Experimental Calibration of Heat Transfer and Thermal Losses in a Shell-and-Tube Heat Exchanger

Abstract

Many commercial solar thermal power plants rely on thermal storage systems in order to provide a stable and reliable power supply. The heat exchanger control strategies, to charge and discharge the thermal storage system, strongly affect the performance of the power plant. With the aim of developing advanced control strategies, a dynamic model of a shell-and-tube heat exchanger is being developed. This heat exchanger belongs to the CIEMAT-PSA molten salt testing facility. The goal of this facility is to study thermal storage systems in solar thermal power plants. During experimental campaigns performance losses with respect to design performance were noticed in the heat exchanger. Therefore and in order to develop an accurate heat exchanger model, thermal losses as well as heat transfer correlations on both fluid sides have been calibrated against experimental data.

Operation and Training Tool for a Gas - Molten Salt Heat Recovery Demonstrator Facility

“…6). In order to calibrate and validate some of the developed dynamic models, before its final tuning in the Manchasol plant, the CIEMAT-PSA molten salt testing facility 5 was used as a mock-up test bench 6,7,8 . …”

Study on shell-and-tube heat exchanger models with different degree of complexity for process simulation and control design

“…In order to identify the origin of the performance detriment and to develop an accurate heat exchanger model, thermal losses as well as heat transfer correlations on both fluid sides were calibrated against experimental data. The applied methodology is explained in detail in [31].…”

“…As a result of the calibration process using experimental data as described in [31], the following Colburn j factor for thermal losses, eq. 26, was obtained.…”

“…27 obtaining (1792, 29.93). The calibration was performed using experimental data and the calibration process is described in [31], as a result the tube-side heat transfer coefficient in the QSS, DY and DYTC models can be calculated by means of eq. 24 and eq.…”

“…Shell-side heat transfer correlation. Shell-side heat transfer correlation was also calibrated for the QSS, DY and DYTC models as described in [31], therefore the shell-side heat transfer coefficient can be calculated by means of eq. 25 and eq.…”