Study the Effect of Inclined Baffles on Heat Duty for a Small Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger with Hot Tube Side Fluid Flow using CFD Approach

Abstract

The present work considers on convective coefficients of heat transfer for STHX for an inclined baffle. The work is undertaken using Flow Vision, a commercially available CFD code on a small STHX with inclined baffles having hot tube side liquid flow conditions and cold shell side liquid flow conditions. Four set of constant cold liquid flow conditions with 0.3kg/sec to 0.6 kg/sec are considered through shell compartments and a constant flow of 0.3 kg/sec for hot liquid is considered through the tubes. Heat transfer rate, overall heat transfer coefficients, pressure drops and temperatures at inlet and outlet nozzles on shell-side and tube side are studied. The results out of the work using CFD strategy is compared with the experimental work which is carried out for the same set of inlet temperatures, flow rates, and pressure conditions through shell compartments and tube side liquid flow. The CFD results are validated using the experimental output results. The validated results from the CFD analysis are compared with the theoretical results computed using the Bell-Delaware method for the same heat exchanger with zero-degree segmental baffles. The process carried out helps to realize the effects of baffle inclination on shell side convective heat transfer coefficient in a shell and tube heat exchanger. The temperature and velocity plots help to study the compartmental temperature, velocity and pressure distributions, including the inlet and outlet compartments.