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ENGINEERING CALCULATIONS • HEAT TRANSFER • KEY EQUATIONS FOR PROCESS ENGINEERS • PROCESS EQUIPMENT

Shell & tube heat exchanger equations and

calculations
 8 Min Read

 In this article, we will take a details look at equations required for shell and tube

Share This! heat exchanger sizing calculations and design.

Shell and tube heat exchangers are widely used and very popular in the process
industry, due to their versatility. Di몭erent types of shell and tube exchangers can be
easily con몭gured by changing the shell and tube arrangement.

INDEX

1. Shell & tube heat exchanger design procedure

2. Heat exchanger equations

3. Calculations for shell & tube exchanger design

Shell & tube heat exchanger design

procedure
Shell and tube heat exchanger design is an iterative process, which goes through the
following steps.

1. De몭ne process requirements for the new exchanger

2. Select a suitable type of shell and tube exchanger

3. De몭ne design parameters such as - number of tube passes, tube size, shell ID
etc.

4. Heat exchanger calculations and modeling to get the output - outlet hot/cold
몭uid temperature, heat transfer rate, pressure drop on shell/tube sides etc.

5. Check of the output is in accordance with the process requirements

If the output is as per process requirements and cost is within budget then
몭nalize the process design and prepare a heat exchanger speci몭cation sheet

If the design does not match with either the process requirement or if it is
over budget then go back to step 3, change the design parameters and repeat
x
this process again.
 There are a few equations that are very important for the calculations that we need
to perform during heat exchanger design process.

Shell & tube heat exchanger pres… Heat exchanger ef ciency

Shell and tube heat exchanger equations
      

Here is a list of all the important shell and tube heat exchanger equations.

Overall heat transfer equation

Overall heat transfer in any exchanger is governed by the following equation -

Equation-1

where, Q = overall heat transfer rate

U = Overall heat transfer coe몭cient
AOverall = Overall heat transfer surface ares
LMTD = Logarithmic Mean Temperature Di몭erence

LMTD equation
The logarithmic mean temperature di몭erence is an average quanti몭cation of the
temperature di몭erence between the shell and tube sides. It is calculated with the
following equation.

Equation-2

Where,
ΔT1 → the temperature di몭erence between hot and cold 몭uids at one end of the
heat exchanger
ΔT2 → the temperature di몭erence between hot and cold 몭uids at the other end of
the heat exchanger.

LMTD with the Correction factor

However the LMTD is valid only for heat exchanger with one shell pass and one tube
pass. For multiple number of shell and tube passes the 몭ow pattern in a heat
exchanger is neither purely co-current nor purely counter-current. Hence to account
for geometric irregularity, Logarithmic Mean Temperature Di몭erence (LMTD) has to
be multiplied by a Mean Temperature Di몭erence (MTD) correction factor (FT) to
obtain the Corrected Mean Temperature Di몭erence (Corrected MTD).

Equation-3

This correction factor calculator will help you to quickly calculate the LMTD
correction factor for a shell and tube exchanger with multiple shell or tube side
passes.

Number of tubes based on the heat transfer area

required
The number of tubes needed in shell & tube exchanger (NT) can be calculated using
the following equation, based on overall heat transfer area requirement.

Equation-4

Where, we get the AOverall (overall heat transfer area required) from the heat transfer
rate equation (Equation-1).
rate equation (Equation-1).
OD is the outside diameter of selected tube size
L is the total tube length

This equation is quite straight forward based on the geometry of the selected shell
and tube heat exchanger.

Tube side uid velocity

Tube side velocity is important for estimation of Reynolds number on the tubeside
and then for getting the heat transfer coe몭cient for the tube side 몭uid. We can use
the following equation for tube side velocity.

Equation-5

Where, m = mass 몭ow rate on the tube side

NP = Number of tube passes
NT = Number of tubes
ρ = Tube side 몭uid density
ID = Tube internal diameter

Further, the Reynold's number for the tube side 몭uid is calculated as,

Equation-6

Here, μ is the viscosity for tube side 몭uid

Overall heat transfer coef cient equation

When we have a handle on the heat transfer area (AOverall) and temperature
di몭erence (LMTD), the only remaining unknown in the heat transfer equation
(Equation-1) is the overall heat transfer coe몭cient (U). We can use the following
equation to get the overall heat transfer coe몭cient for a shell & tube exchanger.

Equation-7
Where, ho = Shell side heat transfer coe몭cient
hi = Tube side heat transfer coe몭cient
Rdo = shell side dirt factor
Rdi = tube side dirt factor
OD and ID are respectively the outer and internal diameters for the selected tube
size
Ao and Ai are outer and inner surface area values for the tubes
kw is the resistance value for the tube wall

Note, this overall heat transfer coe몭cient is calculated based on the outer tube
surface area (Ao). So it must be multiplied by the Ao value for using in the overall
heat transfer equation.

Shell & tube heat exchanger calculations

We already saw that the design of a shell and tube heat exchanger is an iterative
process. Often, engineers prefer to use a heat exchanger design software to create a
heat exchanger model. You can then use this model to simulate the heat exchanger
performance and to verify if it will meet your process requirements.

However, if you decide to manually perform the heat exchanger sizing calculations,
here are some calculators and tutorials that can help you.

Heat exchanger calculators

Note all of the following calculators are for demo. To access the actual working
calculators, you will need to create a login on EnggCyclopedia.

1. Here's a shell & tube heat exchanger sizing calculator to help you calculate the
required heat transfer area based on inlet/outlet temperature values on shell
and tube sides. This calculator is for sizing the tubeside 몭ow based on a 몭xed
shell side 몭ow. Other required inputs are - 몭ow rate, density, viscosity, speci몭c
heat values for 몭uids on shell and tube sides.

2. This other calculator for shell side 몭ow will help you calculate the required
surface area as well as the shell side 몭ow, when you have 몭xed conditions on
the tube side. Other required inputs are - 몭ow rate, density, viscosity, speci몭c
heat values for 몭uids on shell and tube sides.

3. This quick LMTD calculator helps to quickly get LMTD value for an exchanger.

4. Then there is another calculator for LMTD correction factor.

5. Apart from these, you will also need to calculate the pressure drop on the shell
and tube sides for your process datasheet. This calculator is for shell side
pressure drop calculation.

6. You can use this calculator to determine tubeside pressure drop.

Apart from these calculators, you can always use a heat exchanger design
software to build a model of your heat exchanger design and then to simulate its
performance.

Tutorials for shell & tube exchanger calculations

Here are some step by step guided tutorials about how to use those calculators for
shell & tube heat exchanger calculations. In these tutorials, we will make use of the
shell & tube heat exchanger calculations. In these tutorials, we will make use of the
shell & tube heat exchanger equations discussed above.

1. Calculation of overall heat transfer coe몭cient

2. Calculation of insulation thickness for furnace wall

3. LMTD calculation tutorial

4. Calculating LMTD when the formula fails

5. Tutorial - Heat Exchanger shellside pressure drop calculation

6. Tutorial - Heat Exchanger tubeside pressure drop calculation

Recommended steps
Here are some recommended steps to use the heat exchanger design equations -

1. Fix the inlet/outlet temperature values

2. Calculate LMTD

3. Select a shell and tube heat exchanger (TEMA) tube

4. Decide on shell and tube geometry

5. Calculate heat transfer area based on selected geometry (AOverall)

6. Get the overall heat transfer coe몭cient (U), using a suitable empirical correlation
for given 몭uid - for example, Sieder-Tate equation

7. Calculate the overall heat transfer rate (Q), using Equation-1

8. Check of Q matches with the heat lost/gained via temperature change on the hot
and cold side. This is the basic energy balance on shell / tube side 몭uids.

9. Check the pressure drop on shell and tube sides. Does is match with the
allowable pressure drop as per process requirements?

10. If the design is adequate as per process requirements, check the tentative
material costs. Are they within budget?

11. If either of the design or budget checks fail, go back to step 4 and repeat the
process till you get a satisfactory shell & tube heat exchanger design.
 Tips and pointers for heat exchanger calculations
The shell side ba몭es are used to promote cross몭ow and enhance the heat
transfer between the two 몭uids. The spacing between shell side ba몭es has an
important impact on the degree of heat transfer. You can use these guidelines to
select the optimal shell side ba몭e spacing. It is generally recommended to
consider ba몭e spacing between 0.3 to 0.6 times of shell ID, as per the TEMA
standards.

Heat exchanger approach temperature is an important factor in몭uencing the

design of an exchanger. It is advisable to carefully consider the selected utility
and corresponding approach temperature, before actually proceeding with the
sizing calculations.

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