Process Heat Transfer

ENCH3113
Chapter 7

Dr
Rajan
 Chapter 7
Fundamentals of Boiling Heat
Transfer
R. W. Serth, “Process Heat Transfer: Principles
and Application”, Academic Press, 2007. (ISBN-13:
978-0123971951)

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 Boiling Heat Transfer
• A boiling fluid consists of a two-phase mixture of vapor
and liquid.

• When such a fluid flows through a tube, a number of

distinct flow regimes can occur depending on the flow
rate and the relative amounts of vapor and liquid
present.

• Two-phase flow is thus more complex than single

phase flow, and special methods are needed to
calculate the pressure drop in equipment handling
boiling fluids.

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 Pool Boiling

• Pool boiling refers to vaporization that takes

place at a solid surface submerged in a
quiescent liquid.

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Boiling Regimes

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 Nucleate Boiling
• The boiling curve is a plot of surface heat flux versus excess
temperature.

• Point A on the curve marks the onset of nucleate boiling

(ONB). At lower excess temperatures, heat transfer occurs by
natural convection alone.

• Nucleate boiling exists between points A and C on the curve.

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 Boiling Regimes
• Two different boiling regimes can be distinguished in this
region. Between points A and B, the boiling is characterized
by the formation of isolated vapor bubbles at nucleation
sites dispersed on the solid surface.

• Bubble growth and detachment result in significant fluid

mixing near the solid surface that greatly increases the rate
of heat transfer.

• In this regime, heat is transferred primarily from the solid

surface directly to the liquid flowing across the surface.

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 Boiling Regimes
• As the heat flux increases beyond point B, the number of
active nucleation sites and the rate of vapor formation
become so great that bubble interference and coalescence
occur.

• The vapor leaves the solid surface in jets or columns that

subsequently merge and form large slugs of vapor. The high
rate of vapor formation begins to inhibit the flow of liquid
across the solid surface, causing the slope of the boiling curve
to decrease.

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 Boiling Regimes
• An inflection point occurs at point P; here, the heat-transfer
coefficient reaches a maximum.

• The heat flux continues to increase between points P and C

since the increase in temperature driving force more than
compensates for the decreasing heat-transfer coefficient.

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 Transition Region
• The heat flux attains a maximum, called the critical
heat flux, at point C. At this point, the rate of vapor
formation is so great that some parts of the surface are
covered by a continuous vapor film.

• Although the vapor film tends to be unstable, breaking

up and reforming at any given point, the fraction of the
solid surface covered by vapor continues to increase
from point C to point D.

• This region, in which the heat flux decreases as ∆Te

increases, is referred to as the transition region.

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 Film boiling
• The heat flux reaches a minimum at point D,
the so-called Liedenfrost point, where the
entire solid surface is covered by a vapor
blanket.

• Beyond this point, heat is transferred from the

solid surface across the vapor film to the
liquid. Hence, this regime is called film boiling.

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 Reboilers & Vaporizers – Boiling
Regimes
• Most reboilers and vaporizers are designed to operate
in the nucleate boiling regime.

• Although film boiling is sometimes employed, the

much higher temperature driving force (corresponding
to a much lower heat-transfer coefficient) in this
regime generally makes it unattractive compared with
nucleate boiling.

• The transition region, with its unusual characteristic of

decreasing heat flux with increasing driving force, is
always avoided in equipment design.

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Chapter 7 Reboilers

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 Reboiler
• A reboiler is a heat exchanger that is used to
generate the vapor supplied to the bottom
tray of a distillation column.

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 Reboiler:
• Reboiler is a vaporizing
exchanger used to
supply the heat
requirement of a
distillation process as
vapors at the bottom of
distillation column.

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 Why Reboiler design is complicated?
i. Distillation bottom liquids are often mixtures having substantial boiling
ranges. So physical properties exhibit large variations

ii. Thermodynamic calculations are required to determine the phase

compositions and other properties within the reboiler.

iii. A zone or incremental analysis is generally required for rigorous

calculations.

iv. Two-phase flow occurs in the boiling section of the reboiler

v. Circulation rate is determined by the hydraulics in both the reboiler and

the piping connecting the distillation column and reboiler. Hence, the
reboiler and connecting piping must be considered as a unit.

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 Types of Reboilers
• Kettle reboilers
• Vertical thermosyphon reboilers
• Horizontal thermosyphon reboilers
• Internal reboilers

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 Kettle Reboiler:
Kettle type, in which boiling
takes place on tubes
immersed in a pool of
liquid; there is no
circulation of liquid through
the exchanger. This type is
also, more correctly, called
a submerged bundle
Reboiler.

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 Advantages:
• Relatively easy to design.
• Simple piping.

Disadvantages:
• Not suitable for foaming liquids
• Not suitable for fouling liquids
• They have relatively lower heat transfer coefficients.

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 Vertical Thermosyphon Reboiler:

The vertical
thermosyphon is usually
a conventional 1-1
exchanger. Upper tube
sheet is placed close to
the liquid level of the
bottoms in the distilling
column.

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 Advantages:
• Higher heat transfer coefficient.
• Used for fouling liquids.

Disadvantages:
• Require higher head room.
• Design procedure is slightly difficult as compared to
Kettle Reboiler.

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 Horizontal Thermosyphon Reboiler:
All the liquid from the bottom tray
flows to the reboiler.

None of the liquid from the

bottom of the tower flows to
the reboiler.

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 Advantages:
• No head room is required.
• Easily maintained than vertical.

Disadvantages:
• More complex pipe-work
• Requires large plot area
• High structural costs

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 Internal Reboiler:
Tube bundles are inserted
in the distillation column
and steam is used as
heating media.

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 Advantages:
• No ground area separately required.
• Low capital cost.

Disadvantages:
• Does not give sufficient heat transfer area to fulfill the
requirement.

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 Choice of Type:
The choice of the best type of Reboiler for a given duty
will depend on the following factors:
• 1. The nature of the process fluid, particularly its
viscosity and propensity to fouling,
• 2. The operating pressure: vacuum or pressure.
• 3. The equipment layout, particularly the headroom
available.

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 Selection
• In some applications the choice of reboiler type is clear-cut.
For example, severely fouling or very viscous liquids dictate
a forced flow reboiler.

• Similarly, a dirty or corrosive heating medium together with

a moderately fouling process stream favors a horizontal
thermosyphon reboiler.

• In most applications, however, more than one type of

reboiler will be suitable. In these situations the selection is
usually based on considerations of economics, reliability,
controllability, and experience with similar services.

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