LOSS OF EXERGY IN HEAT EXCHANGERS

Heat exchangers always operate with finite temperature differences and the heat transfer is therefore
irreversible. The concepts of pinch point and heat exchanger effectiveness ( to be covered next term) are
very useful practical design tools. However, they do not indicate the degree of irreversibility involved in a
heat transfer process, neither do they permit optimisation of a heat exchanger design when pressure drops are
taken into account. It should be noted that the heat transfer within even an ideal heat exchanger
(effectiveness= 100% or Zero temperature difference at the pinch point) is irreversible, except in a few
special cases. It is useful, however, to be able to rate changes in process or heat exchanger design against a
thermodynamic criterion, and exergy or available energy can provide a powerful tool..
In many cases the irreversibility involved is not of practical significance - for example, if we are rejecting
heat from the cooling water of an IC engine, it is desirable to maintain this water at a reasonably high
temperature (approx 90-120oC) and designing a car radiator to reject heat at a lower temperature (i.e. closer
to the environment) would be pointless. On the other hand, if we were considering heat rejection from the
condenser of a refrigerator then reducing the temperature difference in the condenser will result in a reduced
power requirement for a given cooling duty. Similarly a more effective condenser in a steam power plant will
improve the plant efficiency. Obviously, if the revised design involves an increased pressure drop (on either
side of the heat exchanger, then their will be a corresponding increase in the pumping power requirement
which may negate the efficiency gains.
We can evaluate the loss of availability in a heat exchanger by calculating the entropy change for each stream
and using the expression:
Loss of available energy = To Suniverse = To ( Shot + Scold )
in the general case, we may also derive this by considering individual streams:

) (
) (T S

Loss in available energy of hot stream = Hhot ,in T0 Shot ,in Hhot ,out T0 Shot , out

= Hhot ,in Hhot ,out

Similarly, for the cold stream
Loss in available energy

(
=(H

0 hot ,in

) (
) (T S

T0 Shot ,out

The hot stream is losing

available energy therefore these
expressions will yield a +ve
result for the LOSS

)
)

= Hcold ,in T0 Scold ,in Hcold , out T0 Scold , out

cold ,in

Hcold , out

0 cold ,in

T0 Scold ,out

The cold stream is gaining

available energy therefore these
expressions will yield a -ve result
for the LOSS

But, applying an energy balance (neglecting PE and KE, and extraneous heat transfer):

(H

hot ,in

) (

Hhot ,out + Hcold ,in Hcold ,out =0

Therefore, total Loss of available energy in the heat exchanger is:

(T S
0

hot , out

T0 S hot , in ) + (T0 S cold , out T0 S cold , in ) = T0 (S hot + Scold )

Remember that, in the absence of excessive pressure drops, the entropy of the hot stream will decrease while
the entropy of the cold stream will increase. The net change will always be positive.
If the pressure drops are not negligible
Using the well known expression for the change in specific entropy of a perfect gas:
T
p
s2 s1 = cp ln 2 R ln 2
T1
p1
we can see that the increase in entropy due to the pressure drop is taken into account when calculating the
entropy change.
If we are dealing with an incompressible fluid then the pumping power, W& pump , is given by:
& p
= mv
W&
pump

and the pump work is a loss of available energy. The change in entropy with temperature may be obtained
2
2
mcp dT
dQ
T
=
= mcp ln 2
from tables or from S2 S1 =
T 1 T
T1
1