Design of Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Articulating Analytical and Numerical Simulation Solutions

Abstract

The thermal design of a shell and tube heat exchanger in this paper is performed by articulating analytical and computational numerical simulation solutions. The first uses the logarithmic mean temperature difference (LMTD) method to calculate the heat transfer and mass flow rates for a countercurrent arrangement of the heat exchanger and serves as input for the numerical simulations which are based on CDF computational fluid dynamics and are developed using SolidWorks software and its Flow simulation plug-in. Simulation results validate the analytical solutions and present the evolution of the temperatures and velocities of the hot and cold fluids inside the heat exchanger in the form of shear plots and flow paths, as well as the external shell temperature and the internal temperature of the tubes, baffles and separators are shown in surface plots.