Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala

Course Name: Heat Transfer Course Code: UME 712

HEAT TRANSFER
LABORATORY MANUAL

Department of Mechanical Engineering Heat Transfer Laboratory

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Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala

EXPERIMENT-8
1. OBJECTIVE

To determine the heat transfer rate, Logarithmic Mean Temperature Difference (LMTD) and
Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient for a Concentric Tube type Heat Exchanger (Counter-
Current Flow)

2. EQUIPMENT

The concentric tube heat exchanger consists of two coaxial tubes one inside the other
carrying fluids of different temperatures. Due to the temperature difference, heat will flow
from the hotter stream to the cooler one. This is the simplest form of the heat exchanger and a
design that may be successfully analyzed and described by empirical equations.

Two separate concentric tubes are arranged in series in a U format to reduce the overall
length and to provide a mid-position measuring point.
The heat exchanger is mounted on the H102 panel fascia and retained by locking pipe clips.

In normal operation, hot water from the heating tank and pump pass through the ‘HOT OUT’
braided hose and self-sealing coupling into the inner stainless tube. It then flows through the
heat exchanger and leaves via the ‘HOT RETURN’ braided hose. Coldwater flows from the
‘COLD OUT’ hose through the annulus between the clear plastic tube and the inner stainless
tube. With the hot water in the inner tube, losses from the system to the outside are
minimized while still allowing students to see the construction of the unit. As the cold stream
warms above the ambient temperature however there will be some external losses. 12mm
compression fittings provide a liquid seal between the stainless tubes and the outer annulus.
This also allows the stainless tubes to be removed for cleaning if necessary. The midway
points of both hot and cold streams are fitted with type K thermocouple sensors to measure
the stream temperatures. Miniature thermocouple plugs take these signals to the temperature
indicator and Data Logger (when HC102 upgrade fitted).
The hot hose terminates with a socket and the cold hose is a plug to prevent cross-connection.
Flow direction may be arranged for co-current (parallel) or counter-current (opposite
direction) of the Hot/Cold streams. Self-sealing couplings retain the water in both the hoses
and the heat exchangers. Changeover may be performed without stopping the pump or cold
flow, but operators should wear gloves for protection from hot surfaces. Reversing the cold
flow is the safer option.

Department of Mechanical Engineering Heat Transfer Laboratory

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 Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala

Schematic diagram and Actual setup and description

Hot inlet
Hot outlet

Cold inlet

Cold outlet

Outer tube(Acrylic)
Inner tube(stainless steel)

Fig 1: Concentric Tube type Heat Exchanger (Counter Current Flow)

Thermocouple Stations
Co-current and Countercurrent flow
Thermocouples sense the stream temperatures at the four
fixed stations: - T1 – Hot Water INLET to Heat
Exchanger T2 – Hot Water RETURN from
HeatExchanger
T3 – Cooling Water INLET to Heat Exchanger
T4 – Cooling Water RETURN from Heat
Exchanger, In addition, two plug-in
stations: - T5 – Hot Mid-position (for
Concentric Tube) T6 – Cold Mid-position
(for Concentric Tube)

All thermocouples are duplex sensors, the spare sensor is utilized when the HC102A
Data Acquisition upgrade is fitted.

Department of Mechanical Engineering Heat Transfer Laboratory

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Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala

CONCENTRIC TUBE HEAT EXCHANGER H102A

Inner Tube

Material Stainless steel

Outside Diameter 0.012m

Wall Thickness 0.001m

Outer Tube

Material Clear Acrylic

Inside Diameter 0.022m

Wall thickness 0.003m

Department of Mechanical Engineering Heat Transfer Laboratory

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Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala

The active Heat Transfer section

Length 2 X 0.3180m

Area 0.02198m2

3. OPERATING PROCEDURE
Turn on the ‘MAIN SWITCH’ and ‘HEATER SWITCH’
Set the hot water temperature controller to 60˚C.
Set the cold water flow rate Vcold to 15g/sec
Set the hot water flow rate V hot to 50g/sec.

Monitor the stream temperatures and the hot and cold flow rates to ensure these remain close to the
original setting. Then record the following:

T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, Vcold and V hot

Then adjust the ‘COOLING WATER FLOW CONTROL’ so that Vcold is approximately 30g/sec.
Maintain the Hot water flow rate at approximately 50g/sec.

Allow the conditions to stabilize and repeat the above observations.

The procedure may be repeated with different hot and cold flow rates and different hot water inlet
temperatures if required.

Department of Mechanical Engineering Heat Transfer Laboratory

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4. THEORY
A useful measure of the heat exchanger performance is the temperature efficiency.

The temperature change in each stream (hot and cold) is compared with the maximum temperature

T1
T5
T4
T2

T6

T3
T4

q Hot
T2
T1
Counter current flow
T3 q Cold
difference between the two streams. This could only occur in a perfect heat
exchanger of infinite size with no external losses or gains.

The power emitted from the hot stream Qe= VhotCphot(T1-T2) Watts

The power absorbed by the cold stream Qa= VcoldCpcold(T4-T3) Watts

Reduction in Hot fluid temperature Δt hot= T1 – T2 K

Increase in Cold fluid temperature Δt cold = T4-T3 K

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As the temperature difference between the hot and cold fluids vary along the length of the
heat exchanger, it is necessary to derive a suitable mean temperature difference that may be
used in heat transfer calculations. These calculations are not only of relevance in
experimental procedures but also of more importance in the design of heat exchangers to
perform a particular duty.

The derivation and application of the Logarithmic Mean Temperature Difference (LMTD)
may be found in most thermodynamics and heat transfer textbooks.

Counter current flow Co-current flow

The LMTD is defined as
𝑑𝑇𝑚𝑎𝑥 − 𝑑𝑇𝑚𝑖𝑛
𝐿𝑀𝑇𝐷 = 𝑑𝑇𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝑙𝑛 ( 𝑑𝑇𝑚𝑖𝑛 )

Hence from the above diagrams of temperature distribution for Counter current flow

(𝑇1−𝑇4)−(𝑇2−𝑇3)
𝐿𝑀𝑇𝐷 = 𝑇1−𝑇4
ln⁡( )
𝑇2−𝑇3
To calculate the overall heat transfer coefficient the following parameters must be used with
consistent units: -

̇
𝑄⁡𝑒
𝑈=
𝐴 × 𝐿𝑀𝑇𝐷
Where
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A Heat transfer area of the heat exchanger (m2)

Qe Heat emitted from the hot stream (Watts)
LMTD Logarithmic mean temperature difference (K)

The heat transfer area may be calculated from: -

𝑑𝑜 + 𝑑𝑖
𝑑𝑚 =
2
And 𝐴 = 𝜋𝑑m𝐿
Where
do Heat transfer tube outside diameter (m)
di Heat transfer tube inside diameter (m)
dm Heat transfer tube mean diameter (m)
L Heat transfer tube effective length (m)

Hence for the heat exchanger from the USEFUL DATA page.

0.012 + 0.010
dm = = 0.011m
2
A = π × 0.011 × 2(0.0138) = 0.02198⁡m2

5. OBSERVATIONS

Sample T1 T5 T2 T3 T6 T4 Vhot Vcold

No
Units °C °C °C °C °C °C Lts/sec Lts/sec
1
2
3
4

Sample No ΔThot ΔTcold Qe Qa ηcold ηhot ηmean

Units K K W W % % %
1

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2
3
4

Sample No LMTD U
Units K W/m2K-1
1
2
3
4

6. REPORT

A short-form report should be written. It should consist of the following

 The hand-out sheets

 Simple calculations, which should be fully and explained (include units)
 Test readings and calculated results
 Graphs of the results
 Discussion notes and comments on the experiments. These should include limitations
of the experiments, sources of error and suggestions for improvements to the equipment,
analysis of the results, and implications of the results. An explanation of why the
characteristics are as they are would be appropriate.

7. SUGGESTED READING

 Holman, J.P., Heat transfer, SI Metric Edition, Mcgraw-Hill Book Company,

Singapore, 1989.
 Incropera, F.P., and DeWitt, D.P., Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer, 3rd
Edition, John Wiley and Sons, Singapore, 1990.
 Kern, D.Q., Process heat Transfer, International Edition, McGraw-Hill Book Company,
Singapore, 1965.
 Perry, R.H., Green, D.W. and Maloney, J.O., Perry’s Chemical Engineer’s Hand Book,
6th edition, International Student Edition, Mc-Graw-Hill Book Company, New York,
1984.

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Sample Calculations

From the Hot stream:

From table 1 and 2 at T2=55.2oC

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ρhot = 0.9857 kg litre-1

Cp= 4.182 kJ kg-1 k-1

The power emitted from the hot stream Qe= VhotCphot(T1-T2) Watts

Qe= 17x 4.182x(58.6-48.3)=732.2682 Watts

From table 1 and 2 at T5=21.5oC

ρhot = 0.9980 kg litre-1

Cp= 4.181 kJ kg-1 k-1

The power absorbed by the cold stream Qa= VcoldCpcold(T4-T3) Watts

Qa= 17 x 4.181 x (21.5-16.0) = 390.9235 Watts

Department of Mechanical Engineering Heat Transfer Laboratory

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Hence for the test conditions the overall heat transfer coefficient:-

Qe
U=AxLMTD
732.2682⁡
U=
0.02198x34.2

=974.128 Wm-2K-1

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