Review on the effect of heat exchanger tubes on flow behavior and heat/mass transfer of the bubble/slurry reactors

Bubble/Slurry bubble column reactors(BCR/SBCR)are intensively used as multiphase reactors for a wide range of application in the chemical,biochemical and petrochemical industries.Most of these applications involve complicate gas–liquid/gas–liquid–solid flow behavior and exothermic process,thus it is necessary to equip the BCR/SBCR with heat exchanger tubes to remove the heat and govern the performance of the reactor.Amounts of experimental and numerical studies have been carried out to describe the phenomena taking place in BCR/SBCRs with heat exchanger tubes.Unfortunately,little effort has been put on reviewing the experiments and simulations for examining the effect of internals on the performance and hydrodynamics of BCR/SBCR.The objective of this work is to give a state-of-the-art review of the literature on the effects of heat exchanger tubes with different types and configurations on flow behavior and heat/mass transfer,then provide adequate information and scientific basis for the design and the development of heat exchanger tubes in BCR/SBCR,ultimately provide reasonable suggestions for better comprehend the performance of different heat exchanger tubes on hydrodynamics.

A Comprehensive Review of the Influence of Heat Exchange Tubes on Hydrodynamic,Heat,and Mass Transfer in Bubble and Slurry Bubble

Bubble and slurry bubble column reactors(BCRs/SBCRs)are used for various chemical,biochemical,and petro-chemical applications.They have several operational and maintenance advantages,including excellent heat and mass transfer rates,simplicity,and low operating and maintenance cost.Typically,a catalyst is present in addition to biochemical processes where microorganisms are used to produce industrially valuable bio-products.Since most applications involve complicated gas-liquid,gas-liquid-solid,and exothermic processes,the BCR/SBCR must be equipped with heat-exchanging tubes to dissipate heat and control the reactor’s overall performance.In this review,past and very recent experimental and numerical investigations on such systems are critically dis-cussed.Furthermore,gaps to befilled and critical aspects still requiring investigation are identified.

Efficiency and Effectiveness Concepts Applied in Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Using Ethylene Glycol-Water Based Fluid in the Shell with Nanoparticles of Copper Oxide (CuO)

This article consists of an analytical solution for obtaining the outlet temperatures of the hot and cold fluids in a shell and tube heat exchanger. The system analyzed through the concepts of efficiency, effectiveness (ε-NTU), and irreversibility consisted of a shell and tube heat exchanger, with cold nanofluid flowing in the shell and hot water flowing in the tube. The nanofluid consists of 50% of ethylene glycol and water as the base fluid and copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles in suspension. The volume fractions of the nanoparticles range from 0.1 to 0.5. The flow rate in the nanofluid ranges from 0.0331 to 0.0568 Kg/s, while two mass flow rates, from 0.0568 and 0.5 Kg/s, for the hot fluid, are used as parameters for analysis. Results for the efficiency, effectiveness, irreversibility, heat transfer rate, and outlet temperatures for cold and hot fluids were obtained graphically. The flow laminarization effect was observed through the results obtained and had significant relevance in the results.

Experimental Study on Performance of Supercritical CO_2 Heat Exchanger with Four Different Inner Tubes

The experiment was conducted to investigate the heat transfer performance of supercritical CO_2 in a casing heat exchanger by comparing their heat transfer,entropy production unit number,non-dimensional entropy production rate and field synergy factor.The results show that both heat transfer and entropy production unit number in four tubes decrease with water temperature increasing.Heat transfer and entropy production unit number in multiple tubes( i. e.,triple straight tube and double helix tube) is higher than their single counterparts; the non-dimensional entropy production rate increases with water temperature. Non-dimensional entropy production rate of triple straight tube and double helix tube is far below the single tube. Field synergy factor of double helix tube is much higher than that of the triple straight tube under the same condition. Further experiment was carried out in double helix tube,under various CO_2 pressure and inlet water temperature,the results are analyzed and reported in this paper.

Effects of Heat Exchange Tube Structural Parameters on Performance of Vehicle Radiator

In order to improve the performance of vehicle radiators, a two-dimensional heat transfer steady-state model of the radiator was set up. The influence of the structural parameters (axial ratio) of the heat exchange tube on the windward side on the heat transfer performance of the radiator was studied. With the increase of the axial ratio of the heat exchange tube on the windward side, the heat exchange capacity of the heat exchange tube surface slightly decreases. The heat exchange area increases significantly, which increases the total heat exchange of the radiator and improves the heat transfer performance of the radiator. When the axial ratio increases from 1.0 to 2.0, the average surface heat transfer capacity decreases from 5664.16 W/m2 to 5623.57 W/m2.

Performance Assessment of Heat Exchangers for Process Heat Integration

Pinch Analysis is an attractive solution for reduction of thermal energy costs in thermo-chemical industries.In this approach,maximum internally recoverable heat is determined and a heat exchange network is designed to meet the recovery targets.The thermal performance of a heat exchanger over its lifetime is however a concern to industries.Thermal performance of a heat exchanger is affected by many factors which include the physical prop-erties of the shell and tube materials,and the chemical properties of the heat transferfluid.In this study,thermal performance of shell and tube heat exchangers designed to meet heat recovery targets in a Pinch Analysis study is simulated.The aim of this paper is to present predictions of thermal performances of shell and tube heat exchan-gers with different heat transferfluids and geometries as they undergo fouling degradation.Engineering approaches based on thermodynamic analysis,heat balance and Kern Design equations,as well as what-if simu-lation modeling are used in this work.Shell and tube heat exchangers were designed to meet internal heat recov-ery targets for three process plants,A,B and C.These targets were published in a separate paper.The effects of degradation of the tubes-due to incremental growth of fouling resistance-on thermal performance of the exchan-ger were simulated using Visual Basic Analysis(VBA).Overall,it was found that growth in fouling reduces ther-mal efficiency of shell and tube heat exchangers with an exponential relationship.An increase of 100%of fouling resistance leads to an average reduction of 0.37%heat transfer.Higher values of logarithmic mean temperature difference(LMTD)and higher ratios of external diameter to internal diameter of the exchanger tubes amplify the effect of fouling growth on thermal performance of the exchangers.The results of this work can be applied in pinch analysis,during design of heat exchangers to meet the internal heat recovery targets,especially in predicting how fouling growth can affect these targets.This can also be useful in helping operators of shell and tube heat exchangers to determine cleaning intervals of the exchangers to avoid heat transfer loss.

EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF LAMINAR AND LOW TURBULENT FLOW DISTRIBUTIONS IN INLET DIVIDING HEADER OF SHELL AND TUBE HEAT EXCHANGER

Flow distribution headers play a major role in heat exchangers.The selection of header diameter,branch pipe diameter,branch pipe spacing etc.is based on the designer＇s experience and general guide lines.The proper selection of the header dimensions will yield uniform flow distribution in heat exchangers,which in turn will enhance the heat exchanger efficiency.In this work,the flow distribution in branch pipes and the pressure variation across the branch pipes in laminar and low turbulence region is studied with two models of the inlet dividing headers.When the numerical analysis has been applied,its inability to predict the no flow condition through the branch pipes is revealed.The results are presented in the form of flow rate ratio through branch pipes and nondimensional coefficients across branch pipes which are useful to apply the existing mathematical models for the present experimental setup.

Enhancing Heat Transfer and Energy Storage Performance of Shell-and-Tube Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage Unit with Unequal-Length Fins

Previous studies in literatures adequately emphasized that inserting fins into phase change material is among the most promising techniques to augment thermal performance of shell-and-tube latent heat thermal energy storage unit.In this study,the novel unequal-length fins are designed from the perspective of synergistic benefits of heat transfer and energy storage performance,and the effects of arrangement,number and total length of unequal-length fins are numerically investigated.Results show that utilization of fins with ascending length,when short and long fins are located in the inlet and outlet of heat transfer fluid respectively,can further promote the heat transfer and energy storage performance compared with equal length fins,and a maximum 6.17%and 0.43%increment of heat transfer performance and stored energy is achieved in full melting time,respectively.The number of unequal-length fins plays a major role in the energy storage,and 18.95%and 0.91%improvement of heat transfer performance and stored energy is realized when equipped with 2 unequal-length fins.A 21.17%improvement of the heat transfer performance is obtained when the total length of unequal-length fins is 18 mm.The present study is helpful to make further efforts to enhance heat transfer and energy storage of shell-and-tube latent heat thermal energy storage unit with unequal-length fins.

Solidification in a shell-and-tube thermal energy storage unit filled with longitude fins and metal foam:A numerical study

In this study,an innovative thermal energy storage design method was developed by adding the combination of metal foam and fin to phase change materials(PCMs).A numerical model was built and verified based on the comparison among the present model prediction,experimental measurements,and numerical results in open lit-erature.To highlight the novel design method,four cases including fin-PCM,foam-PCM,fin-foam-PCM,and PCM unit were compared by means of solidification features.The temperature distribution,solidification front propa-gation,and buoyancy-induced convection in the liquid PCM were accounted for.Numerical results demonstrated that metal foam outperformed fin regarding the improvement on solidification phase change.The combination of foam and fin achieved the best performance,leading to a 90.5%reduction in complete energy release time in comparison with the PCM unit.The proposed design method provided reference potentials for advancing energy storage engineering.However,buoyancy-induced convection in the liquid PCM before solidification was harmful to the formation of solidification front and its movement.A maximal 11.5%prolonging time for the complete solidification was found.

Theoretical Analysis of Annular Elliptic Finned Tube Evaporative Condenser Based on Field Measurement

In this article,a new evaporative condenser with an annular elliptic firmed tube heat exchanger that includes a round inner tube and elliptic outer finned tube was designed and analyzed.The refrigerant flows between the round inner tube and the elliptic outer tube,and it simultaneously exchanges heat with the cooling water in the inner tube,the spray water,and the cooling air flowing past the outer tube.Using field measurement for the traditional round finned tube evaporative condenser in the Futong Metro Station of Line 14 in Beijing,China,the theoretical heat transfer performance of the annular elliptic finned tube evaporative condenser was analyzed and simulated.Compared with a round finned tube heat exchanger,the heat exchange capacity of the annular elliptic finned tube increased by 2.34%to 9.28%;the total heat transfer coefficient increased by 47.42%,and the power consumption of the fan in the air-conditioning system with an annular elliptic finned tube heat exchanger decreased by 11.18%to 14.65%.Therefore,the energy-saving performance and the heat transfer performance of the new annular elliptic finned tube heat exchanger were enhanced compared to the round finned tube heat exchanger.

Application of a Lumped Multi-Section Model for Analyzing the Thermal Performance of a Small-Scale Biomass Boiler

The stationary lumped-cell model was developed and used to simulate the thermal characteristics of domestic biomass boiler with helically coiled tube heat exchanger(HCHE).The device serves as the heat source for ORC(Organic Rankine Cycle)unit and utilizes the thermal oil as the medium transferring the heat to the unit.Most of studies available in the literature refer to the CFD simulations for water flow in tube coils or in one-or two-turn coil elements.These investigations are basically focused on the determination of Nusselt number.The proposed herein model aims at determining the thermal performance of flue gas-oil HCHE while providing low CPU time.To demonstrate the model possibilities,it was used to predict the flue gas temperatures at the inlet and outlet from the heat exchange zone,based on measurement data regarding the outlet temperature of thermal oil.Six test series were considered.The computation results appeared to be in satisfactory agreement with experimental results(the discrepancies do not exceed 12%).The investigations showed that the used approach may be recommended as an alternative method that allows for fast prediction of thermal parameters for units of complex geometries,in particular the multi-coil heat exchangers.