Shell-and-Tube Exchanger sizing takes a trial and error approach. Use these guidelines to center your aim izing a heat exchanger for a spe- cifie process application is often referred to as thermal design. ‘The undertaking is an inherently trial-and-error process. First, an ex- changer configuration is proposed and then rated — meaning that its heat transfer potential and pressure drop are computed and the results are com- pared to the process requirements. If calculations indicate that the trial con- figuration is inadequate, the specifica- tions must be modified and the rating ‘must be repeated. This process contin- until the caleulated performance satisfies the process demands. By ob- serving the steps in Figure 1, along with suggested guidelines, engineers can avoid taking a shot in the dark. Assemble basic data Most heat exchanger problems ulti- mately result from faulty or inade- quate information at the design stage. For each fluid, the designer needs to know the following: + Flowrate at design conditions. ‘This should normally be the maxi- mum flowsheet rate ‘* Heat duty. For heating or cooling a single-phase fluid, this may be ex- pressed in terms of the temperature change to be accomplished + Process requirements. These in- clude inlet temperature and pres- sure and allowable pressure drop. If the heating medium is condensing steam, the available pressure at the control valve is needed, not the pres- sure generated at the powerhouse ‘* Fouling nature of the fluid. ‘This includes sufficient informa- tion so that the designer can de- cide how much fouling allowance to provide for this fluid in the ex- changer design * Process-fluid. properties. These include the specific heat, viscosity, density and thermal conductivity covering the range of operating tem- peratures and pressures, for both the tube-side and shell-side fluids + Expected turndown. This infor- mation is required for control, and should be known to avoid oversizing the exchanger Materials of construction. Some applications stipulate special mate- rials in contact with the fluid * Special requirements. Occasionally, applications require special construc: tion requirements, such as removable bundles or double tube sheets A note of caution — although the de- signer may rely on others to furnish the physical properties, he or she is re- sponsible for the heat exchanger de- sign. Therefore, the designer must critically examine and evaluate any property information that is furnished, including that from computer-gener- ated process flowsheets. Compute heat duty For a sensible heat exchanger, the heat duty is given by the conventional relationship! 1 @-whc,er ah If the specific heat function varies linearly with temperature, then the integration yields a simple equation @=W(C)),.(%-7) ® For a heater, one normally specifies the condensing temperature of the steam and computes its flowrate. For a cooler, one can specify either the coolant flowrate or its outlet tempera- 1. Note all nomenclature is defined in the box on 60 CHEMICALENGINEERING WWW.CHE.COM MARCH 2002 Part 2 Allan E. Jones Consultant ‘Thermal design of heat exchangers tea ‘Compute heat duty — ‘Compute mean temperature difference (Tm) + Select tril exchanger configuration a ‘Compute heat transfer coefficient (U) and pressure drop (2P) + ‘Do mechanical design FIGURE 4. Follow these steps for car- tying out an organized approach to shell-and-tube design ture, Usually, it is more economical to use a relatively low coolant flowrate. However, to avoid fouling in the coo!- ing tower packing, water should not return to a cooling-tower at tempera- tures exceeding 45-50°C (113-122"P) Environmental considerations also limit the temperature of water that is returned to rivers, so investigate these limits if they are applicable. Compute 21, and surface area The mean temperature difference (Gq) is the driving foree for heat transfer and directly affects the re quired heat-transfer surface area. In order to accommodate temperature changes that occur within a multi- pass exchanger, use the conventional relationship (Equation [3}) between the log mean temperature difference (LMTD; 2f7,,) and industry-accepted correction factorscifference. Most ofthe time, however, itis not es shell-ond-tube ical fo use ri he wrote ofhe ube ide id ict fee sear aes ech Uae ee Gas og fs cence Rao caiaeit i ‘odd number of tube passes are not unknown, eae ey both tube-side inlet and outlet piping connections can be made athe same head. }. The LMTD correction factor enables quick determination ofthe true mean temperature difference. This particular diagram is also a good approximation for one- ‘shell pass with any even number of tube passes Am ore 3) where the LMTD is given by Equation (4) for countercurrent flow and Equa- tion (5) for cocurrent flow. For more on countercurrent versus cocurrent flow, see the box above. ig = Te) ~The Ta Toy ee w ang -m=%a)-CipFa) etal Tito Teo For the case of one shell pass and two tube passes?, F is given by Figure 2. Anaad na ta oe aliyin the FE Figure Bis alo a good 3 where R and P represent the follow- ing relationships: qa ta=h © Teo Tes = Too Tas o Tu Tos From the shapes of the curves in Fig- ure 3, the appraised value of F needs to be about 0.9 or greater, especially at high values of R. Otherwise, the correc- tion factor falls dramatically. If it is reasonable to assume that the overall heat-transfer coefficient is constant throughout the exchanger, and that the specific heats of the two ig for oe bel pas wih any eve. nap poroximat the Faorrcio atry fortvarely of pe aranement re show ea Standards rn many ent rar ex ss (CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHE.COM MARCH 2002 lly fluids do not vary appreciably with temperature (so that they may be re- placed by a constant mean specific heat), then the heat exchanger may be sized on an overall basis, Q=UAAT,, =UAPAT in, @ However, if local values of U or the specific heats vary widely throughout an exchanger, the overall heat trans- fer coefficient must be analyzed on an ineremental-area basis. The ex- changer must be divided into a num- ber of segments, each of which has nearly constant U7 and Cy. One must then compute the area of each incre- ment and add up the incremental areas to get the total exchanger area, Aer @ YU Te), where BQ =—WaCp AT =WeCpcdT (10) Select a trial configuration For shell-and-tube exchangers, there are several decisions that must. be made regarding the configuration of the exchanger. ‘Tube side vs. shell side. When decid- ing which fluid will go in the tubes, use these general rules-of-thumb. Note that some of these rules may conflict in a particular situation, and the designer may have to pick the lesser of two evils. 1. If one fluid is at a high pressure and the other is at a low pressure, put the high-pressure fluid in the tubes. Fabricating a shell to withstand high pressures can be expensive. 2, Ifone fluid is particularly corrosive ‘or requires expensive materials of con- struction, put it in the tubes. Alloy shells are expensive. Also, if the corro- sive fluid is on the shell side, not only the shell butalso the baffles and tie rods will have to be made out ofthe alloy. 3. If one fluid is particularly prone to fouling, put it in the tubes, By proper design (multiple tube passes), it is usually possible to maintain high velocities in the tubes so that fouling can be minimized. The shell side of- fers regions where flow can stagnate, and fouling ean be severe. Also, it is ‘much easier to clean the insides than the outsides of the tubes. 4. Ifa fluid is very viscous, put it on the shell side, Tube-to-tube maldistri- 6 UAM CORD. SERV. DOG:bution is possible when cooling vis- cous liquids inside tubes. However, the Reynolds number, Equation (11), is lower in the shell than in the tubes, ‘0 it is more difficult to maintain tur- bulence (and, thus higher heat-trans- fer coefficients). 98 ay 5, If one fluid has a much higher flowrate than the other, put it inside the tubes. For a given flowrate, the shell-side pressure drop will usually be much greater than that on the tube side. Fixed tubes vs. removable bundle. This is really the user's call, but users may solicit the designer's advi Fixed-tubesheet exchangers are less expensive, and, with a shell expansion joint, can protect against thermal stresses caused by differential thermal expansion between the tubes and shell. However, it is not possible to clean the outside of the tubes in a fixed ‘tubesheet exchanger mechanically (chemical cleaning is possible and ean be effective). A removable tube bundle allows mechanical cleaning of the tube exteriors and also permits rapid re- placement of a bundle if necessary. Note that a U-tube bundle may be the first choice for economic reasons, even though it is anticipated that the bundle would seldom be removed. A Uctube exchanger avoids one flanged and gasketed joint and, for large shells, can give substantial cost sav- ings. Tubes must. be welded or rolled (or both) into one tubesheet only. A drawback of U tubes is that they are difficult to clean mechanically. How- ever, in many situations, chemical cleaning may be sufficient. Ifa fixed tubesheetis chosen, a Tubu- Jar Exchanger Manufacturers Associa- tion (TEMA) Type BEM (bonnets) is nor- mally less expensive than a Type AEL (channels) in that the former design avoids two bolted and gasketed joints. However, the AEL maybe cheaper inthe ‘endifitis important to have rapid access tothe tubes for cleaning. Of the non-U-tube removable bun- dles, the TEMA Type P rear head (out- side packed floating head) should be used only for water or steam on the shell side, since it is impossible to climinate leakage through the pack- FIGURE 4. This friction factors required to calculate the shel-side pressure drop ing. The Type S (split-ring floating hhead) is more expensive. It is fre- quently used in petroleum refineries (Class R service). The Type T (pull- through floating head) should be avoided when a single-phase fluid is being heated or cooled on the shell side. This design allows a large annu- lar space between the outer tube circle and the inside of the shell, inviting by- passing of the shell-side fluid, Tube size, thickness and materials. Standard heat exchanger tubing is 3/4- in. or 1-in, outside diameter (OD). Oc- casionally, larger tubes are used in re- boilers or vacuum condensers. Smaller tubes are sometimos used in service applications, such as oil coolers and water heaters, but are seldom used in process applications, as they are diffi- cult to clean mechanically. While 3/4- in, tubes permit, more heat-transfer area in a given size shell, they usually sive higher pressure drops. ‘Tube wall thicknesses are normally specified by a materials engineer. ‘Heavy-wall tubes (12 and 14 gauge — (0,109- or 0.083-in. wall thickness) are ‘usually used with carbon steel, as they provide some corrosion allowance, Stainless or alloy tubes are usually 16 ‘or 18 gauge (0.065 or 0.049 in. wall) with the thicker wall providing protec- tion for mechanical cleaning, or protec- tion from erosion at high velocities. Number of tube passes. First, you ‘must determine the required number of tubes per pass (Equation (12). N ¥ a2) seo Assume a desired tube-side velocity in the range of 5 to 10 fs, where the flowrate is in pounds per hour. For 62 CHEMICALENGINEERING WWW.CHECOM MARCH 2002 sensible-heat transfer, typically a 30- deg, triangular layout (Figure 5, dis: ‘cussed in more detail later) is speci fied, with a 1.25 pitch/diameter ratio. If the shell-side pressure drop is toc high, then it may be beneficial to in crease this ratio, However, fewer ‘tubes will fit in the same size shell. ‘Next, pick a trial value of U,, just t get in the ballpark. Table 1 lists typical values for different services. The heat transfer area, based on the tube outside diameter, is then given by as where N, is the number of tube passes This may be rearranged to give aa Since numerical values are avail able for the variables on the right hand side of this equation, one can de termine the required number of tube passes for each tube length. As a rule ofthumb, select the smallest even: numbered value of that gives tubes o ‘an acceptable length. Note that tubes come in standard lengths at 2-ft increments up to 12 f and 4-ft increments from 12 to 24 ft. I is possible to get longer tubes, or od tube lengths, although one may have te pay a premium, Note also that for U tubes, we normally neglect the tube area in the bend region: U-tube lengths extend from the open ends of the tubes to the tangent ofthe U bend. The usual convention with U tubes is to count the number of holes in the tubesheet; s ‘that each U tube is actually two tubes for the purposes of the tube count. ‘Tube-count tables are available inF Mchipass temperature P Temperature ratio, dimen: transfer areo, #2 tivity, BuIA) Vy Tube uid velocity, f/s | Flid viscosity, Ib/th Seti fow oreo, | Tobe lenght W Flow rote o/h 4 Viscosity corretion focor, Bale spacing, Np Number of ube passes, | _x Tube wall thickness, dimensionless Speci eat, B/(bICF) |” dimensionless [oy Tube-side fricional pressure |p Fluid density, Ib/19 Tube diameter, ft N, Number of tubes per pass, drop, Ibf/A2 ai ee Dg Equiclert diameter of shel, | dimensionless Pp Tube side momentum Mees ea logrmeon ube diameter, | Nu Nusselt number, dimension: | losses, IbF/#2 nite (D,-DJ/hn10,/D) less Py Total tube-side pressure eine drop, lbf/A2 correction factor, dimen sionless 2, Incremental heat ransfer sionless Py Tube pitch, f rate ot area element i, F Fanning friction facor, di- | @ Heat ransfer rate, Btu/h Biu/h mensionless R Temperature ratio, dimen- |g Temperature rise of cold fluid | Ho. ft ov some references [2], or from heat ex- changer suppliers. The designer must select a shell size large enough to ac commodate the required number of tubes, allowing for the selected num- ber of passes. But frequently, one will end up with shell that can hold more than the re- quired number of tubes. For example, suppose one selects a TEMA Type BEM exchanger and has calculated a requirement of 60 tubes, 3/4-in. OD, on. ‘a 15/16+in, triangular pitch in a two ‘pass arrangement. Reference (4) shows that an 8-in, shell will hold 48 tubes and a 10-in. shell will hold 72 tubes. Obviously, one must select the 10-in. shell in this case. However, the tube count should also increase from 60 to 72 to avoid a partially full bundle. Oth- cerwise, the shell-side fluid will bypass the tubes, especially if'single-phase gas or liquid is on the shell side. Baffle consideration. Normally, the designer selects segmentalbafiles witha perpendicular cut (the straight edge of the baflle is at right angles to the nozzle centerline). The baffle spacing should be about half the shell diameter, except under theshell-side inlet and outlet noz- zles, where the spacing isdictated by the (NTIW) baffle configura- tion counters expected tube vibration problems. For more on the benefits of ‘tube modifications, see Part 1 of this report, pp. 56-58, Compute U and @P ‘As well known by engineers, the film theory of heat transfer assumes that the heat transfer resistance at a fluid- solid interface may be represented conceptually by conduction through a laminar fluid film of very small but un- determined thickness. The film coeffi cient at each tube surface is a function of the local fluid velocity, temperature and fluid properties. If we take into ac- count the difference between tube-wall inside and outside diameters we can write the familiar relationship AM ret Sb jo gest oye fie obs oy @ UA, UA IAs hem Tay as) Equation (15) shows that one may either use the outside or inside heat- transfer area in the calculations, as Tong as one is careful to calculate the overall heat-transfer coefficient on the same basis. Values of film coefficients must be determined from correlations of experi- mental data. While there are several 6 Noss Hoc, bth) seve oat | 1% Constant, equal to 4.17E48 | Ry Reynolds number, dimen- | Ty Temperature drop minor © im (btihe) sinless fRidecoss ea slrent, | m mecn h Film coefficient, 1 Fouling resistance, + © outside Btu/(hHA2\°F) (h)(h2)(°F)/ Bho Aq Mean temperature differ- S shell side kk Fluid thermal conductivity, | T Temperature, F ‘ence, °F 1 tube side Bu/IbNANCF) U Overall heat transfer coef | Tiqlog:mean temperature dif- | T turbulent , Tube-wall thermal condue- cient, Btu/(h\(H2)(°F) F \w at wall temperature nozzle diameter. Typically, | good correlations in the open literature FEAR AIinteR CorrcaNTs baffle cuts are around 25% | to compute the pressure drop and film for a single-phase flow on | coefficient inside tubes, one will find peice WHeeA) WO [BIW OYAICD | the shell few methods for determining shell-side Waler-water Other baffle types are | film coefficients and pressure drops, oe ae eee eee chosen to correct antici- | and the best of those available requires enn 500-850 [90-150 pated operating problems. | extensive hand calculations [3]. ‘Water-organié Waid For example, double seg- | Software programs containing well- Steam-organic fluid | §00-1,000 |90- 180. mental baffles reduce the | validated shell-side correlations for all Water-gas shell-side pressure drop. A | industrially important. shell-and-tube ‘Steam-gas 25-150 5-25 no-tube-in-the-window configurations are available to mem- bers of consortia, including many shell- and-tube exchanger manufacturers. Other programs are available for pur- chase, but the prospective buyer should cheek the range of exchanger geome- tries and operating conditions for which these have been validated experimen- tally. The reader is strongly urged to make use of the latest technology when designing an exchanger for purchase. ‘To illustrate the thermal-design pro- cedure, we use methods proposed by Kern [4]. These are not suitable for final design, but will give ballpark results for venture guidance. For more-precise re- sults, software is required. Tube-side calculations. For flow in- side tubes or pipes, first calculate the Nusselt number (Nu)fortheappropriate flow regime (Equations(16},(17Jor (18), Laminar flow (Re < 2,100): ae a ‘Turbulent flow (Re > 10,000): fan! pGy*(Cpn s(n" neo 22) (EY () an ‘Transition region (2,100 < Re < 10,000) “__1n10,000—In Re JaNu =n Nur~ 15 0,000-1n2,100 4g) (iaNup —In Nu) a oo( as) CHEMICALENGINEERING WWW.CHECOM MARCH 2002 63.where Nuy is the value of the Nusselt number using Equation (16) with a flowrate corresponding to Re of 2,100, and Nur is the Nusselt num- ber calculated by Equation (17) with a Re of 10,000. Now solve for the film coefficient ‘using Equation (19) yu bNe a9) D, For isothermal flow in a tube, the pressure drop per pass is given by ee)” where fis the Fanning friction factor. For non-isothermal flow, we divide the above result by Equation (21) en where: a =0.14 (Re > 2,100) a = 0.25 (Re < 2,100) In addition to the pressure drop in the tubes, there are losses due to en- trance and exit effects and return bends 4N,G* era (22) So, the total tube-side pressure drop is the sum of the pressure losses. For non-isothermal flow, that yields: ‘4N,G® a anya =(1o fh |e) Da) Pee. )ia3) Shellside calculations. The first ‘step of shell-side calculations is deter- mination of an equivalent diameter. Alfree area) » wetted perimeter 2 (ha fer aron nal Wetio perimeter de. pend on the pitch of the tube placement {Figure 5), Fora square pitch layout, Preearea= 2 - Be (25) wetted perimeter = Dy (26) af 7 n-48! _ a, For a triangular-pitch layout, aad staal ole ady ee ae =D, Berets 29) 0) os For tube bundles with a 25% baffle cut, AD, (i) mT AREER 6s whee: tay a dg= 2 3) 5 As a on olf] For 10-< Re, <1,000: A=0.613 B=047 For 1,000 < Re, < 108: A= 0.384 B=0.54 For calculation of the shell-side flow area Ag, take a central tube row. The number of spaces between adjacent tubes is Ds Bs (35) and the width of a space is P.- De (36) If Bs is the baffle spacing, then Dy Aa~Date 1-7) an Finally, the shell-side pressure drop is given by 4faDe(Na+ 168 (38) PAD where 4s =| ( £] (39) Note: f; is not the same as the Fan- ning friction factor. It is plotted ver- sus the shell-side Reynolds number in Figure 4. Assigning fouling resistances. At this point, one could calculate the overall heat-transfer coefficient if the tube surfaces were clean. However, in practically all exchangers the surfaces foul with time due to a number of causes. Fouling results in additional heat-transfer resistances that must be accounted for in determining the over- all heat-transfer coefficient: CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHE.COM MARCH 2002 FIGURE 5. Tube placement can either be triangular ‘or square, but ‘square layouts are used for boiling ‘applications and are not typically selected for ‘sensible-heat transfer Be} (E70 Itis customary to assign the outside and inside fouling resistances sepa- rately, rp and rp, depending on the na- ture of the fluid and its velocity and temperature. Generally, one should de- sign for the highest velocity that is con- sistent with the allowable pressure drop, while also avoiding possible shell- side erosion and tube-side vibration, High flowrates and high velocities are usually accompanied by low tempera- tures, which also retard fouling. ‘The TEMA Standards [5] provide guidance in the selection of fouling resis- tanees, but neglect important economic factors. For example, one would not se- lect the same fouling resistance for a small, alloy batch exchanger as for a lange, carbon-steel exchanger handling the same fluid. Recent articles provide additional background on the causes of fouling and the economic implications of assigning fouling resistances (6, 7) Finally, note that process coolers are normally sized based on summer conditions and maximum flowrates and may be started up in the winter at a fraction of the design rate. If large fouling resistances have been as- signed, the exchanger may be so over- sized that it will be difficult to control. ‘The resultant low velocities may actu- ally aggravate the fouling problem. Are basic data satisfied? First compare the assumed and re- quired values of heat-transfer area. If U,g is the overall heat-transfer coefli- cient just calculated, then the area re- quired for heat transfer is =e Aa" iaaTe IfA,, is the area of the trial configura- tion, the % overdesign is (Ausf) a0) (“2-1 }a008) tidy ‘The amount of overdesign desired de- (an)pends on the adequacy of the basic data, Usually, 10-15% is considered sufficient. Any value higher than that is ‘considered an excess amount of surface. Next, compare the calculated and specified maximum pressure drops. Make sure the shell- and tube-side pressure drops do not exceed their | specified maximum values. Finally, adjust the exchanger geom- etry for the next iteration. If U less than the assumed value U,7, the overdesign will be negative (an under design), and additional area will be needed to provide the required heat duty. A good start for the next re quired-area guess is Varn (43) Ifthe pressure drops are within specs but the exchanger is too small (a nega- tive percent overdesign), first look at the results to see which heat-transfer resistance is controlling. For example suppose h; is three times larger than h, ‘Then, neglecting the fouling and tube wall resistances and the diameter ef- fect, one can show that a 20 % increase in h, will increase U, by 14.3%, while a 20%e increase in h, would increase U,, by only 4.3%, In this ease, the shell-side re sistance is controlling. If the shell side is controlling, move the baffle spacing to a minimum (say 30% of the shell diameter) and make sure that the pitch-to-diameter ratio is at its minimum value of 1.25. If the heat transfer area is still too small, con: sider a smaller shell with longer tubes. If the tube side is controlling, or if both shell-side and tube-side film coef ficients are about the same, try in- creasing the tube length and perhaps decreasing the number of tubes per pass to improve the film coefficient. If the tube length is already at a practi cal limit and it is necessary to increase the number or tubes also, consider in- creasing the number of tube passes to maintain the desired tube velocity Sometimes, when both shell-side and tube-side film coefficients are high, the assumed fouling resistance is control: ling, If the fouling resistance is more than 50% of the total — if the ex changer is more than 50% larger than it would need to be if the fluids were clean — reconsider the fouling resistances, If the heat transfer coefficients are acceptable but the pressure drops are too high, then add more flow area to the high-pressure-drop side. On the tube side, more area normally means more tubes per pass, which lowers the velocity. This is undesirable, and one should try to shorten the tubes in- stead, ifthe sacrifice in area is not too great. It may be necessary to go to the next-larger-diameter tube. On the shell side, one can increase the bafile spacing, the tube pitch or both. If this does not give enough reduction, one can employ double segmental baffles ora TEMA Type J shell. Finally, if either the shell-side or tube-side resistance represents more than 70% of the total resistance, con: sider the use of enhanced surface for that side, For example, if the shell side fluid is a gas or a condensing or- ganie vapor, the use of integral low. finned tubes may be justified. . Edited by Rebekkah Marshall References y's Chemical Engineer’ Handbook" 6b a Fable 13, McGraw Hil, New Yor, 184, 8, Tahorek J, “Heat Exchanger Design Hand Changers: Single-phase flow, Bog ne New York, 1698 4 D, Q, “Process Heat Transfer", Me 5. Tubular Exchanger Mi ere Associa 6. Donnell, BR, others, Optimize Heat Bx shave lena Shel Chem Bn Bott TR, To Foul or Not to Foul = That is the Question Chem. Brg Prog, November Author Allan E. Jones, PE snk Ra Landehberg Pa 10250; Pho i Enait: aejonesidl net) ca Kesttrsnsfer ‘constant in DuPont's Engineering Dept During this time, he was involved with Use ther mal design and vatiog of heat exchangers for fnost of DuPont's business worldwide. He was Bubonts technical representative to Heat Tranuter R an served on the Tech maivaton, He belds is abel ol peering from Ohie State University Jones cur ently hes the today AICHE short, course Heat Exchanger Design snd Operation,” and is tered professional engineer in tho states CHEMICAL ENGINEERING. WWW. my coca Lar Bio ie Sd DT a Coe Ror accrLN +49 (0) 60 93/87-244 +49 (0) 60 93/87-303 pea Pre ‘che.com/adlinks or circle 52 (COM MARCH 200