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NPTEL::ChemicalEngineeringHeatTransfer

8.2.4Whymultipassexchangers?
Thesimplesttypeofheatexchangersisdoublepipeheatexchangers,whichisinadequateforflowratesthatcannotreadily
be handled in a few tubes. If several double pipes are used in parallel, the metal weight required for the outer tubes
becomessolargethattheshellandtubeconstruction,suchas11exchangerwillbehelpful.Inthatoneshellservesfor
manytubes,iseconomical.Theheattransfercoefficientoftubesideandshellsidefluidisveryimportantandtheindividual
heattransfercoefficientsmustbehighenoughtoattainhighoverallheattransfercoefficient.Astheshellwouldbequite
largeascomparedtothetubes,thevelocityandtheturbulenceoftheshellsidefluidisimportant.
In contrast, the 11 exchanger has limitations also. When the tube side flow is divided evenly among all the tubes, the
velocitymaybequitelow,resultinginlowheattransfercoefficient.Thereitmayberequiredtoincreasetheareatohavethe
desiredheatexchangeforthislowheattransfercoefficient.Theareamaybeincreasedbyincreasingthelengthofthetube.
However, the tube length requirement may be impractical for a given situation. Thus the number of tubes should be
increasedwithoutincreasedthetubelength.Theincreasednumberoftubeswouldalsoprovidetheincreasedvelocityinthe
shellsideresultinginthehigherheattransfercoefficient.Therefore,multipassconstructionisneeded,whichwouldpermit
tousethepracticalandstandardtubelengths.However,thedisadvantagesarethat,
1.Theconstructionoftheexchangersbecomecomplex.
2.Parallelflowcannotbeavoided.
3.Additionalfrictionlossesmayoccur.
Itshouldbenotedthatgenerallyevennumberoftubepassesareusedinmultipassexchanger.
8.2.5LMTDcorrectionfactor
In the earlier chapter, we have seen for cocurrent or counter current flow system. The average driving force for heat
transferwasdefinedbylogmeantemperaturedifference(LMTD).ThustheLMTDcanbeusedfor11exchangersforco
currentandcountercurrent.However,formultipassexchangers(12,24,etc.)thefluidsarenotalwaysincocurrentor
countercurrentflow.Thedeviationforcocurrentorcountercurrentflowcausesachangeintheaveragedrivingforce.
Therefore, in order to use true heat transfer driving force, a correction factor is required into the LMTD. Thus, the heat
transferratecanbewrittenas(eq.8.8),
q=UdA(FTTm)

(8.8)

where,

Ud=overallheattransfercoefficientincludingfouling/dirt

A=heattransferarea

FTTm=trueaveragetemperaturedifference.

FT=LMTDcorrectionfactor

ItistobenotedthatthefollowingassumptionhavebeenconsideredfordevelopingLMTD,
1.Theoverallheattransfercoefficientisconstantthroughouttheexchanger
2.In case any fluid undergoes for phase change (e.g., in condenser), the phase change occurs throughout the heat
exchangerandtheconstantfluidtemperatureprevailsthroughouttheexchanger.
3.Thespecificheatandmassflowrateandhencetheheatcapacityrate,ofeachfluidisconstant.
4.Noheatislostintothesurroundings.
5.Thereisnoconductioninthedirectionofflowneitherinthefluidsnorinthetubeorshellwalls.
6.Eachofthefluidsmaybecharacterizedbyasingletemperature,atanycrosssectionintheheatexchangerthatis
idealtransversemixingineachfluidispresumed.
FT,theLMTDcorrectionfactorcanbedirectlyobtainedfromavailablechartsintheliterature.Thesechartswereprepared
fromtheresultsobtainedtheoreticallybysolvingthetemperaturedistributioninmultipassheatexchangers.
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NPTEL::ChemicalEngineeringHeatTransfer

Figures8.12and8.13showthetwogenerallyusedheatexchangersandtheircorrespondingplotsforfindingFT.Itmaybe
notedthatthegivenfigureshavetherepresentativeplotsandanystandardbookonheattransfermaybeconsultedforthe
accurateresults.

Fig.8.12:FTplotfor12exchangert:coldfluidinthetubeT:hotfluidintheshell1:inlet2:outlet

Fig.8.13:FTplotfor24exchangert:coldfluidinthetubeT:hotfluidintheshell1:inlet2:outlet
Itshouldbenotedthatincaseofcondensationorevaporationthecorrectionfactorbecomesunity(FT=1).Whiledesigning
aheatexchanger,theruleofthumbisthattheFTshouldnotbelessthan0.8.

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