The productivity of shell and tube heat exchangers are governed by various geometrical parameters like tube diameter, tube thickness, tube length, tube pitch, tube layout, installation area and baffle spacing of the heat exchanger. The operational efficiency of heat exchangers is highly influenced by the characteristics of heat exchanger parameters. The exchanger efficiency gets trapped due to many incongruities’ effects like over-pressure, bio-fouling, chemical fouling and corrosion. The selection of optimum design configuration is essential to achieve higher operational efficiency for a heat exchanger. But the performance and reliability of the optimization process play a key role in selecting and deselecting significant and insignificant parameters, respectively. So, cognitive selection of parameters and henceforth a reliable optimization process is required to identify optimal design for a heat exchanger. Moreover, economic factors also contribute to attain a consolidated yield result for a heat exchanger. This research proposes an optimal configuration with the help of ensemble output obtained by multi-criteria decision making and nature-based optimization algorithm. It has been found that exchange efficiency in optimal configuration is boosted by 22% from prototype heat exchanger.