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Study Unit:

Heat Exchangers (128)

Author:

Gates MacBain Associates

Description:

The purpose of this unit is to enable you to investigate the performance of heat exchangers commonly found with building service installations.

Table of Contents

Heat Exchangers
Performance of Heat Exchangers

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Solved Example 3

Aims and Objectives Book Website Video/DVD Self Assessment

Heat Exchangers

Aims and Objectives

At the end of this section you should be able to:

Investigate the underlying scientific principles for heat exchangers commonly found with building services plant and installations.

.
Many situations in building services engineering require that heat is transferred from one fluid to the other. This heat transfer is to: raise the
temperature of a cool fluid; lower the temperature of a hot fluid; boil a liquid; or to condense a gas. The intention is to control the temperature
of a system by adding or removing heat or thermal energy.

The component that allows the transfer of heat from one fluid (liquid or gas)to another fluid is called a heat exchanger. The heat exchange
takes place without the two fluids being mixed together or coming into direct contact

Uses

Heat exchangers are used in a number of applications from refrigerators and air-conditioners to car engines. These are also used to salvage as
much heat as possible from waste industrial gases. Heat exchangers also have a significant role in reducing a power plant’s heat losses and
subsequent economy of operations. Other common uses include copper coils in hot water cylinders, cooling coils, etc.

Principles of working

As we know that heat can only flow from a hotter to a colder fluid, the fluids involved in heat transfer must be at different temperatures and
must come into thermal contact.

The transfer of heat from one fluid to another depends on the physical properties of the fluids involved such as their density and specific heat.

The amount of heat that has to be transferred between fluid streams is called the heat load. This can be calculated by using the First Law of
Thermodynamics and Specific Heat Capacity.

The mass-flow rate remains constant in a heat exchanger. However, especially in case of a gas, changes in temperature and pressure can
change the volumetric flow rate

The hot and cold fluids are separated by some physical barrier which may be a tube wall or a metal plate. The area of such a barrier should be
large enough so that transfer of the required amount of heat is possible.
A heat exchanger can use one or two barriers. A single barrier carries either hot or cold fluid and is surrounded by the other fluid. Two barriers
are used when one of the fluids is toxic such as an anti-freeze.

Flow arrangements

The fluids in the heat exchanger can have one of the three flow arrangements:

In-line flow: Flow is along the same axis. In-line flow can be either counter-flow or parallel-flow, and cross-flow. If the two fluids enter
the exchanger from opposite sides, it is called counter flow. In the parallel-flow, the fluids come in from the same end and move
parallel to each other as they flow to the other side Counter flow can transfer the greatest amount of heat.

Cross flow: In this type of heat exchanger, fluids move perpendicular to each other.

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Types of Heat Exchangers

Coil-in-tank

A coil of tubing acts as the heat exchanger. This is normally placed in the storage tank and can be single or double wall.

Shell-and-tube

The basic principle is that the heat exchanger is separate from the storage tank and has two separate fluid loops moving in opposite direction to
each other. These are contained inside a case or shell. The tubes and shell should be made of the same material.

Common example is when water from the mains is in the tube while the process fluid is in the shell. Such types of heat exchangers can be
customized in accordance with the capacity and operating conditions.

Tube-in-tube

The tubes carrying the fluids are in direct thermal contact. The two fluids move in opposite directions to each other and has two loops as in the
case of shell-and-tube type. This is considered as a very efficient design.

Plate type

In this type, thin corrugated sheets made of high grade metal are used as the heat transfer surface. Stainless steel is the most common plate
material. The pattern of these sheets helps to induce turbulence and to avoid stagnation. Stagnation can cause fouling or the formation of
scales and deposits over the heat transfer surface.

These heat exchangers are mass produced for economies of scale and hence are limited in their design range. A variation of this type is In Line
Plate Heat Exchangers which are a low-cost alternative to shell and tube types.

Liquid-to-liquid

This type of heat exchanger uses a heat-transfer fluid. This fluid circulates through the solar collector and absorbs heat. It then flows through
the heat exchanger and transfers its heat to water in a storage tank.

Air-to-liquid

Solar heating systems with air heater collectors usually do not need a heat exchanger between the solar collector and the air distribution
system. Those systems with air heater collectors that heat water use air-to-liquid heat exchangers, which are similar to liquid-to-air heat
exchangers.

Single and double wall

Two walls are used when the heat-transfer fluid is toxic. These are also used as a safety measure in case of leaks. However, these are less
efficient because heat must transfer through two surfaces rather than one. To transfer the same amount of heat, a double-wall heat exchanger
must be larger than a single-wall exchanger.

Capacity Ratio (C)

It is ratio of the products of mass flow rate and specific heat capacity of the cold fluid (Mh & Ch respectively) to that of the hot fluid (Mc & Cc
respectively). Also computed by the ratio of temperature range of the hot fluid to that of the cold fluid. Higher the ratio greater will be size of
the exchanger.
.

Log Mean Temperature Difference

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The inlet and outlet temperatures are commonly specified in heat exchangers based on the fluid used. As the temperature change that takes
place across the heat exchanger from the entrance to the exit is not linear, it is best represented by the log mean temperature difference
(LMTD or ΔTLM). This is the effective average temperature difference across the exchanger.

LMTD = ΔTLM = (ΔT2 – ΔT1) / {ln (ΔT2 / ΔT1)}

Where
ΔT2 = The larger temperature difference between the two fluid streams at either the entrance (Tin) or the exit (Tout) to the heat
exchanger

ΔT1 = The smaller temperature difference between the two fluid streams at either the entrance (Tin) or the exit (Tout) to the heat
exchanger

.
.
Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient

This coefficient defines, in part, the heat transfer due to convection and is represented by h. It represents the thermal resistance of a layer of
fluid between a heat transfer surface and the fluid medium. It is measured in kW/m2 C°

According to Newton's Law of Cooling, the equation for convection can be expressed as:

q = h A ΔT

where:

q = heat transferred per unit time (kW)

A = heat transfer area of the surface (m2)

h = Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient of the process (kW/m2K or kW/m2oC)

ΔT = temperature difference between the surface and the fluid (K or oC)

Worked Example 1

A fluid flows over a surface having dimensions 2 m x 2 m with a temperature of 60Co. The temperature of the surface is 30 Co. The convective
heat transfer coefficient is 2.5 kW/m2 Co. Calculate the rate of convective heat transfer.

Solution

Surface Area, A = 2 m x 2 m = 4 m2

Temperature difference, ΔT = 60 Co - 30 Co = 30 Co

Convective Heat transfer Coefficient, h = 2.5 kW/m2 Co

q = h A ΔT

q = 2.5 x 4 x 30

= 300 kW

The publications listed contain a more detailed explanation of working and concepts related with heat exchangers. .

Some useful websites and video resources are listed with self explanatory titles which will help you understand the concepts.

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Video/DVD

Heat exchangers principles

How heat exchangers work
Building heat exchangers
Heat exchanger operation

Websites

Heat exchangers
Convective Heat Transfer Co-efficient

Publications

Kakac, S. & Liu, H. (2002) Heat exchangers: selection, rating, and thermal design, 2nd edition: CRC Press
Eastop, T. D. & McConkey, A. (1986). Applied thermodynamics for engineering technologists: S.I. units, 4th edition: Longman
Shah R.K.& Sekulic D. P. (2003). Fundamentals of heat exchanger design: John Wiley and Sons

Assessment Task

Comment on the statement: “An extractor fan is not a heat exchanger”

Briefly compare the different types of heat exchangers.

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