Heat Exchange

stiffness to the tubes. Avoid providing

too small or too large baffle cuts, as they
result in poor velocity distribution and
high localized velocities.
Entrance/exit areas. Entrance and
exit areas are generally more susceptible
to damage from vibration. To avoid damage due to erosion and vibration at these
areas, it may be required to also provide
an impingement plate. Impingement
plates are typically provided when:
There is two-phase flow at the
shell inlet
In the case of a single-phase fluid
at the shell inlet, when Rho-V2
exceeds 2,232 kg/ms2
In the case of single-phase fluid
at boiling point, when Rho-V2
exceeds 744 kg/ms2.
Impingement devices can be of three
types: circular plate, rectangular plate
and rods.
Circular or rectangular plates are the
first choice due to simplicity and low
cost. Studies have shown that adding a
plate-type impingement device accelerated flow around the edges of the plate,

while a rod-grid device provided a more

uniform velocity profile across the entrance of the exchanger, resulting in a
lower pressure drop and reducing velocity transients that can lead to vibration.
Yet, the benefits must be weighed against
the higher cost of these devices and the
loss of the number of working tubes within the heat exchanger diameter.
Use of support plates. It may be useful to provide partial support plates at the
entrance/exit areas to reduce unsupported tube spans and vibration.
Limiting the bundle entrance and
exit momentum. Limiting the bundle entrance/exit momentum helps in minimizing vibration issues. This can be achieved
by removing tube rows under the nozzles
that are most susceptible to vibration.
Tube pitch/layout pattern. The tube
pitch is a very important parameter that
can help in reducing vibration. As a starting point, tube pitch is usually selected as
1.25 times (in the case of 1-in. tubes) or
1.33 times (in the case of 0.75-in. tubes)
of tube outside diameter. Larger tube
pitches result in a reduced cross-flow ve-

locity for an unsupported tube span. As

a consequence, flow-induced vibrations
are lower. However, an exchanger designer has to be cognizant of the fact that
increasing tube pitch leads to the accommodation of fewer tubes within a specified shell diameter, which could lead to
a larger, more expensive exchanger. The
tube layout pattern is also one of the parameters that could help in reducing vibration. The 45 tube layout pattern can
be used in cases where vibration occurs
due to fluid-elastic instability. However,
a 45 layout pattern is to be avoided in
cases where the exchanger is susceptible
to acoustic vibration.
U-bend regions. The U-bend region
can be particularly vulnerable to vibration issues. Vibration at the U-bend region can be avoided by providing a full
support plate at the U-bend. Further, it
may be useful to provide strip baffles at
the U-bend to ensure that the U-bend region is vibration-free. Note: Providing a
full support plate at the U-bend will reduce the heat transfer area and must be
accounted for in thermal design.

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