Unit 13: Fundamentals of Thermodynamics and Heat Engines

Unit code D/615/1487

Unit level 4
Credit value 15

Learning Outcome 3
Tutorial No. 3 – Heat Exchangers
Examine the principles of heat transfer to industrial applications

Principles of heat transfer:

 Modes of heat transmission, including conduction, convection & radiation

 Heat transfer through composite walls and use of U and k values
 Application of formulae to different types of heat exchangers, including
recuperator and evaporative
 Regenerators
 Heat losses in thick and thin walled pipes, optimum lagging thickness

This is the third tutorial in the series on heat transfer and covers some of the advanced theory of
convection. The tutorials are designed to bring the student to a level where he or she can solve
problems involving practical heat exchangers.

You should judge your progress by completing the self assessment exercises. On completion of this
tutorial the student should be able to do the following.

On completion of this tutorial the student should be able to do the following.

 Explain the logarithmic mean temperature difference.

 Describe the basic designs of heat exchangers.

 Parallel, Counter and Cross Flow Heat Exchangers.

 Explain the factors involved in heat transfer.

 Solve heat transfer problems for heat exchangers.

Note – a recuperator is another name for a heat exchanger in which heat is transferred from one
fluid to another through a barrier that separates the fluids. In this tutorial the 'term heat exchanger' is
preferred.

CONTENTS

1. Introduction
2. Heat Transfer through a Long Tube
3. Parallel Flow Heat Exchangers
4. Counter Flow
5. Cross Flow
6. Condensing and Evaporating
7. Fouling Factor
8. Thermal Ratio and Effectiveness

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1. INTRODUCTION

Most heat exchanges make use of forced convection. Heat exchangers use a variety of surfaces a
typical one being a tube with fins. The effectiveness of the heat exchanger depends on many things
such as the following.

 The shape of the surface.

 The texture of the surface.
 The orientation to the direction of flow.
 The properties of the fluids.

In outcome 2 you studied heat transfer coefficients for a variety of circumstances. This can be
applied to heat exchangers.

Many heat exchangers take the form of tubes with a fluid on both sides. The formulae used in
previous tutorials needs modifying to take account of the temperature change as the fluids travel
through the heat exchangers.

2. HEAT TRANSFER THROUGH A LONG TUBE

Consider a hot fluid (A) flowing through a long tube exchanging heat with a cooler fluid (B)
flowing in a parallel direction on the outside of the tube. As the fluids flow from inlet to outlet, fluid
(A) cools and fluid (B) is heated. The net heat exchange is Φ. The temperature of the two fluids
varies with the surface area or path length as shown.

Consider a short length with surface area dA. The temperature difference at any point is:-
ΔT = TB – TA.
The heat exchange is dΦ over this small area.
The heat lost or gained by a fluid over the small length is given by dΦ = mcpdT
m is the mass flow rate and cp the specific heat capacity and this is assumed to be constant in this
work.

dT is the change in temperature over the path length.

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Heat lost by fluid A
Φ
Φ

Heat gained by fluid B

Φ
Φ

Φ Φ

Integrate between the outlet and inlet and

Now consider the change in the temperature difference over the short path length.

In terms of the overall heat transfer coefficient dΦ = U dA ΔT.............(iii)

Equate (i) and (iii)

Integrating over the whole path

Substitute (iv) into (ii)

Φ

For the whole system we may use Φ = U A ΔTm where ΔTm is a mean temperature difference.

Comparing it is apparent that

This is called the logarithmic mean temperature difference. If we did the same analysis for the
fluids flowing in opposite directions, we would get the same result.
Next let’s discuss the basic types of heat exchangers.

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3. PARALLEL FLOW HEAT EXCHANGERS

The fluid being heated and the

fluid being cooled flow in the
same parallel direction as
shown. The heat is convected
to the wall of the tube, then
conducted to the other side and
then convected to the other
fluid. If the tube wall is thin,
the heat transfer rate is

A is the surface are of the

tubes.

The diagram shows typically

how the temperature of the two
fluids varies with the path
length. Fluid ‘B’ gets hotter
and fluid ‘A’ gets cooler so the
temperature difference is greatest at inlet.

4. COUNTER FLOW

The fluids flow in opposite but

parallel directions as shown. The
temperature of the fluid being
heated can be raised to near the
inlet temperature of the fluid being
cooled. This is important for
exchangers that heat up air for
combustion such as the exhaust gas
heat exchangers on gas turbines.
For a given heat transfer the
surface area is less. The heat
transfer formula is the same.

5. CROSS FLOW

The fluids flow at right angles to each other as

shown. This design is often the result of the
plant layout and is common in industrial boilers
where the hot gasses flow in a path normal to
the water and steam. (superheaters, recuperators
and economisers).

The tubes are often finned to improve the

efficiency. Sooty deposits on the outside are
more likely to be dislodged in this configuration. Large steam condensers also use this style.

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6. CONDENSING AND EVAPORATING

If one of the fluids is evaporating or condensing during the process the temperature is constant so
long as it does not completely evaporate or condense.

WORKED EXAMPLE No. 1

A heat exchanger transfers heat from hot carbon dioxide to superheated steam.

The steam flows inside tubes and the gas flows over the outside in a parallel direction.

The steam is at 200 bar pressure and is heated from 375oC to 500oC respectively.

The carbon dioxide is cooled from 750oC to 600oC and flows at 0.35 kg/s.

The tubes are thin walled and 40 mm diameter. The total length is 250 m.

Determine the following.

(i) The flow rate of the steam.

(ii) The logarithmic mean temperature.
(iii)The effective heat transfer coefficient for the unit.

SOLUTION

The mean temperature of the gas is (750 + 600)/2 = 675oC

From the fluids tables the specific heat is 1.11 kJ/kg K
Heat Transfer rate from gas = mg cp ΔT = 0.35 x 1.11 (750 - 600) = 58.275 kW

From the steam tables

The enthalpy of the steam at 200 bar and 500oC is 3239 kJ/kg = hs2
The enthalpy of the steam at 200 bar and 375oC is 2605 kJ/kg = hs1
Heat Transfer rate to steam = ms(hs2- hs1) = 58.275

ΔTi = 750 – 375 = 375

ΔTo = 600 – 500 = 100

A = πDL = π x 0.04 x 250 = 31.416 m2

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 WORKED EXAMPLE No. 2

An exhaust pipe is 75 mm diameter and it is cooled by surrounding it with a water jacket. The
exhaust gas enters at 350oC and the water enters at 10oC. The surface heat transfer coefficients
for the gas and water are 300 and 1500 W/m2 K respectively. The wall is thin so the temperature
drop due to conduction is negligible. The gasses have a mean specific heat capacity c p of
1130 J/kg K and they must be cooled to 100oC. The specific heat capacity of the water is 4190
J/kg K. The flow rate of the gas and water is 200 and 1400 kg/h respectively.

Calculate the required length of pipe for (a) parallel flow and (b) contra flow.

SOLUTION
Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient is U where

The wall is very thin so ignore conduction

PARALLEL FLOW
Heat lost by the gas is
Φ = mCpΔT = 200 x 1.13 (350 – 100)
Φ = 56500 kJ/h

Heat Gained by water

Φ = 56500 = mCpΔT
56500 = 1400 x 4.19 x (θ – 10)
θ = 19.63oC
ΔTi = 340 K ΔTo = 80.34 K
Φ

A = 0.349 m2 A = πDL L = 0.349/(π x 0.075) = 1.48 m

CONTRA FLOW

ΔTi = 330.4 K ΔTo = 90 K

Φ

A = πDL L = 0.34/(π x 0.075) = 1.44 m

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7. FOULING FACTOR

Many heat exchanger surfaces become fouled due to deposits forming on them such as lime scale
with hard water and sooty scale with burned gasses. This produces a resistance to the conducting
path and the temperature change through the wall of the tube is no longer negligible. To compensate
for this a heat transfer coefficient Uf used where Uf is equivalent to k/x. This is called the fouling
factor. This will vary with the type of deposit and the time taken to build up. Cleaning the tubes is
highly desirable. This especially applies to fossil fuel boilers in the water walls, superheaters and
feed water heaters. The feed water heaters in particular are subject to build up of soot on the cooling
fins and this is cleaned by mechanical scrapers and blasting with steam.

If the flow rates and inlet temperatures are unchanged, the heat transfer rate will be reduced and the
temperatures of both fluids change at exit. The equation for overall heat transfer coefficient is:

WORKED EXAMPLE No. 3

Repeat worked example No.2 but this time there is a fouling factor Uf of 120 W/m2 K

SOLUTION
Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient is U where

The wall is very thin and x very small so ignore the conduction term.

U = 81.08 kW/m2 K

PARALLEL FLOW

Heat lost by the gas is

Φ = mCpΔT = 200 x 1.13 (350 – 100)
Φ = 56500 kJ/h
Heat Gained by water
Φ = 56500 = mCpΔT
56500 = 1400 x 4.19 x (θ – 10)
θ = 19.63oC
ΔTi = 340 K ΔTo = 80.34 K
Δ Δ
Φ
Δ
Δ

A = 1.075 m2
A = πDL
L = 1.075/(π x 0.075) = 4.56 m

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 CONTRA FLOW

ΔTi = 330.4 K ΔTo = 90 K

Δ Δ
Φ
Δ
Δ

A = 1.047 m2 A = πDL L = 1.047/(π x 0.075) = 4.44 m

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8. THERMAL RATIO AND EFFECTIVENESS

These are terms often used with exhaust gas heat exchangers on gas turbines. Consider the heat
exchanger in the diagram. Ideally the T A = TB and TC = TB and the maximum possible heat transfer
would be obtained.

The effectiveness is defined as the ratio of the heat transfer to the air and from the hot gas. This is
not efficiency but simply a way to calculate the temperatures. The ratio may be given a symbol E.

If the specific heats and mass flow are the same (often assumed in a gas turbine problem) this
simplifies to

It is also often taken that TB = TC so it further reduces to

This is usually called the thermal ratio.

The same principles may be applied to recuperators that preheat the incoming air for combustion on
a boiler burning fossil fuel.

WORKED EXAMPLE No.4

A gas turbine exhausts gas at 950 K and this is passed through an exhaust gas heat exchanger to
the air being supplied to the combustion process. The air enters at 503 K. The effectiveness of
the exchanger is 0.88. The mass flow of both are the same but the specific heat of the air is
1.005 kJ/kg K and the specific heat of the exhaust gas is 1.15 kJ/kg K. Calculate the
temperature of the air entering the combustion chamber.

SOLUTION

Note that working in absolute temperatures is normal for gas turbines but working in oC gives
the same answers.

TD =894.4 K

In oC θ = 894.4 – 273 = 621.4 oC

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 SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE No.1

1. An oil cooler consists of a coiled tube inside a shell through which cooling water is circulated.
The oil flows at 0.17 kg/s. The inlet and exit temperatures are 80 oC and 30oC respectively. The
cooling water enters at 12oC and is required to be heated to 18oC. Calculate the flow rate of
water required.
The specific heat of water is 4.2 kJ/kg K and 2.2 kJ/kg K for oil. (0.742 kg/s)

2. A power station burns fossil fuel and the air for combustion is preheated by a recuperator. The
air enters at 5oC and is heated by hot flue gases entering at 180 oc and exiting at 120oC. The
effectiveness is 0.75. Calculate the temperature of the preheated air. Take the specific heats for
the air and burned gas as 1.005 and 1.105 kJ/kg K respectively. The mass flow of both is the
same.
(Answer 54.5oC)

3. A contra flow heat exchanger transfers heat from refrigerant 134a to water. The refrigerant
passes through tubes surrounded by a water jacket.
The refrigerant enters at 20oC as dry saturated vapour and leaves as wet vapour with dryness
fraction 0.6.
The water flows at 0.2 kg/s. It enters at 10oC and leaves at 16oC. The specific heat of water is
4190 J/kg K.
The tubes are thin walled and 15 mm diameter. The total length is 5 m.
(i) The heat transfer rate. (5028 W)
(ii) The flow rate of the refrigerant. (0.068 kg/s)
(iii) The logarithmic mean temperature. (6.548oC)
(iv) The effective heat transfer coefficient for the unit. (3.259 kW/m2 K)

4. A recuperator consists of a shell with parallel pipes 25 mm diameter. Hot gas enters the pipes at
420 oC and it is cooled by water flowing through the shell on the outside of the pipes. The water
temperature is 15oC at inlet. The surface heat transfer coefficients for the gas and water are 250
and 1700 W/m2 K respectively. The wall is thin so the temperature drop due to conduction is
negligible. The gases have a mean specific heat capacity c p of 1020 J/kg K and they must be
cooled to 150oC. The specific heat capacity of the water is 4200 J/kg K. The flow rate of the
gas and water is 0.055 kg/s and 0.4 kg/s respectively.

Calculate the heat transfer rate, the water exit temperature and the required length of pipe for
both parallel and contra flow configuration.

(Answers 15.147 kW, 24oC, 3.7 m and 3.65 m)

5. The parallel flow recuperator described in question 4 becomes fouled over a period of time
resulting in the gas temperature rising at outlet to 200 oC. If the water flow rate is unchanged,
calculate the new heat transfer rate, the exit temperature of the water and the fouling factor.
(12.34 kW, 22.35oC and 522.6 W/m2 K)

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