ISSN XXXX XXXX © 2016 IJESC

Research Article Volume 6 Issue No.10

An Over View on Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger

Nitheesh Krishnan .M C1 , Suresh Ku mar. B2
PG Student 1 , Professor2
Thermal Engineering, Depart ment of Mechanical Engineering
Sri Ramakrishna Engineering College, Co imbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract:
A heat exchanger is a device that is used to transfer thermal energy between two or more fluids, at different temperatures and in
thermal contact. Heat exchangers are used in wide range for d ifferent types of industrial and do mestic applications. The shell an d
tube type heat exchanger is the most versatile type of heat transfer apparatus, and for this reason it is the most used in a variety of
applications. This paper represents the study on shell and tube type of heat exchanger along with the literature rev iews of several
scholars. Classification, basic construction design and its application are also described in this paper.

Index Terms: Shell and tube heat exchanger, classification, basic constructional detail, design methods

I.INTRODUCTION with different designs, materials and have been customized to

Transfer of heat fro m one flu id to another is an important meet specific needs. Out of this Shell and Tube heat
operation for most of chemical industry. To achieve a exchanger without doubt, one of the most widely used heat
particular engineering objective, it is very important to apply exchanger. Shell and tube heat exchangers are co mmon ly
certain princip les so that the product development is done used in the chemical and process industries. These devices
economically. Th is economic is important for the design and are availab le in a wide range of configurations as defined by
selection of good heat transfer equipment. Such equipment’s the Tubular Exchanger Manufacturers Association (TEMA).
for efficient transfer of heat are called as heat exchangers. The applications of single-phase shell-and-tube heat
Thus heat exchangers facilitate the exchange of heat between exchangers are quite large because these are widely in
the flu ids that are different temperature while keep ing them chemical, petroleu m, power generation and process
fro m mixing with each other. Heat exchangers find industries. In essence, a shell and tube exchanger is a
widespread use in power generation, chemical processing, pressure vessel with many tubes inside of it. One process
electronics cooling, air-condit ioning, refrigeration, and flu ids flows through the tubes of the exchanger while the
automotive applications.These heat exchangers had become other flows outside of the tubes within the shell. The tube
the essential requirement of the current society as they do not side and shell side fluids are separated by a tube sheet. In
cause any harmfu l effects to the environments. The cost these heat exchangers, one fluid flo ws through tubes while
involved in this energy extract ion is also very less and the other fluid flows in the shell across the tube bundle
economical. There are different types of heat exchangers

Figure. 1. Shell and tube type of heat exchanger

II.CLASSIFICATION the heat exchanger shell, selected fro m the seven types
The various types of S&THXs are common ly designated shown in the middle colu mn of Fig. 1. Finally, the third
according to the Tubular Exchanger Manufacturers letter, chosen from the eight alternatives shown in the third
Association (TEMA) standard, as shown in Fig 1.This column of Fig. 1, describes the stationary or floating head
TEMA-type designation comprises three capital letters. The type at the rear end. For examp le, an AES TEMA-type
first letter describes the stationary head type at the front end S&THX is an exchanger with a channel and removable cover
of the apparatus, according to the first colu mn of Fig 1: five front head, a one-pass shell, and a floating head with backing
different alternatives are possible. The second letter describes device rear end. The three most common types of shell-and-

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tube exchangers are A. Fixed tube-sheet design (L, M, and N type rear headers) A floating head is excellent for
type rear header) This is a very popular version as the heads applications where the difference in temperature between the
can be removed to clean the inside tubes. The front head hot and cold flu id causes unacceptable stresses in the axial
piping must be unbolted to allo w the removal of front head, direction of the shell and tubes. The floating head can move.
if this is undesired this can be avoided by applying a type a Thus In all three types, the front-end head is stationary wh ile
front head. It is not possible to clean the outside surface of the rear-end head can be either stationary or floating
the tubes as these are inside the fixed part. Chemical cleaning depending on the thermal stresses in the shell, tube, or tube-
can be used. B. U-tube design (front header and M type rear sheet, due to temperature differences as a result of heat
header) It permits unlimited thermal expansion the tube transfer.
bundle can be removed for cleaning and small bundle to shell
clearance can be achieved C. Floating-head type (P, S, T, W

Figure.2. TEMA nomencl ature (Tubul ar Exchanger Manufacturers Association)

III.BAS IC CONSTRUCTION OF S & T EXCHANGER ring. The tubes are attached to tube sheet with t wo or more
grooves in the tube s heet wall by „tube rolling‟. The tube
A variety of different internal constructions are used in shell- metal is forced to move into the grooves forming an excellent
and-tube exchangers, depending on the desired heat transfer tight seal. This is the most common type of fixing
and pressure drop performance and operating pressures and arrangement in large industrial exchangers. The tube sheet
temperatures, to control corrosion, to accommodate highly thickness should be always greater than the tube outside
asymmetric flows, and so on. Basic co mponents of the tube diameter to make a good seal.
and shell type heat exchanger are as follows;
C. Shell
A. Tubes Shell is the container for the shell flu id and the tube bundle is
The tubes are the basic components of a shell and tube type placed inside the shell. Shell d iameter should be selected in
heat exchanger. Tubes may be seamless or welded having such a way to give a close fit o f the tube bundle. The
diameters 5/8 inch, 3/ 4inch, and 1inch. Tubes materials clearance between the tube bundle and inner shell wall
shouldbe highly thermal conductive for proper heat transfer depends on the type of exchanger. Shells are usually
.Most commonly it is made up of copper and Steel alloys. fabricated fro m standard steel pipe with satisfactory
Other alloys of nickel, titaniu m, or alu minu m may also be corrosion allowance.
required for specific applications.
D. B affles
B. Tube sheet Baffles are used to increase the fluid velocity by diverting the
The tubes are fixed with tube sheet that form the barrier flow across the tube bundle to obtain higher transfer co-
between the tube and shell flu ids. The tubes can be fixed efficient. The d istance between adjacent baffles is called
with the tube sheet using ferru le and a soft metal packing baffle-spacing. Baffles are held in positioned by means of

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baffle spacers. Closer baffle spacing gives greater transfer F. Channel covers
co-efficient by inducing higher turbulence. The pressure drop
is more with closer baffle spacing. The channel covers are round plates that bolt to the channel
flanges and can be removed for the tube inspection without
E. Tube side channels and nozzles disturbing the tube side piping. In smaller heat exchangers,
bonnets with flanged nozzles or threaded connections for the
This are made up of alloy material and it is used to control tube side piping are often used instead of channel and
the flow of the tube side into and out of the tubes of the channel covers.
exchanger.

Figure.3. Heat exchanger parts

Figure.4.S mall mounted STHE i n copper and b) cut out of a similar

IV.B ASIC CONS IDERATIONS AND DES IGN temperature and Perform energy balance and find out the
heat duty (Q) o f the exchanger.
4.1 Basic considerations

The tube side is used for the fluid that is more likely to foul
the walls, or more corrosive, or for the flu id with the higher
pressure (less costly). Cleaning of the inside of the tubes is
easier than cleaning the outside. When a gas or vapor is used Step 2
as a heat exchange fluid, it is typically introduced on the
shell side. Also, high viscosity liquids, for which the pressure Assume a reasonable value of overall heat transfer
drop for flo w through the tubes might be prohibitively large, coefficient. Determine the LMTD and correction factor Uo,
can be introduced on the shell side. The most co mmon assmcalcu late the LMTD
material of construction is carbon steel. Other materials such
as stainless steel or copper are used when needed, and the
choice is dictated by corrosion concerns as well as
mechanical strength requirements. Expansion joints are used
to accommodate differential thermal expansion of dissimilar
materials. Step 3

4.2 Design Decide type of shell and tube exchanger (fixed tube sheet, U-
tube etc.). Select the tube pitch (PT), determine inside shell
Shell and tube heat exchangers are designed normally by diameter (Ds)
using either Kern ’s method or Bell-Delaware method. Kern’s
method is mostly used for the preliminary design and Step 4
provides conservative results whereas; the Bell- Delaware
method is more accurate method and can provide detailed Calculate heat transfer area (A) required
results. It can predict and estimate pressure drop and heat
transfer coefficient with better accuracy. In this paper we
have described Kern’s method of designing in detail
Step 5
Step 1 Select tube material, decide the tube diameter (ID=d i OD
Obtain the required thermo physical properties of hot and =do), its wall thickness in terms of BW G o r SW G) and tube
cold fluids at the Caloric temperature or arith metic mean length (L). Calculate the number of tubes (nt)

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 Step 10

Calculate shell side pressure drop (ΔPS ) (i) pressure drop for
Calculate tube side fluid velocity flow across the tube bundle (frict ional loss) (ΔPs ) and (ii)
return loss (ΔPrs ) due to change of direction of fluid.
Total shell side pressure drop: ΔPs=ΔPs+ΔPrs

V. APPLICATIONS

If u <1 m/s, fix npso that, One of the big advantages of using a shell and tube heat
exchanger is that they often easy to service, particularly with
models where floating tube bundle is availab le. One of the
most co mmon applicat ions of shell and tube heat exchanger
is the cooling of hydraulic flu ids and oil in engines. They can
also be used to cool or heat other mediu ms such as
swimming pool water or charge air. It is also use in o il
Step 6 refineries, thermal power p lants, chemical industries and
Determine the tube side film heat transfer coefficient (hi) many mo re. Shell and tube heat exchanger are easy to clean
using the suitable form of Sieder-Tate equation in laminar for floating head type configuration so, can be used in d irty
and turbulent flow regimes. Estimate the shell-side film heat services. Shell and tube type heat exchanger can be used for
transfer coefficient (ho) higher temperature d ifference services as it can accommodate
thermal expansion. They are most suitable for gas services
and phase change service.

V.1ADVANTAGES
The clean overall heat transfer coefficient is given by; These are the main advantages of shell-and-tube heat
exchangers
1 Condensation or boiling heat transfer can be
accommodated in either the tubes or the shell, and the
orientation can be horizontal or vertical. You may want to
check out the orientation of the heat exchanger in our
laboratory. Of course, single phases can be handled as well.
2. The pressures and pressure drops can be varied over a
wide range.
3. Thermal stresses can be accommodated inexpensively.
4. There is substantial flexibility regarding materials of
construction to accommodate corrosion and other concerns.
The shell and the tubes can be made of different materials.
5. Extended heat transfer surfaces (fins) can be used to
Step 7 enhance heat transfer.
6. Clean ing and repair are relatively straightforward, because
If the calculated shell side heat transfer coefficient (ho) is too the equipment can be dismantled for this purpose
low, assume closer baffle Spacing (B) close to 0.2 Ds and
recalculate shell side heat transfer coefficient. However, this VI. LITERATUR E REVIEW
is subject to allowable pressure drop across the heat
exchanger HariHaran[1] proposed a simp lified model for the study of
thermal analysis of shell and tube type heat exchangers of
Step 8 water and o il type is proposed. The robustness and mediu m
weighted shape of Shell and Tube heat exchangers make
Calculate % overdesign. Overdesign represents extra surface them well suited for high pressure operations. This paper
area provided beyond that required to compensate for shows how to do the thermal analysis by using theoretical
fouling. Typical value of 10% or less is acceptable formulae and for this they have chosen a practical problem of
counter flow shell and tube heat exchanger of water and o il
type, by using the data that come fro m theoretical formu lae
they designed a model of shell and tube heat exchanger using
Pro-E and done the thermal analysis by using ANSYS
software and comparing the result that obtained from
Step 9 ANSYS software and theoretical formu lae.
Calculate the tube-side pressure drop (ΔPT):
(i) Pressure drop in the straight section of the tube (frictional Yusuf Ali Kara and Ozb ilen Gu raras [2] prepared a computer
loss) (ΔPt) and based design model for preliminary design of shell and tube
heat exchangers with single phase fluid flo w both on shell
(ii) Return loss (ΔPrt ) due to change of direct ion of fluid in a and tube side. The program determines the overall
“mu lti-pass exchanger dimensions of the shell, the tube bundle, and optimu m heat
transfer surface area required to meet the specified heat
ΔPT = ΔPt +ΔPrt transfer duty by calculating min imu m or allo wable shell side

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pressure drop. He concluded that circulating cold fluid in VII. CONCLUS ION
shell-side has some advantages on hot fluid as shell stream On the basis of above study it is clear that Shell and tube
since the former causes lower shell-side pressure drop and heat exchanger is the most versatile type of heat transfer
requires smaller heat transfer area than the latter and thus it is apparatus, and for this reason it is the most used in a variety
better to put the stream with lo wer mass flow rate on the of applications. It has given a great respect among all the
shell side because of the baffled space. classes of heat exchangers. Moreover well designed as well
as described methods are available for its designing and
V.K. Patel and R.V. Rao[3] exp lores the use of a non - analysis. It has great advantages of pressures and pressure
traditional optimizat ion technique; called particle swarm drops can be varied over a wide range, thermal stresses can
optimization (PSO), for design optimization of shell-and-tube be accommodated inexpensively and Cleaning and repair are
heat exchangers from economic view point. Minimizat ion of relatively easy. The literature survey also shows the
total annual cost is considered as an objective function. Three importance of this class of heat exchangers among other heat
design variables such as shell internal diameter, outer tube exchanger
diameter and baffle spacing are considered for optimizat ion.
Two tube layouts viz. t riangle and Square are also considered VIII.REFER ENCES
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demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of proposed Analysis of Shell and Tube Heat ExChanger Using C and
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