PSG Institute of Technology and Applied Research

Neelambur, Coimbatore

Department of mathematics

Basics of heat exchangers and its type

Name: Ramanipriya. M
Area of Research : Fluid dynamics
OBJECTIVES :
 What is heat exchangers ?
 Main categories of exchanger
 Types of flow
 LMTD for heat exchanger analysis
 Heat exchangers – types
 Shell tube heat exchanger
 Plate heat exchanger
 Air cooled heat exchanger
 Application
What is a Heat exchangers ?
 What are heat exchangers for?
 Heat exchangers are practical devices used to transfer
energy from one fluid to another
 To get fluid streams to the right temperature for the next
process
– reactions often require feeds at high temp.
 To condense vapours
 To evaporate liquids
 To recover heat to use elsewhere
 To reject low-grade heat
 To drive a power cycle
 Main Categories of Exchanger

Heat exchangers

Recuperators Regenerators

Wall
Wallseparating
separatingstreams
streams Direct contact
 Recuperators/Regenerators
Recuperative ( Direct transfer)
Has separate flow paths for each fluid which flow
simultaneously through the exchanger transferring heat
between the streams
Regenerative (storage)
Has a single flow path which the hot and cold
fluids alternately pass through.
 Direct contact type heat exchangers
 Heat transfer between the cold and hot fluids through a direct
contact between these fluids.

 Examples: Spray and tray condensers , cooling towers

Equation of heat
exchanger
 Heat Exchanger
m m

H in H out

Considering the heat exchanger given in the figure the

continuous, steady-state heat duty is given by,

Q = m (Hout – Hin)
 Where

Q is the heat duty (rate of heat transfer)

m is the flow rate of the stream (mass or molar)

Hin is the enthalpy of the stream entering (per unit mass or

mole)

Hout is the enthalpy of the stream leaving (per unit mass or

mole)
The transport equation for heat exchange is expressed
as;

Q=U A ΔTm

Where,
U is the overall heat transfer coefficient

A is the area for heat transfer

ΔTm is the mean temperature driving force for heat

transfer.
 Types of flow

PARALLEL FLOW COUNTER FLOW

CROSS FLOW
 LMTD for heat exchanger analysis
COCURRENT FLOW
Q = U A ∆Tm (1)

For an elemental area dA,

dQ = U(∆T) (dA) (2)

where ∆T = Th −Tc
From heat capacity relations, for the
cold and hot fluids, we have
 dQ = m˙cCP,c dTc = Cc dTc (3a)

dQ = −m˙hCP,h dTh = −Ch dTh (3b)

where Cc = m˙cCP,c, and Ch = m˙hCP,h

∆T = Th −Tc

d(∆T) = dTh −dTc

Substituting for dTh and dTc from Eqn.(3), we

get

d(∆T) = = + )

Substituting for dQ from Eqn.(2), we get

d(∆T) = - U(∆T)(dA) + )
Rearranging, = U(dA) + )
For constant U, = -U + )
ln (4)
For the cold and hot fluids, we have

Q = Cc(Tc,out −Tc,in) = Cc(Tc2 −Tc1)

Q = (Th,in −Th,out) = (Th1 −Th2)

From these we get,

Using Eqn.(5) in Eqn.(4), we get

ln ( )

= [ (Th1 −Tc1) – (Th2 −Tc2)]

=)
 Q = UA (6)
Comparing Eqns.(1) and (6), we get
= LMTD
LMTD = Log Mean Temperature Difference
REMARKS :
 The final relation of counter-current flow is same as that
cocurrent. But are not the same.
 Flow Configuration

Counter flow
Parallel flow
Flow Configuration

Cross flow
 Heat exchangers – Types :
 Double pipe
 Air cooler heat exchangers
 Finned
 plate type
 Shell and tube (most common in chemical process
industries)
 Shell tube heat exchangers

Shell tube heat exchangers one flow goes along a

bunch of tubes and the other within an outer shell,
parallel to the tubes, or in cross-flow
 SHELL AND TUBE HEAT EXCHANGER
Main parts
1. Tubes

2. Shell

3. Baffles

4. Tube Sheets

5. Head

6. Tube Bundle
 This type of heat exchangers
consist of two main things as its
name implies Shell and Tubes.
 The shell is a large vessel with a
number of tubes inside it
Types Of Shell Tube Heat
Exchangers
ADVANTAGES :
 Pressure drop across a tube cooler is less.
 Less expensive as compared to plate type cooler.

DISADVANTAGES :
 Capacity of tube cannot be increased.
 Requires more space in comparison to plate cooler.
SHELL AND TUBE HEAT FXCHANGER
APPLICATION
 Cooling of hydraulic fluid.
 Cooling of engine oils.
 Cool or heat swimming pool water or charged air.
 Plate heat exchanger
It is corrugated plates are held in contact and the two fluids
flow separately along adjacent channels in the corrugation.
CONSTRUCTION
ADVANTAGES :
 Simple and compact in size
 Can be easily cleaned.
 Heat transfer efficiency is more.

DISADVANTAGES :
 Initial cost is high since titanium plates are
expansive.
 Finding leakage is difficult since pressure test is not
as ease as tube cooler.
PLATE HEAT EXCHANGER APPLICATIONS
 Water heaters
 Cooling tower isolation
 Free cooling
 Waste heat recovery
 Heat pump isolation
 Thermal (ice ) storage systems
 Air cooler heat exchanger
An air cooled heat exchange is simply a pressure vessel which
cools a circulating fluid within finned tubes by forcing
ambient air over the exterior of the tubes. A common
examples of an air coolers is a car’s radiator.
 Applications
Heat exchangers are widely used in industry both for cooling
and heating large scale industrial processes.
 Separation of air gases
 Hydrocarbon processing
 Natural gas liquefaction
 Industrial gas liquefaction ( oxygen, nitrogen, argon,
helium, etc.,).
 Waste water treatment
 Petroleum refining
REFERENCE :
1. Heat exchangers – NPTEL
2. Fundamentals of Heat Exchanger Design by Ramesh K.
Shah and Dusan P.Sekulic.
3. M.V.Joshi process equipment design ( fourth edition )
THANK
YOU