Heat transfer enhancement of finned shell and tube heat exchanger using Fe_(2)O_(3)/water nanofluid

Heat transfer mechanisms and their thermal performances need to be comprehensively studied in order to optimize efficiency and minimize energy losses.Different nanoparticles in the base fluid are investigated to upgrade the thermal performance of heat exchangers.In this numerical study,a finned shell and tube heat exchanger has been designed and different volume concentrations of nanofluid were tested to determine the effect of utilizing nanofluid on heat transfer.Fe_(2)O_(3)/water nanofluids with volume concentration of 1%,1.5% and 2% were utilized as heat transfer fluid in the heat exchanger and the obtained results were compared with pure water.ANSYS Fluent software as a CFD method was employed in order to simulate the mentioned problem.Numerical simulation results indicated the successful utilization of nanofluid in the heat exchanger.Also,increasing the ratio of Fe_(2)O_(3) nanoparticles caused more increment in thermal energy without important pressure drop.Moreover,it was revealed that the highest heat transfer rate enhancement of 19.1% can be obtained by using nanofluid Fe_(2)O_(3)/water with volume fraction of 2%.

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.

Effects of R134a Saturation Temperature on a Shell and Tube Condenser with the Nanofluid Flow in the Tube Using the Thermal Efficiency and Effectiveness Concepts

The work’s objective is to analyze the influence of the saturation temperature of the R134a refrigerant on the thermal performance of a shell and tube type condenser, with water and aluminum oxide (Al2O3) nanoparticles flowing into the tube. For analysis, the heat exchanger is subdivided into three regions: subcooled liquid, saturated steam, and superheated steam. The shell and tube heat exchanger assumed as the basis for the study has 36 tubes, with rows of 4 tubes in line and three passes into the tube in each region. The parameters used to analyze the performance are efficiency and effectiveness, through variations of quantities such as saturation temperature, the nanofluid’s mass flow rate, fraction in the nanoparticles’ volume, and the number of passes in the tube in each region of the heat exchanger. The obtained results demonstrate that the efficiency is relatively high in all the analyzed situations. In each saturation temperature, the effectiveness can be increased by introducing fractions of nanoparticles in the water or increasing the number of passes in the tube.

Design of Portable Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger for a Solar Powered Water Distiller

This study presents theoretical considerations and results of a portable shell and tube heat exchanger in a solar water distiller system. The device is composed of a glass heat exchanger, which served as a condenser for vapor condensing which were produced in black paint solar absorber. It was also composed of a tank for water source and a tank for produced distilled water. Shell and tube was designed and simulated using an implicit numerical scheme. Simulation results showed that accumulated mass water greatly depended on the inlet vapor temperature and volume, heat exchanger material, coolant water temperature and volume. Thus, changing the material from stainless steel to glass in the same condition （vapor temperature, vapor volume, coolant temperature and coolant volume）. These inexpensive shell and tube heat exchangers permitted to produce 40 litre/day, distilled water from vapor with 378 K inlet temperature in atmosphere pressure. If inlet pressure increases, vapor temperature will decline and thereupon, heat exchanger＇s efficiency tangibility will increase.

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.

Velocity Profiles between Two Baffles in a Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger

Heat exchangers are extensively utilized for waste heat recovery,oil refining,chemical processing,and steam generation.In this study,velocity profiles are measured using a 3D particle image velocimetry(PIV)system between two baffles in a shell and tube heat exchanger for parallel and counter flows.The PIV and computational fluid dynamics results show the occurrence of some strong vectors near the bottom.These vectors are assumed due to the clearance between the inner tubes and the front baffle.Therefore,the major parts of the vectors are moved out through the bottom opening of the rear baffle,and other vectors produce a large circle between the two baffles.Numerical simulations are conducted to investigate the effects of the baffle on the heat exchanger using the Fluent software.The k-εturbulence model is employed to calculate the flows along the heat exchanger.

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.

Optimal design of heat exchanger header for coal gasification in supercritical water through CFD simulations

Heat exchangers play an important role in supercritical water coal gasification systems for heating feed and cooling products. However, serious deposition and plugging problems always exist in heat exchangers. CFD modeling was used to simulate the transport characteristics of solid particles in supercdtical water through the shell and tube of heat exchangers to alleviate the problems. In this paper, we discuss seven types of exchangers CA, B, C D, E, F and G）, which vary in inlet nozzle configuration, header height, inlet pipe diameter and tube pass distribution. In the modeling, the possibility of deposition in the header was evaluated by accumulated mass of particles; we used the velocity contour of supercritical water （SCW） to evaluate the uniformity of the velocity dis- tribution among the tube passes. Simulation results indicated that the optimum heat exchanger had structure F, which had a rectangular configuration of tube pass distractions, a bottom inlet, a 200-mm header height and a 10-ram inlet pipe diameter.

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.

Velocity Profiles between Two Baffles in a Horizontal Circular Tube

The shell and tube heat exchanger is an essential part of a power plant for recovering heat transfer between the feed water of a boiler and the wasted heat.The baffles are also an important element inside the heat exchanger.Internal materials influence the flow pattern in the bed.The influence of baffles in the velocity profiles was observed using a three-dimensional particle image velocimetry around baffles in a horizontal circular tube.The velocity of the particles was measured before the baffle and between them in the test tube.Results show that the flows near the front baffle flow were parallel to the vertical wall,and then concentrate on the upper opening of the front baffle.The flows circulate in the front and rear baffles.These flow profiles are related to the Reynolds number(Re) or the flow intensity.The velocity profiles at lower Re number showed a complicated mixing,concentrating on the lower opening of the rear baffle as front wall.Swirling flow was employed in this study,which was produced using tangential velocities at the inlet.At the entrance of the front baffle,the velocity vector profiles with swirl were much different from that without swirl.However,velocities between two baffles are not much different from those without swirl.