, the hot
and cold fluids are physically separated from each other. In general, an indirect con-
tact heat exchanger will keep hot and cold fluids in a different set of pipes instead
of radiating energy and convection to exchange the heat. This is done to prevent
contamination of one fluid by the other.

Heat exchangers may also be classified based on the physical state of the hot and
cold fluid such as,

• Liquid → Gas.

• Liquid → Solid.

• Gas → Solid.

In some situations, immersible liquids may also exist that will not blend. Eg: Oil
and water.

The arrangement of fluids flow within the heat exchanger is another important
way of classifying heat exchangers. The three major categories are parallel flow,
Counterflow, and Crossflow. In the parallel flow heat exchanger, the hot and cold
fluid moves into the heat exchanger from the same end and flow parallel to each other
in the same direction. Although, these arrangements result in lower efficiency than
a counterflow arrangement, it allows achieving greater thermal uniformity across the
walls of the heat exchanger. In the counterflow heat exchanger, the hot and cold fluid
enters the heat exchanger from the opposite direction and flow towards each other.
The most commonly employed configuration of the flow is counter flow arrangements.
This arrangement exhibits the highest efficiency as it allows a greater amount of heat
transfer between fluids. In the cross-flow heat exchanger, fluids flow perpendicular
to one another. The efficiency of the heat exchanger which employs this flow type
falls between that of counter-current and co-current heat exchanger[5][25].

Figure 1.1: Heat exchanger flow configuration.

[25]

4
1.1.1 Tubular heat exchanger
Tubular heat exchanger is mostly build with circular tubes, elliptical or rectangular or
some other complex shape twisted tubes depending upon the application used. These
kind of heat exchangers are flexible in design and geometry and can easily change the
tube diameter, length and arrangement of flow. That’s why these heat exchangers
are considered over other heat exchangers. Tubular heat exchangers are preferred
for applications related to high pressure, where the pressure difference between the
fluids are high, these tubular heat exchangers are popularly used for liquid to liquid
and liquid to phase change heat transfer application. These heat exchangers are
popularly classified as shell and tube, double pipe and spiral tube exchangers. All
primary surface of heat exchangers are same, but finns may be constructed outside
or inside the tube.

Shell and tube heat exchangers.

These heat exchangers are generally built by bendling the round tubes in a cylindrical
shell in which tubes are aligned parallel to that of a axial to shell. One fluid flows
through the inner pipe and other fluids flow across and along the tube. The major
components of this heat exchanger are tube, shell, rare and head, front and head,
baffles and tube shells etc. Depending upon the desire heat transfer and pressure
drop performance, different internal construction is used in shell and tube exchanger.
Mostly, these exchangers are used to reduce thermal stress to prevent leakage and
ease of cleaning operating pressure and temperature to control corrosion.

Figure 1.2: Shell and tube heat exchanger with one tube pass.[2]

Figure 1.3: Shell and tube heat exchanger with two tube pass.[2]

Tubes
Round tubes in different shapes are used in shell and tube heat exchanger. Mostly,
the tubes are straight and U-shaped used in power industries. However, other shape

5
of tubes like signwave bend, J-shaped, L-shaped and inverted hockey stick are also
used in advance nuclear exchangers to tolerate large thermal expansion of the tubes.

Figure 1.4: Tube configuration used in shell and tube heat exchanger.[2]

Baffles
Baffles are commonly classified as transverse and longitudinal baffles. The purpose
of longitudinal baffles is to control the overall flow. Transverse baffles are used
to support the tube during assembly and operation and to direct a fluid in their
tube bundle approximately at right angle of the tube to achieve higher heat transfer
coefficients.

Figure 1.5: Single phase baffle.[2]

Figure 1.6: Double phase baffle.[2]

Tubes sheets
Tube sheets are used to hold tubes at the end. These tube sheets are designed in
such a way that a round metal plate with holes drilled through, for further desire
tube pattern, holes for the tight rods and bolt holes for flanging to the shell and
channel. To prevent the leakage of the shell at the tube sheets a clearance between
the tube holes and tube is used.

6
 Figure 1.7: Rod baffle exchanger supported by four rodes.[2]

Figure 1.8: Tubes with triangular layout. [2]

Double pipe heat exchanger

Double pipe heat exchanger is one of the simplest type of heat exchanger. In this heat
exchanger one fluid flows inside a pipe and the other fluid flows between the pipe and
other pipe that surrounds the inner pipe. Figure 4.9 shows the concrete structure
of the double pipe heat exchanger. In double pipe heat exchanger generally contour
flow direction is used for the higher performance at the surface area. These are very
easy to maintain as it is very easy to disassemble them for cleaning. These heat
exchangers are mostly suited when one or both of the fluids are at high temperature.
Double pipe heat exchanger is generally used for small capacity application where the
total heat transfer surface area required is 50m2 . These heat exchangers are bundled
with U-shaped tubes in a pipe so that, they can be used as segmental baffles and
hair pin or jacketed U-tube exchanger. In this thesis, we have concentrated on this
double pipe heat exchanger because of its vast usage in oil and gas industries and
in some other industrial sector. In this thesis, we had investigated various types of
tubes and dent pattern on the surface of inner tube to get proper idea on how heat
transfer rate varies from inlet to outlet. This idea was simulated using numerical
modelling in CFD[2].

Figure 1.9: Assembly of double pipe heat exchanger. [2]

7
1.2 Literature Review
A heat exchanger is a device that is used to pass thermal energy in between two
or more fluids, in-between fluid and solid, or between solid particles and fluid parti-
cles, at different temperatures at thermal contact. In General, applications of heat
exchangers include heating, cooling of the fluid stream, and evaporation or conden-
sation of various types of the fluid stream[24] . Heat exchangers are placed to reject
heat or distill, concentrate, crystallize, or control the fluid process.
In heat exchangers, heat transfer takes place in between fluid and separating
wall or into the outside of the wall in a transient manner. Fluids are separated by
a heat transfer surface and ideally, they do not mix or leak. These types of heat
exchangers are termed as direct heat transfer heat exchanger. The exchangers in
which intermittent heat exchange in between hot and cold fluid by transferring the
thermal energy and releasing it through the heat exchange surface are termed as in-
direct heat transfer heat exchanger. These types of heat exchangers generally have
problems of fluid leakage from one fluid to another fluid due to the phenomena of
valve switching or matrix rotation and due to pressure differences. In some cases the
fluids are not immeasurable, the separating wall may be eliminated, these types of
heat exchangers are known as direct contact heat exchangers.
Some of the commonly used heat exchangers are namely Shell and tube heat ex-
changers, Automobile radiators, Air-pre heaters, Cooling towers, Evaporators, and
Condensers. A heat exchanger can be constructed for various applications depend-
ing upon the requirements. For example, there could be internal sources of thermal
energy like electric heaters or nuclear fuel elements. In heat exchangers like boilers
and fired heaters, chemical reactions namely combustion is used for heat exchange.
Where as in inscribed surface exchangers and stirred tank reactors, mechanical de-
vices are used to exchange the heat. In conduction or heat pipe heat exchanger, heat
transfer is in between separating walls. Here the pipe does not act as a separating
wall but, allow the transfer of heat by conduction, evaporation, and conduction of
working fluid inside the heat pipe.
A new design of heat exchanger was proposed by Josua P.Meyer and Hilde van
der vyver regarding the increase in heat transfer area significantly using fractals.
The obtained results are investigated analytical, numerical and experimental meth-
ods. The results from fractal heat exchanger has a higher heat transfer to overall
volume rather than a coventional tube heat exchanger[15]. Hesham G. Ibrahim [11]
had analyzed forced convection with turbulent flow using imperical models and also
used numerical solutions from CFD analysis to examine turbulent flow pattern and
heat transfer from air walls in a horizontal pipe. Even though, we didn’t concen-
trate turbulant flow in our thesis, this paper helped us in understanding imperical
correlation of Nusselts number. A study was conducted by Mehrain Hashemian and
Samad Jafarmadar by introducing conical tubes instead of cylindrical tubes in order
to improve geometry of double pipe heat exchanger. These conical tubes are ex-
amined with nine different arrangements corresponding to different flow directions.
In this study effect of hydraulic, geometrical and thermodynamic characteristics are
studied. Finally, they concluded that there is a increase of fiftyfive percent in ef-
fectiveness and increament of forty percent in heat transfer[9]. A comprehensive
review on double pipe heat exchanger was done by Mohamad omidi, Mohamad ja-

8
 Figure 1.10: Classification of heat transfer.

fari. In this study, role of change in geometry shapes was studied in relation with
heat transfer rate and various heat transfer enhancement method are reviewed and
importance of nano fluid in double pipe heat exchanger was discussed in detail and
finally, mathematical correlation of nusselt’s number in pressure drop coefficient are
presented[17]. A study has been conducted by Amit rao and SV dingare regard-
ing the enhancement of heat transfer rate by introducing dimple on surface of heat
exchanger and various heat transfer argumentation techniques are studied[21]. An
experiment has been conducted by Ganesh V.wafelkar and Dr.L V kamble on triple
concentric heat exchanger with reference to double pipe heat exchanger. Triple pipe
heat exchanger provided larger heat transfer area as compared to double pipe heat
exchanger. To enhance effectiveness of heat exchanger, dimples have been introduced
onto the middle tube. Experimental investigation was carried on different flow rates
of hot and cold fluid and relationship between Nusselt number, friction factor and
heat exchanger effectiveness were studied[7]. An experimental study was conducted
by Pooja patil, Padmakar deshmukh on heat transfer coefficients in a circular tubes
fabricated with almond type dimples on the surface, the final results are compared
with basic plain tube. And results showed that dimple in circular tube has 66 percent
greater thermal performance factor than normal tube[19]. Heat transfer and pres-
sure drop are important parameters during the construction and they greatly effect
the performance of plate heat exchangers. The research performed by Vinay Patel
on a plate heat exchanger where CFD(computational fluid dynamics) computational
fluid dynamics applications are used to design the optimization of pasteurizer plant.
In this research CFD test results and analytical results are validated. Using these
results temperature distribution, flow combination and comparison of material ther-
mal conductivity are studied [18]. In Shell and tube heat exchangers design play a
crucial role in the performance of heat ex- changers. A research was conducted by
Santosh k regarding the numerical study of heat transfer enhancement in shell and

9
tube heat exchangers with the help of CFD analysis. Here the CFD analysis is car-
ried with baffles and without tabulator’s in the initial stages and design incorporated
with different designs of baffles and semi-circular tabulators in later stages. Finally,
the pressure drop, outlet temperatures, and heat transfer coefficients are validated
against theoretical results[10]. The double pipe heat exchanger is the common type
of heat exchanger, which are widely utilized in industrial applications the efficiency
of heat exchangers is examined by enhancement techniques in research performed by
Anton Gonez. Passive heat transfer enhancement methods are used to investigate
thermal performance is impacted. The inner pipe of the heat exchanger is modified
with a cross-section following the Koch snowflake fractal pattern. The performance
of the fractal heat exchanger is compared with the double pipe heat exchanger [8].
The borehole heat exchanger is popular in a wide range of industrial applications
because of its high efficiency, environmental conservation, and low maintenance cost
so many researches are conducted on borehole heat exchangers. Yong li, Jinfeng Mao
investigates the heat transfer among the legs of pipe presented inside of BHE (Bore-
hole Heat Exchanger). The transferred heat can either be ex-retracted or rejected
by the subsurface of two-leg pipes namely DLP (Downward leg of pipe) and ULP
(upward leg of pipe) presented inside the vertical BHE. The very small diameter
of the borehole(0.11 m to 0.22 m) may lead to the temperature difference between
DLP and ULP, which may eventually cause a thermal short-circuiting. The obtained
short-circuit was investigated with the 2-D model and then, A best-fit expression
of short-circuiting thermal resistance in dimensionless form is presented[14]. The
other author has done a heat transfer analysis of ground heat exchangers consisting
of inclined boreholes, this research was done by Ping Cui, Hongxing yang. In this
research, the author had analyzed the heat exchange using multiple inclined bore-
holes. First, the authors constructed a transient three-dimensional heat conduction
model that describes the heat exchange between the ground and the bore while deal-
ing with a single inclined line source. Then the authors studied the heat exchange
corresponding to multiple boreholes by superimposing the temperature ex- change
resulted from individual boreholes[3]. The design of heat exchangers is an important
role in smooth running of heat exchangers, so the construction of heat exchangers
should be based on experimental analysis using which optimum size of the parts like
coil pitch, coil diameter, and flow rate can be obtained. On this path, one research
was done by N Jamshidi, M Farhadi in which experimental apparatus and Taguchi
method is used to investigate the fluid flow effect and change in heat transfer because
of the geometrical parameters. In optimum condition, overall heat transfer coeffi-
cient of the heat exchangers are found. The contribution ratio obtained by Taguchi
method says that the shell-side flow rate, coil diameter, and tube side flow rate, and
coil pitch are the important design parameters in coil heat exchangers.[12].

1.3 Aims and Objectives

This thesis aims to investigate heat transfer analysis on applications to Double pipe
heat exchangers. Heat exchangers are widely used in refrigeration applications,
Aerospace, the Petrochemical industry, and various other fields. Different shapes
of inner pipe are analyzed during the operation of double pipe heat exchanger, where

10
the volume of inner fluid remains constant. Other aspect of the double pipe heat
exchanger is that we analysed dent on the external surface to the inner pipe. Here,
the temperature and pressure are analyzed with and without dent.

1.4 Strategies
The strategy of this master thesis is as follows
1. Objective results (data) without analysis and interpretation.
2. Objective analysis/interpretation of the results, that is based solely on the
collected data.
3. Interpretation of the results and analysis within the context of the body of
knowledge (external to your thesis).

1.5 Research Questions

1. How, the shape of the inner pipe influence the heat transfer in double pipe heat
exchanger?
2. How implementing of dent to the inner pipe of the heat exchanger influence
the heat transfer?
3. what factors influence the efficiency of the heat exchangers and what method
we can be used to improve them?

1.6 Hypothesis
1. Numerical modelling has been done in ANSYS, to estimate the transfer of
heat in double pipe heat exchanger with respect to different shapes for inner
pipe(Triangle, Hexagon, Octagon).
2. Numerical modelling is done to investigate the role of dent to the double pipe
heat exchanger.
3. The intensive literature review has been done by referring to various scientific
papers, articles, and journals. Various industrial applications were studied to
get a proper understanding of the factors influencing the efficiency of the heat
exchangers.

1.7 Tools
• ANSYS.
• MATLAB.
• NUMERICAL METHODS.

11
Chapter 2
Theory and related works

2.1 Principle of Heat Transfer

Heat transfer analysis is highly necessary to operate different mechanisms like Con-
vection, Conduction and Radiation. The principals of heat transfer were followed
while designing of heat exchangers and energy conversion systems. For our thesis,
we have considered the basic principles of heat transfer and some simple applications.

2.1.1 Heat Transfer

Conduction is a type of heat transfer mode in which heat is transferred in the opaque
solid medium under a certain temperature gradient, that exists in the particular
body. In general, heat is transferred from the high-temperature region to the lower
temperature region. The rate at which heat is transferred through conduction is
proportional to the temperature gradient times the area through which the heat is
transferred.
dT
qk ∝ A (2.1)
dx
Whereas,

qk = rate of conduction,

T=Temperature,

dT
dx
= temperaturegradient,

The actual rate of heat flow depends on the thermal conductivity, a physical
property of the medium. Therefore, the heat transfer expression is expressed as
dT
qk = −kA (2.2)
dx

13
 Figure 2.1: Graph illustrating sign convention for conduction heat flow.
[13]

Figure 2.2: Direction of heat conduction.

[13]

2.2 Heat Generation

Heat conduction analysis studies the medium in which electrical, nuclear or chemical
energy is converted into thermal energy. These conversion process is termed as heat
generation. The rate of heat generation in a medium will varies with respect to
the time as well as with respect to the position within the medium time. When
the variation of heat generation with the position is known, the total rate of heat
generation in a specific volume can be expressed as

Ġ = ġdV (2.3)
v

Where Ġ is the constant rate of heat generation per unit volume.

14
2.3 One-Dimensional Heat Equation
Let us consider, a metal plate in which heat conduction in one-dimensional geometry
by neglecting other directions (rectangular coordinate system). Suppose, consider
a thin element of thickness Δx in a rectangular plate. Assume, the density of the
plate is ρ, Specific heat is C and the area of plate to the direction of heat transfer is A.

The energy equation can be expressed as

Figure 2.3: One-dimensional heat conduction through a volume element in a large

plate wall.
[1]
   
Rate of heat conduction at x,y,z - Rate of heat conduction at x+Δ X + Rate
 
of heat generation inside the element = Rate of change of energy content of the

element
or

ΔE
Q̇x − Q̇x+Δx + Ġelement = (2.4)
Δt
The rate of energy generation within the element is expressed as,

ΔEelement = Et+Δt − Et = mC(Tt+Δt − Tt ) = pCAΔx(Tt+Δt − Tt ) (2.5)

Ġelement = ġVelement = g ȦΔx (2.6)

15
By substituting the above equations,

Tt+Δt − Tt
Q̇x − Q̇x+Δx + g ȦΔx = pCAΔx (2.7)
Δt
Dividing by AΔx,

1 Q̇x+Δx − Q̇x Tt+Δt − Tt

− + ġ = pC (2.8)
A Δx Δt

Taking limits as Δx → 0 and Δt → 0 gives,

 
1 ∂ ∂T ∂T
kA + ġ = pC (2.9)
A ∂x ∂x ∂t

Appling Fourier law of heat conduction

 
Q̇x+Δx − Q̇x ∂ Q̇ ∂ ∂T
limΔx = = − kA (2.10)
Δx ∂x ∂x ∂x

As the area is constant for plate,

Variable conductivity  
∂ ∂T ∂T
k + ġ = pC (2.11)
∂x ∂x ∂t

By reducing the above equation the thermal conductivity in practical application is

expressed as,
Constant conductivity
∂ 2T ġ 1 ∂T
+ = (2.12)
∂x2 k α ∂t

k
where α= pc , thermal diffusity.

Reducing the above equation, we get

∂ 2T ġ
2
+ =0 (2.13)
∂x k
Transient, no heat generation (ġ = 0).

∂ 2T 1 ∂T
2
= (2.14)
∂x α ∂t
∂
Steady state, no heat generation ( ∂t = 0, ġ = 0).

d2 T
=0 (2.15)
dx2

16
2.4 Three-Dimensional Heat Conduction Equation
Major heat transfer applications are approximated as being one-dimensional. In re-
quality, Complex material such as anisotropic as discussed above, where the property
of the material may undergo more than one-dimensional heat conductions. In these
conditions, we have to consider the heat transfer in all directions as well. In such
cases, heat conduction is said to be multi-dimensional.
Let us consider, a small rectangular element length Δx, width Δy height Δz.

Figure 2.4: Three-dimensional heat conduction through a rectangular volume ele-

ment.
[1]

Assume density of body as ρ, specific heat is c, the heat balance on element during
asmall-time interval Δt can be expressed
 as,
Rate of heat conduction at x,y and z - Rate of heat conduction at x+Δ x,y+Δ
   
y and z+Δ z + Rate of heat generation inside the element) = Rate of change

of the energy content of the element)
or
ΔEelement
Q̇x + Q̇y + Q̇z − Q̇x+Δx − Q̇y+Δy − Q̇z+Δz + Ġelement = (2.16)
Δt
As we are considering cubical element, the volume of the element is velement =ΔxΔyΔz,
the rate of heat generation within the element can be expressed as,

ΔEelement = Et+Δt − Et = mC(Tt+Δt − Tt ) = pCAΔxΔyΔz(Tt+Δt − Tt ) (2.17)

Ġelement = g V̇element = ġΔxΔyΔz (2.18)

17
By substituting the above equation, we get

Tt+Δt − Tt
Q̇x +Q̇y +Q̇z −Q̇x+Δx −Q̇y+Δy −Q̇z+Δz +ġΔxΔyΔz = pCΔxΔyΔz (2.19)
Δt
By dividing by Δx Δy Δz we get,

1 Q̇x+Δx − Q̇x 1 Q̇y+Δy − Q̇y 1 Q̇z+Δz − Q̇z Tt+Δt − Tt

− − − + ġ = pC
ΔyΔz Δx ΔxΔz Δy ΔxΔy Δz Δt
(2.20)
Consider the heat transfer area of the element for heat conduction in the x,y,z di-
rection are taken as Ax = Δy,Δz , Ay = Δx Δz and Az = Δx Δy. taking limit as
Δx,Δy,Δz and Δt→0 gives,
     
∂ ∂T ∂ ∂T ∂ ∂T ∂T
k + k + k + ġ = pC (2.21)
∂x ∂x ∂y ∂y ∂z ∂z ∂t

By applying Fourie’s law of heat conduction we get

  
1 Q̇x+Δx − Q̇x 1 ∂Qx 1 ∂ ∂T ∂ ∂T
limΔx→0 = = −kΔyΔz = k
ΔyΔz Δx ΔyΔz ∂x ΔyΔz ∂x ∂x ∂x ∂x
(2.22)
   
1 Q̇y+Δy − Q̇y 1 ∂Qy 1 ∂ ∂T ∂ ∂T
limΔy→0 = = −kΔxΔz = k
ΔxΔz Δy ΔxΔz ∂y ΔxΔz ∂y ∂y ∂y ∂y
(2.23)
   
1 Q̇z+Δz − Q̇z 1 ∂Qz 1 ∂ ∂T ∂ ∂T
limΔz→0 = = −kΔxΔy = k
ΔxΔy Δz ΔxΔy ∂z ΔxΔy ∂z ∂z ∂z ∂z
(2.24)
The general heat conduction equation in rectangle cordinate system, on reduction of
above equation we get,

∂ 2T ∂ 2T ∂ 2T ġ 1 ∂T
2
+ 2
+ 2
+ = (2.25)
∂x ∂y ∂z k α ∂t

Where α=k/ρ c , thermal diffusivity Reducing the above equation, we get

Steady state (poison’s equation)

∂ 2T ∂ 2T ∂ 2T ġ
2
+ 2
+ 2
+ =0 (2.26)
∂x ∂y ∂z k

Transient, no heat generation (diffusion equation )

∂ 2T ∂ 2T ∂ 2T ġ 1 ∂T
2
+ 2
+ 2
+ = (2.27)
∂x ∂y ∂z k α ∂t

Steady state, no heat generation ( Laplace equation )

∂ 2T ∂ 2T ∂ 2T ġ
2
+ 2
+ 2
+ =0 (2.28)
∂x ∂y ∂z k

18
2.5 Multi-Dimensional Heat Transfer
In general, heat transfer applications are divided into three types namely - dimen-
sional, Two-dimensional, and Three-dimensional, on basis of relative magnitudes of
heat transfer in two different directions. In the general case, the temperature distri-
bution along the medium at a certain time and heat transfer rate at a specific location
can be termed in three coordinate systems namely x,y,z in a rectangle. Whereas, in a
polar coordinate system the cylindrical coordinates at time and location are specified
as r,ψ and z.
The rate of heat conduction along with the specific medium in a specific direction is
proportional to the temperature difference across the medium and the area perpen-
dicular to the direction of heat transfer, but inversely proportional to the distance
in the direction. This is expressed in the differential form by Fourier’s law of heat
conduction for one-dimensional heat conduction is,
dT
Qcond = −kA (2.29)
dx
Generally, heat is transferred in the direction of decreasing temperature, and such,
the temperature gradient is negative when the heat is conducted in the positive x-
direction. The negative sign from the above equation specifies the heat transfer in the
positive x-direction as a positive quantity. In practical applications , the medium for
temperature distribution is 3-dimensional. The rate of heat conduction at a specific
point can be expressed with Fourier’s law as,
dT
Qn = −kA (2.30)
dx
In the rectangular coordinate system, the heat conduction vector can be expressed
as a component.
→
− →
− →
−
Q˙n = Q̇x i + Q̇y j + Q̇z k (2.31)
Here i, j, k are unit vectors and Qx , Qy , Qz are magnitude of heat transfer in respec-
tive directions.

The majority of engineering materials come under isotropic, which means they
consist of the same property in all directions. For, these kinds of materials, we
no need to consider all directions as the properties are the same. Whereas, there is
another type of material namely an-isotropic material such as the fibrous or composite
materials, these materials may change their property by the direction. In such cases,
the thermal conductivity must be expressed as a tensor quantity concerning the
direction.

2.6 Fluid kinematics

2.6.1 Continuity equation in cardesian coordinates.
The continuity equation states that("If no fluid is added or removed from the pipe
in any length then the mass passing across different sections remains same"). This

19
equation is based on principle of conservation of mass.
Let us consider, a fluid element in a control volume where, fluid element is in the
form of parallelopiped with sides dx,dy and dz as shown below,

Figure 2.5: Three dimensional fluid elements.[20]

Let us take,
ρ= mass density at a particular instant,
u,v,w= components of velocity at three surfaces of the parallelopiped fluid element.
Rate of mass of fluid at the entrance(ABCD)=ρ*area of ABCD*velocity at x direc-
tion.
Rateof massof f luidattheentrance(ABCD) = ρudydz (2.32)
Rate of mass of fluid at the exit(EFGH)

∂
= ρudydz (ρudydz)dx (2.33)
∂x
Mass accumulated per unit time due to flow in x-direction
 
∂
= ρudydz − ρu + (ρu)dx dydz (2.34)
∂x

Mass accumulated per unit time in Y-direction

∂
=− (ρv)dxdydz (2.35)
∂y

Mass accumulated per unit time in z-direction

∂
=− (ρw)dxdydz (2.36)
∂z
Net gain in fluid mass per unit along three dimensional coordinate system
 
∂ ∂ ∂
=− (pu) + (pv) + (pw) dxdydz (2.37)
∂x ∂y ∂z

20
Rate of change of mass in a control volume.
∂
= (ρdxdydz). (2.38)
∂t
substituting equations 2.37 and 2.38 we get,
 
∂ ∂ ∂ ∂
=− (pu) + (pv) + (pw) dxdydz = (ρdxdydz). (2.39)
∂x ∂y ∂z ∂t

On rearrangement of terms, above equation can be reduced as below

∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ρ
(ρu) + (pv) + (pw) + =0 (2.40)
∂x ∂y ∂z ∂t
This general equation of continuity in three-dimensional coordinate system is appli-
cable to any type
 of flow.

For steady flow ∂ρ
dt
= 0 , for incompressible fluid ρ is constant, the equation can be

reduced to
∂u ∂v ∂w
+ + =0 (2.41)
∂x ∂y ∂y
For two dimensional flow, the above equation(2.41) can be reduced to
∂u ∂v
+ = 0, (w = 0) (2.42)
∂x ∂y
For one-dimensional flow, we can reduce above equation
∂u
= 0, (v = 0, w = 0) (2.43)
∂x
On integration with respect to x, we obtain
u=constant,
The rate of flow under area a is Q=a.u= Constant for steady flow[20].

2.6.2 Reynold’s number.

Reynold’s number is a dimensionless quantity in fluid mechanics, which is helpful
in estimating the flow pattern in various fluid flow situations[20]. At low reynold’s
number, flow tends to move in a laminar pattern like a sheet. The flow is said to
be turbulent when the reynold’s number is high. Reynold’s number is also useful
in scaling of different sizes flow situations, such as between an aircraft model and
calculating fluid behaviour on bigger scale namely global air or water moments, me-
treological effects.

The applications of reynold’s numbers with respect to laminar and turbulent flow al-
lows scaling factor to be developed. Laminar flow occurs while the reynold’s number
is low and domination of viscous forces takes place. Whereas, turbulent flow occurs
while the reynold’s number is high and dominated by initial forces and results in

21
producing of insteabiliity and inflow.
Reynold’s number is defined as
uL ρuL
Re = = (2.44)
v μ
Where as,
Density of fluid =ρ,
Flow speed = u,
characteristic linear dimension =L,
Dynamic viscosity = μ,
Kinematic viscosity = v.

Reynold studies the condition, where the flow of fluid in pipe changes from lam-
inar flow to turbulent flow with the help of experiment. In this experiment, the
behaviour of water flow is examined under different flow velocities using a small
stream of dyed water introduce into the centre of clean water in a large pipe.
For fluid in a pipe or tube, the reynold’s number is defined as
uDH ρuDH ρQDH W DH
Re = = = = (2.45)
v μ μA μA
Where as,
Hydraulic diameter of the pipe =DH ,
Volumetric flow rate =Q,
Velocity of fluid=u,
Dynamic viscosity =μ,
Density of fluid= ρ,
Mass flow rate = W.

Reynold’s number relationship to other dimensionless parameter.

Peclet number is a dimensionless number, which is refers to the transport phe-
nomenon in a continuum. The ratio of the rate of advection of physical quantity
by the flow to the rate of diffusion of the same quantity is derived by an approximate
gradient.
The peclet number is derived as
advectivetransportrate
Pe = (2.46)
dif f usivetransportrate
Schmidt number(Sc) is a dimensionless parameter which is defined as ratio of mo-
mentum diffusivity and mass diffusivity. This parameter is used mostly when fluid
flows with simultaneous momentum and mass diffusion convection processes.
Lu
P eL = = ReL Sc . (2.47)
D
v μ viscousdif f usionrate
Sc = = = (2.48)
D pD molecular(mass)dif f usionrate

22
The Prandtl(Pr) defined as the ratio of momentum diffusivity to thermal diffusivity
μ
v momentumdif f usivity ρ cp μ
Pr = = = k
= (2.49)
α thermaldif f usivity cp ρ
k

2.7 Computational fluid dynamics

2.7.1 Concept of computational fluid dynamics
The simulation of fluid engineering systems using combination of mathematical mod-
elling and numerical modelling is known as computational fluid dynamics. CFD en-
ables engineer and scientists to perform various experiments in a virtual laboratory.
These numerical simulations of fluid flow helps in various sectors such as meteoro-
logical phenomenon, environmental hazard, combustion in automobile engine and
complex flow in furnace heat exchangers and chemical reactors. CFD gives an in-
sight into various flow pattern that are difficult, expensive, in few cases impossible
to study using experimental techniques. When compared with experiments simu-
lation are cheaper and results can be obtained faster and simultaneously various
phenomenons could be studied and monitored at same instant of time. The process
of computational fluid dynamics are shown in the figure below

Figure 2.6: Flow chart of computational fluid dynamics.[4]

2.7.2 Navier stokes equation.

Navier stokes equations are generally considered as governing equation in compu-
tational fluid dynamics. These equations are based on conservation law of physical
properties of fluids. Fluids have important properties such as velocity, pressure, tem-
perature and viscosity. The density of fluid is defined as mass per unit volume. If
the fluid is in-compressible then we can express density of fluid as below.
 
M kg
P = (2.50)
V m3

23
Other important properties of fluids is viscosity, it offers resistance to flow this vis-
cosity can be expressed as
 
Ns
μ= = [P osie] (2.51)
m3

After the conservation of mass momentum and energy equation, we can derive con-
tinuity equation and momentum equation as below

Continuity equation

Dρ ∂Ui
+ρ =0 (2.52)
Dt ∂xi

Momentum equation

∂Uj ∂Uj ∂P ∂τij

ρ + ρUi =− − + pgj (2.53)
∂t ∂xi ∂xj ∂xi
Where  
∂Uj ∂Ui 2 ∂Uk
τi j = −μ + + δij μ (2.54)
∂xi ∂xj 3 ∂xk
∂U
Change in energy with time=ρ ∂tj .
∂U
Momentum convection =ρUi ∂xij .
Surface force = − ∂x
∂P
j
.
∂τ[ ij]
Molecular−dependent momentum exchange = ∂xi
.
Mass force= pgj .

Energy equation

∂T ∂T ∂Ui ∂ 2T ∂Uj
ρcμ + ρcμ Ui = −P + λ 2 + −τ[ ij ] (2.55)
∂t ∂xi ∂xi ∂xi ∂xi
Where
Change in energy with time=ρcμ ∂T
∂t
∂T
Convective term=ρcμ Ui ∂x i
Pressure work =−P ∂U i
∂xi
2
Heat flux =λ ∂∂xT2 .
i
∂U
Irreversible transfer of mechanical energy into heat. =−τ[ ij ] ∂xij
For compressive fluid we can simplify aboove equation as follows

Continuity equation

∂Ui
=0 (2.56)
∂xi

24
Momentum equation
∂Uj ∂Uj ∂P ∂ 2 Uj
ρ + ρUi =− − μ 2 + pgj (2.57)
∂t ∂xi ∂xj ∂xi
The Navier stoke equation can be rewritten in simplified form or the general form as
below  
∂(ρΦ) ∂ ∂Φ
+ ρUi Φ − ΓΦ = qΦ (2.58)
∂t ∂xi ∂xi
On applying integration to Navier stoke equation, we obtain the following equation
 
∂
ΦdV = Φ.ni dS (2.59)
V ∂xi S
We multiply the volume and the value of centre of the control volume to approximate
the volume integral. The mass and momentum of control volume is approximately
as below     
∂ρΦ ∂Φ
dV + ρUi Φ − Γ .ni dS = qΦ dV. (2.60)
V ∂t S ∂xi V
 
m= ρdV ≈ ρp V, mu = ρi μi dV ≈ ρp μp V (2.61)
V V
The surface integral is approximated with pressure poles as below,

P dS ≈ Σk Pk Sk , k = n, s, e, w (2.62)
S
The variables are showed at the centre of control volume, So we need to interpolate
them to obtain Pk , which are located at the surface of control volume. Genrally there
are two kinds of interpolation namely upwind interpolation and central interpolation

Upwind interpolation
 
Ue = Up if (U.n)e > 0 (2.63)
 
Ue = UE if (U.n)e < 0 (2.64)

Central interpolation
xe − xp
Ue = UE λe + Up (1 − λe )λ = (2.65)
xE − xp

Navier stoke equations are analytical equations. Computer cannot understand them
So, we have to transfer these analytical equations into discreteized form. General
discreteization methods are finite difference, finite element and finite volume method.
If we use finite diffrence and finite element approach, we must control conservation of
mass, momentum and energy in manual manner, so finite volume method is preferred
to discreteize navier stokes equations. If navier stoke equation satisfied with respect
to control volume, then it will be automatically satisfies entire domain as well. That’s
why finite volume is preferred in computational fluid dynamics.

25
 Figure 2.7: Grid domain[26]

2.7.3 Grids
There are mainly three types of grids used in computational fluid dynamics they are

• Structured grids

• Unstructured grids

• Block structured grids

These type of grids are highly useful for simple domain, where all nodes contain same
number of elements around them, these grids are termed as structured grids. Un-
structured grids are widely used for complex domains where fine grids are required
at the complex shape region. Unstructured grids are suitable for all geometries. This
type of grids are widely used in CFD analysis. Block structured grids are the combi-
nation of structured and unstructured grids. At the beginning the domain is divided
into several blocks and then different structured grids are used in different blocks.

Figure 2.8: Structured grid and Unstructured grid.

26
Boundary conditions.
While solving the equation system, we need few boundary conditions, the common
boundary condition that are used in CFD are inlet, oulet boundary condition, No-slip
boundary condition and periodic boundary conditions.

27
Chapter 3
Numerical Method

3.1 Numerical Methods in Heat Conduction

While we are considering simple heat conduction applications that consist of simple
geometries with simple boundary conditions, which are easier to solve analytically.
But in practical day-to-day applications, we come across various complex geometries
and complex boundary conditions or variable properties which are very difficult to
solve analytically in such cases accurate approximate solutions can be obtained by
using computers with numerical methods. Analytical solution methods are applied
by solving the governing differential equation concerning the boundary conditions
these results in solution function for the temperature at every point of the medium.
Whereas, on another hand numerical method are applied by replacing differential
equations by a set of n algebraic equations for the unknown temperature at n selected
points in the medium, solutions of these equations results in temperature values at
those discrete points. There are various types of numerical methods for solving heat
conduction applications such as the finite differential method, finite element method,
the boundary element method, and energy balance method, etc. these methods have
their advantages and disadvantages in practical usage.

3.1.1 Importance of Numerical Methods

The advancement of high-speed computers and powerful software had a major im-
pact on engineering education. Engineers in the olden days must rely on analytical
skills to solve specific engineering problems. They must undergo complex training
in mathematics. But these days engineers have access to a tremendous amount of
computing power at their fingertips. In the analytical method, we have to follow
a pattern to solving the engineering problem and various geometries in asymmetric
but highly mathematical by deriving the governing differential equation, expressing
the boundary condition in proper mathematical form, and solving the differential
equation, and applying the boundary condition to determine the integration con-
stants. For example, the mathematical formulation of a one-dimension study state
condition in a sphere of radius r0 where the outer temperature is T1 with uniform
heat generation at a rate of ġ0
 
1 d 2 dT ġ0
2
r + =0 (3.1)
r dr dt k
dT (0)
= 0andT (r0 ) = T1 (3.2)
dr

28
 ġ0 2
T (r) = T1 + (r − r2 ) (3.3)
6k 0
With the help of the above equation, we can determine the temperature at any point
within the sphere by substituting the r coordinate of the point into the analytical
solution function. The analysis above didn’t require any mathematical complexity
beyond simple integration. These instructions show clearly the functional dependence
of temperature and heat transfer on the independent variable r.

3.1.2 Limitations
We can apply analytical solution methods for highly simplified applications in simple
geometries, the geometries must be in such a way that enters surface must be math-
ematically in a coordinate system by setting the variables equal to the constants.
Even minor complications in geometry make analytical solution methods difficult to
apply even in simple geometry heat transfer applications cannot be solved analyt-
ically unless the thermal conditions are simple. Analytical solutions are limited to
problems that are simple or can be simplified with reasonable approximations.

3.1.3 Framework
When we observe real-world problems, the solutions we obtain are solved using math-
ematical modeling, the degree of applicability depends on the accuracy of the model.
An approximate solution of the real-time model of a physical application is usually
more accurate than the exact solution of a mathematical model. While de-riving
an analytical solution from a physical problem, we try to oversimplify the problem
to make a mathematical model simple over an analytical solution. A mathematical
model is applied for a numerical solution is mostly represents the actual problem
better. Therefore, the numerical solution of engineering applications has a better
solution than expecting analytical solutions.

3.1.4 Flexibility
While observing engineering problems, we often require more parametric study to
understand some variables on the solutions to obtain the right set of variables. This
is an interactive process that would consume more time if we work by hand. Com-
puter and numerical methods are suitable for such calculations and many related
problems can be solved by minor modifications in input parameters or code. Today
any significant optimization studies in engineering are carried out with the help of
the power and flexibility of computers in numerical methods.

3.1.5 Modelling
Geometry of Finite Element Model
The main aim of this finite element model in ansys is to investigate the the heat
transfer in a double pipe heat exchanger. We have constructed a double pipe heat
exchanger, where the ethanol is flowing in the inner pipe of heat exchanger and the

29
water is flowing from the external pipe. To understand the heat transfer analysis,
we have considered three types of inner pipes namely triangular, hexagonal and
octagonal. Flow rate of 0.1 kg/sec and turbulent intensity of 5 percent of turbulent
viscosity ratio of 10 was considered, to investigate heat transfer.

Geometric Properties
The material is build using the below geometric properties for double pipe heat ex-
changer.

S.no Parameters Values/Specimen SI units

1 Metal Copper Cu
Pipe external di-
2 100 mm
ameter
Pipe internal di-
3 90 mm
ameter
Thickness of the
4 10 mm
pipe
Length of the
5 3250 mm
pipe

Table 3.1: Geometric properties for numerical model.

Figure 3.1: Diagrammatic representation of dimension from numerical modelling.

30
 The model is build using the above geometric parameter for dent model.

S.no Parameters Values/Specimen SI units

1 Metal Copper Cu
Length of inner-
2 750 mm
tube
3 Dent size 2 mm
Diameter of in-
4 16.5 mm
ner pipe
Length of exter-
5 450 mm
nal pipe

Figure 3.2: Diagramic representation of dimension from dent model.

Table 3.2: Geometric properties for numerical model.

Material properties

The specimen used to build this numerical model is copper, below are the material
properties of the specimen.

S.no Parameters Values SI units

1 Density(copper) 8960 kg/m3
Specific
2 376.812 j/kg-k
heat(copper)
Thermal
3 conductiv- 394 w/m-k
ity(copper)

Table 3.3: Material properties of numerical model for copper.

31
 S.no Parameters Values SI units
1 Density(Brass) 8730 kg/m3
Specific
2 920 j/kg-k
heat(Brass)
Thermal con-
3 109 w/m-k
ductivity(Brass)

Table 3.4: Material properties of numerical model for brass.

S.no Parameters Values SI units

Density(Ethanol)
1 790 kg/m3
Specific
2 2470 j/kg-k
heat(Ethanol)
Thermal
3 conductiv- 0.182 w/m-k
ity(Ethanol)
4 Mass flow 0.1 kg/sec

Table 3.5: Material properties of numerical model for Ethanol.

3.1.6 Boundary Conditions and Meshing

The numerical model is constructed by considering few boundary conditions and
parameters as discussed in above tables 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4. For this double pipe heat
exchanger, the external tube is made up of brass and the internal tube is made up of
copper. The ethanol flows from the inner pipe of the heat exchanger and the external
pipe is supplied with water. The temperature condition of ethanol was considered as
780 at inlet and the water temperature was considered as 100 at the inlet. Different
types of inner tubes are considered such as triangle, hexagon, octagon. These are
considered to investigate temperature change across the pipe length. Fine meshing
was done to produce accurate results.

Figure 3.3: Meshing for octagon and hexagon inner pipes of the double pipe heat
exchanger.

32
 Figure 3.4: Meshing for triangular inner pipe of the double pipe heat exchanger.

Other numerical model is constructed by employing dent to the surface of external

part of inner pipe in a double pipe heat exchanger. Heat transfer was analyzed
between, with dent and without dent.

Figure 3.5: Meshing for dent model.

33
Chapter 4
Results

4.0.1 Influence of heat transfer in the presence of triangular

inner pipe.

A double pipe heat exchanger was constructed by employing triangular shaped inner
pipe to investigate the heat transfer along the length of the heat exchanger. The
external tube was considered to be brass and the inner tube was considered to be
copper. Ethanol is the fluid that flows into the inner pipe of the double pipe heat
exchanger, and water was carried in external pipe. The temperature of ethanol was
considered to be about 780 c at the inlet of the tube and the water temperature
was considered to be 100 c at the inlet of the tube. After the simulation it was
observed that there is a decrease of 0.50 c temperature in inlet when compared to the
outlet. And the temperature of water gradually increases. A counter flow type of
heat exchanger was constructed in this simulation. Below are the counter plots for
temperature and pressure distribution.

Figure 4.1: Temperature distribution along the length of the triangle shaped inner
pipe.

34
Figure 4.2: Pressure distribution along the length of the triangle shaped inner pipe.

Figure 4.3: Temperature distribution of ethanol for triangular inner pipe.

Figure 4.4: Temperature distribution of water for triangular inner pipe.

4.0.2 Influence of heat transfer in the presence of Hexagonal

inner pipe.
Hexagon shaped inner pipe is used in construction of double pipe heat exchanger to
investigate the heat transfer along the length
35 of the heat exchanger. The specimens
like brass and copper are considered to construct the double pipe heat exchanger.
Where, the external pipe is made up of brass and inner pipe with copper. The tem-
perature of ethanol was maintained at 780 c at inlet, and the temperature of water
was maintained at 100 c at the inlet of the tube. After the simulation ethanol tem-
perature has gradually decreased from 351k to 316.52k. Below are the temperature
and pressure counter plots for hexagon shaped inner pipe.

Figure 4.5: Temperature distribution along the length of the hexagonal inner pipe.

Figure 4.6: Pressure distribution along the length of the hexagonal inner pipe

36
 Figure 4.7: Temperature distribution of ethenol for hexagonal inner pipe

Figure 4.8: Temperature distribution of water for hexagonal inner pipe

4.0.3 Influence of heat transfer in the presence of octogonal

inner pipe.

Octagonal shaped inner pipe was used to construct double pipe heat exchanger to
investigate the heat transfer across the length of the pipe. Metals like brass and
copper are used to construct these heat exchangers. The temperature of ethanol was
considered as 780 c at the inlet and 100 c for water at the inlet of the tube. After
simulation, it was observed that there is decrease in temperature from inlet (351k)
to outlet (319.84k).

37
Figure 4.9: Temperature distribution along the length of the octogonal inner pipe.

Figure 4.10: Pressure distribution along the length of the octogonal inner pipe.

Figure 4.11: Temperature distribution of ethenol for octagonal shaped inner pipe.

38
 Figure 4.12: Temperature distribution of water for octogonal shaped inner pipe

Comparison of temperature distribution along the length of the pipe of a

double pipe heat exchanger.

Figure 4.13: Temperature between various pipe shapes.

4.0.4 Influence of heat transfer in the presence of dent to the

inner pipe of heat exchanger.
Numerical simulation was conducted to a simple double heat exchanger model to
analyze the heat transfer and thermal hydraulic performance, when external surface
of inner pipe of heat exchanger is made up of dents as a pattern on the surface. Inner
pipe, where the hot fluid flows from one end to other end with a mass flow rate of
0.125kg/sec. The inlet temperature in inner pipe was considered to be 820 c and for
outer the cold fluid was considered to have mass flow of 0.215kg/sec and the inlet
temperature for the outer pipe was considered to be 320 c. From simulation that, we
observed that heat transfer rate of double pipe heat exchanger with dent pattern has
better heat exchange rate when compared to plain surface.

39
 Figure 4.14: temperature with dent along the length of the pipe.

Figure 4.15: Pressure distribution with dent along the length of the pipe.

Figure 4.16: Temperature distribution for dent pattern along the length of the pipe.

40
 Figure 4.17: Temperature distribution without dent along the length of the pipe.

Figure 4.18: Pressure distribution without dent along the length of the pipe.

Figure 4.19: Temperature distribution without dent pattern along the length of the
pipe.

41
Figure 4.20: Comparison of temperature distribution between with and without dent.

42
Chapter 5
Conclusions and Discussions

This thesis aims at analyzing heat transfer parameter under different shapes of tubes
such as triangular, hexagonal and octagonal. In this analysis standard shape of dou-
ble pipe heat exchanger was selected as shown in figure 3.1. Standard size of cross-
sectional area and dimension were considered as shown in table 3.1. In construction
of double pipe heat exchanger, brass is selected as specimen at the external pipe of
the heat exchanger due to its properties like machinability, ductility, wear resistance
and hardness. Copper is selected for inner pipe of heat exchangers due to its prop-
erties like high melting point, good thermal conductivity and ductile properties and
so on. The properties that are considered during their simulation are mentioned in
tables 3.2, 3.3. Ethanol is selected as hot fluid that flows through the inner pipe
because double pipe heat exchangers are heavily used in oil and gas industries when
compared to other sectors. Water is considered as fluid in external pipe to transfer
the heat from heat exchanger and in turn maintain the optimum temperature of the
inner fluid that flows through heat exchanger. The parameter that were considered
during the simulation of ethanol and water are mentioned in the table 3.4. Standard
realistical boundary conditions were considered where the temperature of ethanol was
considered as 780 c at the inlet and the water temperature was considered as 100 c at
the inlet. The volume that flow inside the tube was maintained constant across all
the pipes. We have observed that better heat transfer was found in octagonal shaped
inner pipe to the double pipe heat exchanger, when compared to other two(triangle,
hexagon), depending upon results from figures 4.1, 4.3, 4.5 and 4.7 and from the
contour plots we have concluded that the pressure distribution is very minimum in
octagonal shaped inner pipe of double pipe heat exchanger when compared to other
two different shaped pipes(triangle, hexagon), depending upon the results which are
obtained from the simulation of the figures 4.2, 4.4, 4.6. From this thesis, by ob-
serving the obtained results we came to a conclusion that by increasing the sides
of the pipe with maintaining constant inner volume of fluid that flows and constant
thickness of pipe, we can able to increase the heat transfer rate.

In this study we tried to investigate the various possible ways to increase heat trans-
fer in double pipe heat exchanger. In our investigation we found that introducing
dent pattern around the external surface of inner pipe of heat exchanger results with
optimal output. Because, manufacturing different shapes of pipes and constructing
them into the heat exchanger is very difficult in some cases. So, we have considered
general circular pipe and constructed dent pattern around the external walls of the
inner pipe of the heat exchanger. From our simulation results we have observed that

43
better heat transfer occurs in the presence of dent pattern around the inner tube
when compared to plain circular tube from figures 4.8 and 4.10. From the simulation
results it is evident that the maximum pressure from figures 4.9 and 4.11 occurs for
dent pipe model when compared to pipe without dent(Normal circular pipe).

The factors that influence the efficiency of the heat exchanger are the thermal
design, mechanical design, and even manufacturing design. The thermal design of
the heat exchanger includes heat transfer for a certain flow and specific temperature
of cold and warm fluids. Mechanical design includes a range of temperature and
pressure, thermal expansion, and corrosion resistive nature. After considering both
the thermal design and mechanical design, manufacturing design will be initiated by
selecting appropriate material, determining internal equipment and appropriate size
of tubes and shells are considered depending upon the application. The metal that
needs to be used is determined on basis of the following parameters like water quality
and how to operate and maintain heat exchanger design. The parameters that are
considered in regulating water quality are chloride level, dissolved oxygen, sulphide
level, pH value, and temperature of the fluid. Proper operation and maintenance
of heat exchangers increase longevity. All these maintenance results in increase of
production cost and in long run they are very beneficial. The most widely used
method to improve heat exchanger performance is online and offline cleaning. Online
cleaning involves protecting, faulting and scaling without shutting down the heat
exchanger or interrupting the operation of the heat exchanger. This online method is
widely used in industries where chemical treatment involves to prevent any reduction
in heat exchanger performance and increase the life of the tube. This online cleaning
technique consists of a recirculating ball type system and bracket system. Another
effective cleaning technique which is widely used to improve the heat exchanger
efficiency and reduce operational cost is the offline cleaning. This method is also
known as the pigging method. This technique involves a bullet-like substance which
is attached to each tube and pushed down the tube using high pressure. These
methods are widely used in chemical cleaning, hydro plasting, and hydro lancing.
The periotic usage of these methods helps in restoring the optimal efficiency in heat
exchangers before the scaling and faulting parameters impact the heat exchangers
efficiency[23][6].

44
Chapter 6
Future works

Every work can be improved from time to time with the available technology with
the best possible way. Due to present circumstances, we couldn’t able to do any ex-
perimental analysis, it would be good when we perform an experiment and analyze
the various constraints in real time practical experiment.

The parameters that can be introduced in future work are

• Studying different dimple pattern in analyzing heat transfer.

• Analyzing the flow of various mediums like liquid, semi- liquid and gases.

• Optimization of complex design with respect to particular industrial applica-

tions .

45
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Appendix A
Supplemental Information

48
Faculty of Engineering, Blekinge Institute of Technology, 371 79 Karlskrona, Sweden