Worked Example: Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Design

The operating conditions and core geometry of an oil cooler of an E-type split backing ring
floating-head exchanger, TEMA designation: AES, are specified in the following tables:

I- Process conditions:
Item Units Shell-side Tube-side
Fluid name -- Crude oil Water
Flow rate kg/s 100 122.4
o
Inlet& outlet C 150 & 100 25 to ?
temperature
Specific heat, CP J/kg.K 2845 4187
Dynamic viscosity, N.s/m2 4.E-3 6.9E-4
Thermal conductivity, k W/m.K 0.087 0.62
Density,  kg/m3 900 1000
Prandtl number, Pr -- 13.4 4.62
Fouling factor m2 K/W 9E-5 2.E-4
Maximum pressure loss Pa 75,000 50,000
2
Tube wall-resistance m K/W -- 6.8E-5

II- Mechanical design data:

Item Symbol/Description Units Value

Tubes: size & layout do, di, pitch, angle mm 25.4, 21.18, 31.75, 90o
Tube material 70/30 cupro-nickel -- --
Tube length L mm (required)
No of tubes/shell Nt -- (required)
No of tube passes Ntp --- 2
Shell: inner diameter Ds mm (required)
Baffles: ( central/end)spacing Lbc, (Lbi=Lbe) mm 0.5Ds/0.5Ds
Baffle thickness tbf mm 8
TEME designation AES -- --

Based on the input data listed in the above tables for the shell-and-tube exchanger, calculate:

a) The overall heat transfer coefficient U, considering (hsactual=0.6 hsideal).

b) The total number and length of tubes.
c) The inner diameter of the shell.
d) The total number of baffles.
e) Estimate the pressure losses in the tube and shell sides of the exchanger.

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Problem Solution
Heat Balance Equation:

m C  t

p c c ,o 
 t c ,i   m  C p  T
h h ,i  Th,o 

Water outlet temperature, Tc,o= 52.76 °C

Tube-Side Calculations:

1- Heat transfer coefficient, hi

Assume Vtube-side=1.0 m/s

Vt d i 1000 *1 * 0.02118
Re t    30696
 6.9 *10 4
k   0.62 
hi  0.0204 t  prt0.415 Re t0.805  0.0204 4.62 30696  4613 W/ (m2.oC)
0.415 0.805

 di   0.02118 

2- Number of tubes, Nt
 N
From continuity Equation inside tubes, m    ( d i2 ) t Vt
4 N tp
4m  N tp 4 *122.4 * 2
Nt    694 tubes (even number for two-tube passes)
d Vti
2
 *1000 * (.02118) 2 *1

Shell-Side Calculations

3-Inside Shell diameter, Ds

 CL
Ds2  N t  A1 / CTP  N t   PT2
4 CTP

1/ 2
4 CL 
Ds    N t  PT2 
 CTP 

For number of tube passes=2 CTP=0.9 (Accounting for incomplete coverage of the
shell by tubes)

For tube pitch angle =90o, CL=1

4 * 694 *1 * 0.03175 2 1 / 2
Ds  ( )  1.0 m
 * 0.9

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4- Heat Transfer Coefficient, hs

ms d o Ds  C  B
Re s  , As 
As  PT
ms=100 kg/s,   4 *10 3 N.s/m2

C=Clearance between adjacent tubes=PT-do =0.03175-.0254 =0.00635 m

B=Baffle spacing =0 .5 m, PT= Pitch size =0.03175 m, As=0.1 m2

100  0.0254
Re s   6350
0.1  4  10 3
a
 1.33 
J i  a1   Re s a2
 PT / d o 
From table 6.1: a1=0.107, a2=-0.266, a3=1.187, a4=0.370

a3
a =0.26
1  0.14  Re as 4

J i  10.6 *10 3
2/3
 m.   ks 
hs ,ideal  J i  Cp s   s   
 Cp    1170 W/ (m2.oC)
 As   s s 
hs  0.6  hs ,ideal

hs  702 W/ (m2 oC)

5- Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient, U

1 1
U   477 W/ (m2.oC)
Rtotal Ao 1  A 1 
  f i   o  Rwall    f o 
Ai  hi  Am  ho 

6- Mean Temperature Difference

Tm  F  TCF from chart; F=0.98  1.0

97.2  75
TCF   85.62 oC
97.2
n
75

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7- Heat Transfer Area

Q
A
U  Tm
Q  mCp s  Ts  14225 kW
14225  10 3
A  348.3..m 2
477  85.62

8- Shell or tube length

A  N t  d o 
A
  6.3...m
N t d o

Check Shell length/Shell Diameter

 s 6.3 
  6.3 , TEMA recommends that, 5 ≤ s ≤ 15
Ds 1 Ds
Therefore, Thermal Design is initially acceptable

9- Number of Baffles

s
Nb   1  12
B

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10- Pressure Losses

Tube-side Pressure losses

 LN tp V2
f  1.58n Re d  3.28
2
Pt   4 f  4 N tp  t t ,
 di  2
f  1.58n(30696)  3.28  5.88 10 3
2

Pt  10996...Pa  11..kPa

Shell-side Pressure losses

2
 m.   L
f  s  (  1)  1 Ds
  B 
Ps   
As
2  s De

b
 1.33 
f  b1   Re s b 2
 PT / d o 
b3
b
1  0.14Re s 
b4


4 PT  d o2 / 4
For pitch angle of 90o, De 
2

d o
From Table 6.1: b1=0.0815 , b2=0.022, b3=6.3, b4=0.378
De  0.025..m
b =1.303
f =0.107
Ps  29960..Pa  30..kPa

Comparing the maximum available pressure losses to the calculated ones:

Pt ,cal  11..kPa  50..Kpa
Ps ,cal  30..kPa  75..kPa

We conclude that the thermal and hydraulic design of this shell-and-tube heat
exchanger is acceptable.

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