HEAT EXCHANGERS

Design
Heating Water in a Counter-Flow Heat Exchanger
A counter-flow double-pipe heat exchanger is to heat water from
20°C to 80°C at a rate of 1.2 kg/s. The heating is to be accomplished
by geothermal water available at 160°C at a mass flow rate of 2 kg/s.
The inner tube is thin-walled and has a diameter of 1.5 cm. If the
overall heat transfer coefficient of the heat exchanger is 640 W/m2 ·
°C, determine the length of the heat exchanger required to achieve
the desired heating.
Assumptions
1 Steady operating conditions exist.
2 The heat exchanger is well insulated so that heat loss
to the surroundings is negligible and thus heat transfer
from the hot fluid is equal to the heat transfer to the
cold fluid.
3 Changes in the kinetic and potential energies of fluid
streams are negligible.
4 There is no fouling.
5 Fluid properties are constant.
 160℃
Properties: We take the
specific heats of water and 80℃
geothermal fluid to be 4.18
and 4.31 kJ/kg · °C, 125℃
respectively.
20℃

∆𝑇1 = 𝑇ℎ,𝑖𝑛 − 𝑇𝑐,𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 160 − 80 ℃ = 80℃

∆𝑇2 = 𝑇ℎ,𝑜𝑢𝑡 − 𝑇𝑐,𝑖𝑛 = 125 − 20 ℃ = 105℃
𝑄ሶ = [𝑚𝐶
ሶ 𝑝 𝑇𝑖𝑛 − 𝑇𝑜𝑢𝑡 ]𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 ∆𝑇1 − ∆𝑇2 80 − 105
𝑘𝑔ൗ 𝑘𝐽 ∆𝑇𝐿𝑀 = = = 92.0℃
∆𝑇 80
= 1.2 𝑠 4.18 ൗ𝑘𝑔 − ℃ 80 − 20 ℃ = 301 𝑘𝑊 ln( 1ൗ∆𝑇 ) ln( ൗ105)
2
Then the surface area of the heat exchanger is
Noting that all of this heat is supplied by the determined to be
geothermal water, the outlet temperature of the
𝑄ሶ = 𝑈𝐴𝑠 ∆𝑇𝐿𝑀
geothermal water is determined to be
𝑄ሶ 310000 𝑊
ሶ
𝑄 = [𝑚𝐶 ሶ 𝑝 𝑇𝑖𝑛 − 𝑇𝑜𝑢𝑡 ]𝑔𝑒𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝐴𝑠 = =
𝑈∆𝑇𝐿𝑀 (640 𝑊/𝑚2 · °𝐶)(92.0°𝐶)
𝑇𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝑇𝑖𝑛 − 𝑚𝐶
𝑄ሶ To provide this
2 much heat transfer surface area, the
= 5.11𝑚
ሶ 𝑝
301𝑘𝑊 length of the tube must be
𝑇𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 160℃ − = 125℃ 𝐴𝑠 = 𝜋𝐷𝐿
𝑘𝑔ൗ 𝑘𝐽
2 𝑠 4.31 ൗ − ℃
𝑘𝑔 𝐴𝑠 5.11𝑚2
𝐿= = = 108𝑚
𝜋𝐷 𝜋(0.015𝑚)
Performance
Effect of Fouling on the Overall Heat Transfer
Coefficient
A double-pipe (shell-and-tube) heat exchanger is
constructed of a stainless steel (k = 15.1W/m ·
°C) inner tube of inner diameter 𝐷𝑖 = 1.5 𝑐𝑚 and
outer diameter 𝐷𝑜 = 1.9 𝑐𝑚 and an outer shell of
inner diameter 3.2 cm. The convection heat
transfer coefficient is given to be ℎ𝑖 = 800𝑊/
𝑚2 · °𝐶 on the inner surface of the tube and
ℎ𝑜 = 1200𝑊/𝑚2 · °𝐶 on the outer surface. For
a fouling factor of 𝑅𝑓,𝑖 = 0.0004𝑚2 · °𝐶/𝑊 on
the tube side and 𝑅𝑓,𝑜 = 0.0001𝑚2 · °𝐶/𝑊 on Assumptions:
The heat transfer coefficients and the
the shell side, determine (a) the thermal fouling factors are constant and uniform.
resistance of the heat exchanger per unit length
and (b) the overall heat transfer coefficients, Ui
and Uo based on the inner and outer surface areas
of the tube, respectively.
 1 0.0004 𝑊ൗ 2
𝑅= + 𝑚 · °𝐶
(800 𝑊ൗ 2 )(0.0471 𝑚2 ) 0.0471𝑚2
Find: 𝑚 · °𝐶
a) R per unit length ln(0.019ൗ0.015) 0.0001 𝑊ൗ 2
+ + 𝑚 · °𝐶
b) Uo and Ui
2𝜋(15.1 𝑊ൗ 2 )(1𝑚) 0.0597𝑚2
𝑚 · °𝐶
1
+
(1200 𝑊ൗ 2 )(0.0597𝑚2 )
𝑚 · °𝐶
𝑅 = 0.0532 ℃ൗ𝑊
b) Knowing the total thermal resistance and the
a) The thermal resistance for an unfinned shell-
heat transfer surface areas, the overall heat
and-tube heat exchanger with fouling on both
transfer coefficient based on the inner and outer
heat transfer surfaces is given by:
surfaces of the tube are determined again from
1 1 1
𝑅= = = 1 1
𝑈𝐴𝑠 𝑈𝑖 𝐴𝑖 𝑈𝑜 𝐴𝑜 𝑈𝑖 = =
𝐷𝑜 𝑅𝐴𝑖 (0.0532 ℃ൗ )(0.0471 𝑚2 )
where ln( ൗ𝐷 ) 𝑅 𝑊
1 𝑅𝑓,𝑖 𝑖 𝑓,𝑜 1 𝑊
= 399 ൗ 2
= +
𝐴𝑖 = 𝜋𝐷𝑖 𝐿 ℎ=𝑖 𝐴𝜋𝑖 0.015𝑚 + 1𝑚 + 2 𝑚 · °𝐶
𝐴𝑖 2𝜋𝑘𝐿= 0.0471
𝐴𝑜 𝑚ℎ𝑜 𝐴𝑜
1 1
𝐴𝑜 = 𝜋𝐷𝑜 𝐿 = 𝜋(0.019) 1𝑚 = 0.0597 𝑚2 𝑈𝑜 = =
𝑅𝐴𝑜 (0.0532 ℃ൗ )(0.0597 𝑚2 )
Substituting, the total thermal resistance is 𝑊
𝑊
= 315 ൗ 2
determined to be 𝑚 · °𝐶
 Extended Surfaces
A hot surface at 100°C is to be cooled by attaching 3-cm-long, 0.25-
cm-diameter aluminum pin fins (k = 237 W/m ⋅ °C) to it, with a
center-to-center distance of 0.6 cm. The temperature of the
surrounding medium is 30°C, and the heat transfer coefficient on the
surfaces is 35 W/m 2 ⋅ °C. Determine the rate of heat transfer from
the surface for a 1-m × 1-m section of the plate. Also determine the
overall - effectiveness of the fins.
Assumptions
1 Steady operating conditions exist.
2 The temperature along the fins varies in one
direction only (normal to the plate).
3 Heat transfer from the fin tips is negligible.
4 The heat transfer coefficient is constant and
uniform over the entire fin surface.
h = 35 W/m2-°C 5 The thermal properties of the fins are
Tb = 100℃ constant
T∞ = 30℃ 6 The heat transfer coefficient accounts for the
k = 237 W/m-°C effect of radiation from the fins.
 Noting that the cross-sectional areas of the fins
are constant, the efficiency of the circular fins can
be determined to be

Properties: The thermal

conductivity of the
aluminum plate and fins is
given to be k = 237 W/m-°C
The number of fins, finned
and unfinned surface
areas, and heat transfer
rates from those areas are:
 The rate of heat transfer if there were no fin
attached to the plate would be:

Then the total heat transfer from the finned plate

becomes:

Then the fin effectiveness becomes: