Fundamentals of Heat Exchangers

Associate Professor Dr. Osama Mohammed Elmardi Suleiman Khayal

Abstract— Heat exchangers are used to transfer heat ourselves to the design of recuperators only. That is, the
between two sources. The term exchanger applies to all design of a two-fluid heat exchanger used for the purposes of
equipment used to transfer heat between two streams. recovering waste heat.
However, the term is commonly used to equipment in We will begin first, by discussing the basic principles of heat
which two process streams exchange heat with each other. transfer for a heat exchanger. We may write the enthalpy
This research paper explains the basics of heat exchangers, balance on either fluid stream to give:
covering such topics as: classification; design methods; Qc  m c hc 2  hc1  (1)
pressure drop; analysis of extended surfaces; typical
and
Qh  m h hh1  hh 2 
designs of double pipe, shell and tube compact, plate and
frame, boilers, condensers and evaporators; and fouling of (2)
heat exchangers. For constant specific heats with no change of phase, we may
also write
Keywords— Heat exchangers, classifications,
extended surfaces, designs, fouling.
losses,
Qc  m c p c Tc 2  Tc1 
(3)
and
Qh  m c p h Th 2  Th1 
I. INTRODUCTION
Heat exchangers are devices used to transfer heat between two (4)
or more fluid streams at different temperatures. Heat Where m
 c p c and m c p h are the thermal capacities of the
exchangers find widespread use in power generation, chemical
processing, electronics cooling, air-conditioning, refrigeration, cold and hot fluid respectively.
and automotive applications. In this research paper we will Now from energy conservation we know that Qc = Qh = Q,
examine the basic theory of heat exchangers and consider and that we may relate the heat transfer rate Q and the overall
many applications. In addition, we will examine various heat transfer coefficient U, to some mean temperature
aspects of heat exchanger design and analysis. difference ΔTm by means of
Q  UATm (5)

II. HEAT EXCHANGER CLASSIFICATION where A is the total surface area for heat exchange that U is
based upon. Later we shall show that
Due to the large number of heat exchanger configurations, a ΔTm = f (Th1, Th2, Tc1, Tc2) (6)
classification system was devised based upon the basic It is now clear that the problem of heat exchanger design
operation, construction, heat transfer, and flow arrangements. comes down to obtaining an expression for the mean
The following classification as outlined by Kakac and Liu temperature difference. Expressions for many flow
(1998) will be discussed: configurations, i.e. parallel flow, counter flow, and cross flow,
• Recuperators and regenerators. have been obtained in the heat transfer field. We will examine
• Transfer processes: direct contact or indirect contact. these basic expressions later. Two approaches to heat
• Geometry of construction: tubes, plates, and extended exchanger design that will be discussed are the LMTD method
surfaces. and the effectiveness - NTU method. Each of these methods
• Heat transfer mechanisms: single phase or two-phase has particular advantages depending upon the nature of the
flow. problem specification.
• Flow Arrangement: parallel flow, counter flow, or A. Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient
cross flow.
A heat exchanger analysis always begins with the
III. HEAT EXCHANGER DESIGN METHODS determination of the overall heat transfer coefficient. The
overall heat transfer coefficient may be defined in terms of
The goal of heat exchanger design is to relate the inlet and
individual thermal resistances of the system. Combining each
outlet temperatures, the overall heat transfer coefficient, and
of these resistances in series gives:
the geometry of the heat exchanger, to the rate of heat transfer
between the two fluids. The two most common heat exchanger
design problems are those of rating and sizing. We will limit

1
 1 1 1 1 Table –2 Order of Magnitude of h Kakac (1991)
  
UA  o hAi Sk w  o hAo
(7)
Fluid h[W/m2K]
Gasses (natural convection) 5 – 25
where η0 is the surface efficiency of inner and outer surfaces,
Gasses (forced convection) 10 – 250
h is the heat transfer coefficients for the inner and outer
Liquids (non-metal) 100 – 10,000
surfaces, and S is a shape factor for the wall separating the two
Liquids (metal) 5000 – 250,000
fluids.
Boiling 1000 – 250,000
The surface efficiency accounts for the effects of any extended
Condensation 1000 – 250,000
surface which is present on either side of the parting wall. It is
related to the fin efficiency of an extended surface in the
following manner: B. LMTD Method
 Af 
 o  1  1   f  
The logarithmic mean temperature difference (LMTD) is
(8) derived in all basic heat transfer texts. It may be written for a
 A 
parallel flow or counter flow arrangement. The LMTD has the
The thermal resistances include: the inner and outer film form:
resistances, inner and outer extended surface efficiencies, and T2  T1
conduction through a dividing wall which keeps the two fluid TLMTD  (11)
streams from mixing. The shape factors for a number of useful T
ln 2
wall configurations are given below in Table 1 . Additional T1
results will be presented for some complex doubly connected where ΔT1 and ΔT2 represent the temperature difference at
regions. each end of the heat exchanger, whether parallel flow or
Equation (7) is for clean or unfouled heat exchanger surfaces. counter flow. The LMTD expression assumes that the overall
The effects of fouling on heat exchanger performance is heat transfer coefficient is constant along the entire flow
discussed in a later section. Finally, we should note that length of the heat exchanger. If it is not, then an incremental
UA = Uo Ao = Ui Ai (9) analysis of the heat exchanger is required.
however, The LMTD method is also applicable to crossflow
Uo  Ui (10) arrangements when used with the crossflow correction factor.
Finally, the order of magnitude of the thermal resistances in The heat transfer rate for a crossflow heat exchanger may be
the definition of the overall heat transfer coefficient can have a written as:
significant influence on the calculation of the overall heat Q  FUATLMTD (12)
transfer coefficient. Depending upon the nature of the fluids, where the factor F is a correction factor, and the logarithmic
one or more resistances may dominate making additional mean temperature difference is based upon the counter flow
resistances unimportant. For example, in Table (2) if one of heat exchanger arrangement.
the two fluids is a gas and the other a liquid, then it is easy to The LMTD method assumes that both inlet and outlet
see that the controlling resistance will be that of the gas, temperatures are known. When this is not the case, the
assuming that the surface area on each side is equal. solution to a heat exchanger problem becomes somewhat
tedious. An alternate method based upon heat exchanger
Table –1 Shape Factors
effectiveness is more appropriate for this type of analysis. If
Geometry S ΔT1 = ΔT2 = ΔT, then the expression for the LMTD reduces
Plane Wall A simply to ΔT.
t C.  − NTU Method
Cylindrical Wall 2L The effectiveness / number of transfer units (NTU) method
r  was developed to simplify a number of heat exchanger design
ln o  problems. The heat exchanger effectiveness is defined as the
 ri  ratio of the actual heat transfer rate to the maximum possible
heat transfer rate if there were infinite surface area. The heat
Spherical Wall 4ri ro exchanger effectiveness depends upon whether the hot fluid or
ro  ri cold fluid is a minimum fluid. That is the fluid which has the
smaller capacity coefficient C  m  C p . If the cold fluid is the
minimum fluid then the effectiveness is defined as:

2
 Cmax TH ,in  TH ,out  and September (2018). Often manufacturer’s choose to present

Cmin TH ,in  TC ,in 
(13) heat exchanger performance in terms of the inlet temperature
difference ITD = (Th,i−Tc,i). This is usually achieved by
otherwise, if the hot fluid is the minimum fluid, then the plotting the normalized parameter Q/ITD = Q/ (T h,i − Tc,i).
effectiveness is defined as: This is a direct consequence of the  − NTU method.
Cmax TC ,out  TC ,in 
 IV. HEAT EXCHANGER PRESSURE DROP
Cmin TH ,in  TC ,in 
(14)
Pressure drop in heat exchangers is an important consideration
We may now define the heat transfer rate as: during the design stage. Since fluid circulation requires some
Q  Cmin TH ,in  TC ,in  (15) form of pump or fan, additional costs are incurred as a result
of poor design. Pressure drop calculations are required for
It is now possible to develop expressions which relate the heat both fluid streams, and in most cases flow consists of either
exchanger effectiveness to another parameter referred to as the two internal streams or an internal and external stream.
number of transfer units (NTU). The value of NTU is defined Pressure drop is affected by a number of factors, namely the
as: type of flow (laminar or turbulent) and the passage geometry.
UA First, a fluid experiences an entrance loss as it enters the heat
NTU  (16) exchanger core due to a sudden reduction in flow area, then
Cmin the core itself contributes a loss due to friction and other
It is now a simple matter to solve a heat exchanger problem internal losses, and finally as the fluid exits the core it
when experiences a loss due to a sudden expansion. In addition, if

 f NTU , Cr  (17) the density changes through the core as a result of heating or
where Cr = Cmin/Cmax. cooling an acceleration or deceleration in flow is experienced.
Numerous expressions have been obtained which relate the This also contributes to the overall pressure drop (or gain). All
heat exchanger effectiveness to the number of transfer units. of these effects are discussed below.
The paper summarizes a number of these solutions and the Entrance Loss
special cases which may be derived from them. The entrance loss for an abrupt contraction may be obtained
For convenience the  −NTU relationships are given for a by considering Bernoulli’s equation with a loss coefficient
simple double pipe heat exchanger for parallel flow and combined with mass conservation to obtain:

  12 G
2
counter flow:
Parallel Flow pi  1   i2  K c (24)
1  exp NTU 1  C r  i
 (18) where σ is the passage contraction ratio and G = m /A, the
1  Cr mass flux of fluid. In general,
or minimum flow area
 ln1  1  C r 
𝜎= (25)
frontal area
NTU  (19) Core Loss
1  Cr In the core, we may write the pressure drop in terms of the
Counter Flow Fanning friction factor:
1  exp NTU 1  C r  4 fL 1 G 2
 , when C r  1 (20) pc 
1  C r exp NTU 1  C r 
(26)
Dh 2  m
and Since the fluid density may change appreciably in gas flows,
NTU acceleration or deceleration may occur. We consider a
 , when C r  1 (21) momentum balance across the core
1  NTU
or p a Ac  m Ve  Vi  (27)
which may be written as
1   1 
NTU  ln , whenCr  1  1 1 
C r  1   C r  1 
(22)
p a  G 2    (28)
and  e i 
 after writing V = G/ρ, since Gi = Ge.
NTU  , when C r  1 (23) Exit Loss
1  Finally, as the flow exits the core, the fluid may pass through a
For other configurations, the student is referred to Heat sudden expansion. Application of Bernoulli’s equation with
Transfer textbooks, or the handout of Elmardi August (2018) mass conservation results in

3
   12 G
2 The governing equation for one dimensional flow with
pe   1   e2  K e (29) convection may be derived in general terms for longitudinal,
e radial, or pin fin configurations. Beginning with an arbitrary
where we have assumed that pressure drop (rise) is from left to control volume, the conduction into the left face is given by
right. Once again σ is the area contraction ratio and G is the the Fourier rate equation
mass flux of fluid. dT
Total Pressure Drop Qcond ,u   kA (35)
du
The total pressure drop across the heat exchanger core is
where k is the thermal conductivity, A = A(u) is the cross-
obtained by taking the sum of all of these contributions. That
sectional area, T = T(u) is the temperature, and u is the inward
is
directed normal with respect to a particular coordinate system,
Δp = Δpi + Δpc + Δpa + Δpe (30)
i.e., for longitudinal or pin fins u = x and for radial fins u = r.
Combining all of the effects and rearranging, yields the
The conduction leaving the right face is
following general expression for predicting pressure drop in a
heat exchanger core: dT d  dT 
Qcond ,u du  kA   kA du (36)
𝐺2 4𝐿 𝜌𝑖 du du  du 
∆p = [(1 − 𝜎𝑖2 + 𝐾𝑐 ) + 𝑓 〈 〉
2𝜌𝑖 𝐷ℎ 𝜌𝑚 where du is the width of the control volume in the direction of
𝜌𝑖 𝜌𝑖 conduction.
+2 〈 − 1〉 − (1 − 𝜎2𝑒 + 𝐾𝑒 ) 〈 〉] (31)
𝜌𝑒 𝜌𝑒 The convection loss at the surface of the control volume is
Now the fluid pumping power is related to the overall pressure obtained from Newton’s Law of cooling
drop through application of conservation of energy Qconv = hPds (T − Tf ) (37)
where h is the convection heat transfer coefficient, P = P(u) is
1 m
W p  P (32) the perimeter, ds is the arc length of the lateral surface, and T f
p  is the ambient fluid temperature.
Taking an energy balance over the control volume requires
where ηp is the pump efficiency. The efficiency accounts for
that
the irreversibility in the pump, i.e. friction losses.
Qcond,u − Qcond,u+du − Qconv = 0 (38)
It is clear that a Reynolds number dependency exists for the
which results in the following differential equation
expansion and contraction loss coefficients. However, this
 kA   hP T  T f   0
dependency is small. For design purposes we may d  dT  ds
(39)
approximate the behavior of these losses by merely du  du  du
considering the Re = ∞ curves. These curves have the
Now, introducing the temperature excess θ = T(u) − Tf
following approximate equations:
Ke = (1 − σ)2 d  d  hP ds
(33)
A   0 (40)
and du  du  k du
Kc ≈ 0.42(1 − σ2)2 (34) gives the governing equation for one dimensional heat
. conduction with convection. Expansion of the differential
V. ANALYSIS OF EXTENDED SURFACES yields
d 2 dA d hP ds
Extended surfaces also known as fins, are widely used as a A    0 (41)
means of decreasing the thermal resistance of a system. The du 2 du du k du
addition of fins as a means of increasing the overall heat The governing equation is valid for both axial and radial
transfer rate is widely employed in compact heat exchanger systems having varying cross-sectional area and profile. The
and heat sink design. The aim of this paper is to develop and term ds/du is the ratio of lateral surface area to the projected
present the theory of extended surfaces. A large number of area. It is related to the profile function y(u) through
analytic solutions for various types of fins will be presented in 2
detail in addition to the development of numerical methods for ds  dy 
complex fin geometries whose solution are not possible by  1   (42)
analytic means.
du  du 
A. One Dimensional Conduction with Convection The above equation may be taken as unity, i.e. (dy/du)2 ≈ 0 for
We begin first, by deriving the equation for one dimensional slender fin profiles, without incurring large errors. Thus, for
conduction with convection from first principles. The slender fins having varying cross-sectional area and profile the
governing equation will be derived in general terms such that governing equation becomes
the results may be applied to both axial flow systems such as d 2 dA d hP
longitudinal and pin fins, as well as radial flow systems such A    0 (43)
as the family of circular annular fins.
du 2 du du k

4
The governing equation for one dimensional conduction with Qb, fin Qb
convection is applicable to systems in which the lateral   (51)
conduction resistance is small relative to the convection Qb,bare hAbb
resistance. Under these conditions the temperature profile is where Qb,bare is the heat transfer from the base of the fin when
one dimensional. The conditions for which Equation (37) is the fin is not present, i.e. L → 0.
valid are determined from the following criterion: In many heat sink design applications, it is often more
hb convenient to consider the fin resistance defined as
Bi   0 .1 (44)
k b
R fin  (52)
where Bi is the Biot number based upon the maximum half Qb
thickness of the fin profile. The fin Biot number is simply the
The use of the fin resistance is more appropriate for modeling
ratio of the lateral conduction to lateral convection resistance
heat sink systems, since additional resistive paths may be
b considered.
Rconduction D. Analytical Solutions
Bi   kA (45) In this section we examine the many analytical solutions
Rconvection 1
which have been obtained in various fin configurations. In
hA most cases, the solutions for the temperature distribution
involve special functions such as the modified Bessel
B. Boundary Conditions functions. A thorough review of analytical methods pertaining
The general fin equation is subject to the following boundary to extended surfaces may be found in the classic text by Kern
conditions at the fin tip (u = ue) and Kraus (1972). While more brief reviews are found in most
d ue  he
  ue   0
advanced texts on heat conduction such as those by Arpaci
(46) (1966) and Schnieder (1955), along with the more general
du k advanced heat transfer texts such as those by Jakob (1949) and
for truncated fins where he is the convection heat transfer Eckert and Drake (1972). Analytical methods have been
coefficient for the edge surfaces, or successfully applied to a number of applications of extended
d u e  surfaces such as longitudinal fins, pin fins, and circular
0 (47)
du annular fins.
the adiabatic tip conditions. At the fin base (u = uo) VI. TYPICAL HEAT EXCHANGER DESIGNS
 u o    o (48)
We will now examine several common heat exchanger designs
is generally prescribed. and highlight the differences in each of the configurations. We
For axial fins it will be convenient to take ue = 0 and uo = L, shall consider: Double Pipe Heat Exchangers, Shell and Tube
while for radial fins ue = ro and uo = ri. In subsequent sections, Heat Exchangers, Compact Heat Exchangers, Plate and Frame
analytic results will be obtained for each class of fin for Heat Exchangers, and Boilers, Condensers, and Evaporators.
various profile shapes. Once the solution for the temperature
excess for a particular case has been found, the solution for the A. Double Pipe Exchangers
heat flow at the fin base may be obtained from the Fourier rate The double pipe heat exchanger is probably one of the
equation simplest configurations found in applications. It consists of
d two concentric circular tubes with one fluid flowing inside the
Qb  kA (49) inner tube and the other fluid flowing inside the annular space
du between the tubes. Its primary uses are in cooling process
applied to the base of the fin. fluids where small heat transfer
C. Fin Performance areas are required. It may be designed in a number of
Fin performance has traditionally been measured by means of arrangements such as parallel flow and counter flow, and
the fin efficiency or fin effectiveness. Fin efficiency may be combined in series or parallel arrangements with other heat
defined as exchangers to form a system.
Qb Qb For this configuration the overall heat transfer coefficient is
f   (50)
Qmax hAs b given by:
1 1 lnro ri  1
where Qmax is the maximum heat transfer rate if the    (53)
temperature at every point within the fin were at the base UA hi 2ri L  2k w L ho 2ro L 
temperature θb. The fin effectiveness may be defined as where ri and ro denote the radii of the inner pipe. The heat
transfer coefficient hi is computed for a pipe while the heat
transfer coefficient ho is computed for the annulus. If both

5
fluids are in turbulent flow, the heat transfer coefficients may 12
CL  Ao Pt 2 
be computed using the same correlation with D = Dh, Ds  0.637   (58)
otherwise, special attention must be given to the annular CTP  d o L 
region.
The pressure drop for each fluid may be determined from: The shell side heat transfer coefficient is most often computed
from the following experimental correlation:
 4 fL 1
p    K  V 2 (54) Nu De  0.36 Re 0D.s55 Pr1 3 (59)
 Dh 2 for
However, care must be taken to understand the nature of the 2 × 103 < 𝑅𝑒𝐷𝑒 < 1 × 106
flow, i.e. series, parallel, or series-parallel. . The effective diameter De is obtained from
B. Shell and Tube Exchangers
De 

4 Pt 2  d o2 / 4  (60)
Shell and tube heat exchangers are widely used as power
condensers, oil coolers, preheaters, and steam generators.
d o
for a square tube arrangement, and
 
They consist of many tubes mounted parallel to each other in a
cylindrical shell. Flow may be parallel, counter, or cross flow 8 3Pt 2 / 4  d o2 / 8
and in some cases combinations of these flow arrangements as De  (61)
a result of baffling. Shell and tube designs are relatively d o
simple and most often designed according to the Tubular for a triangular tube arrangement. The tube side heat transfer
Exchanger Manufacturer’s Association (TEMA) standards. coefficient is computed from an appropriate tube model
For this configuration the overall heat transfer coefficient is depending on the type of flow, i.e. laminar or turbulent.
given by (ignoring fouling): The pressure drop for the tube side is often predicted using the
1 1 1 following formula (Kakac and Liu, 1998):
  Rw  (55)
 4 fLN p 1
UA hi Ai ho Ao pt    4 N p  V 2 (62)
where Ai and Ao denote the inner and outer areas of the tubes.  di 2
The heat transfer coefficient hi is computed for a tube while where Np is the number of tube passes.
the heat transfer coefficient ho is computed for tube bundles in This accounts for tube friction and internal losses due to the
either parallel or cross flow depending on whether baffling is return bends. The friction factor f is computed from an
used. Special attention must be given to the internal tube appropriate tube model depending on the type of flow, i.e.
arrangement, i.e. baffled, single pass, multi-pass, tube pitch laminar or turbulent. The shell side pressure drop may be
and arrangement, etc., to properly predict the heat transfer predicted from
fGs2 N b  1Ds
coefficient. Often, unless drastic changes occur in the tube
count, the shell side heat transfer coefficient will not vary ps  (63)
much from an initial prediction. Often a value of ho = 5000 2De
W/m2K is used for preliminary sizing.
and
The heat transfer surface area is calculated from:
Ao = πdoNtL m Pt
(56) Gs  (64)
where do is the outer diameter of the tubes, Nt is the number of Ds CB
tubes, and L is the length of the tubes. where Nb is the number of baffles, C is the clearance between
The number of tubes that can fit in a cylindrical shell is adjacent tubes, B is the baffle spacing, while f is determined
calculated from: from
Ds2 f = exp [0.576 − 0.19 ln(GsDe/μ)] (65)
N t  CTP (57) which is valid for 400 < GsDe/μ < 1 × 106. These correlations
4CLPt 2
have been tested against many shell and tube designs and have
The factor CTP is a constant that accounts for the incomplete been found to provide very good results. However, care must
coverage of circular tubes in a cylindrical shell, i.e. one tube be taken to understand the nature of the flow, i.e. parallel,
pass CTP = 0.93, two tube passes CTP = 0.9, and three tube cross flow, or cross flow with baffles. In general, when
passes CTP = 0.85. The factor CL is the tube layout constant designing shell and tube heat exchangers, the TEMA standards
given by CL = 1 for 45 and 90-degree layouts, and CL = 0.87 should be followed.
for 30 and 60-degree layouts. Finally, Pt is the tube pitch and
Ds is the shell diameter. C. Compact Heat Exchangers
The shell diameter may be solved for using the above two Compact heat exchangers offer a high surface area to volume
equations, to give: ratio typically greater than 700 m2/m3 for gas-gas applications,
and greater than 400 m2/m3 for liquid-gas applications. They

6
are often used in applications where space is usually a the reduced flow area in the heat exchanger core. The two
premium such as in aircraft and automotive applications. They effects combined can lead to serious performance degradation.
rely heavily on the use of extended surfaces to increase the In some cases, the degradation in hydraulic performance is
overall surface area while keeping size to a minimum. As a greater than the degradation in thermal performance which
result, pressure drops can be high. Typical applications necessitates cleaning of the heat exchanger on a regular basis.
include gas-to-gas and gas-to-liquid heat exchangers. They are Fouling of heat exchangers results in a number of ways. The
widely used as oil coolers, automotive radiators, intercoolers, two most common are corrosion and scale build up. However,
cryogenics, and electronics cooling applications. depending upon the nature of the fluid other factors may
For this configuration the overall heat transfer coefficient is contribute to fouling.
given by:
1 1 t 1 Table –3 TEMA Design Fouling Resistances Rf for a Number of
  
UA  o hAi k w Aw  o hAo
(66) Industrial Fluids
Fluid Rf = RfA
where ηo is the overall surface efficiency. In most compact
[m2K/kW]
heat exchanger design problems, the heat transfer and friction
coefficients are determined from experimental performance Engine Oil 0.176
charts or models for enhanced heat transfer surfaces. The Fuel Oil no. 2 0.352
pressure drop is also computed using the general method Fuel Oil no. 6 0.881
discussed section 4. Quench Oil 0.705
Refrigerants 0.176
D. Plate and Frame Exchangers Hydraulic Fluids 0.176
Plate heat exchangers consist of a series of thin corrugated Ethylene Glycol Solutions 0.352
formed metal plates. Each pair of plates forms a complex Exhaust gases 1.761
passage in which the fluid flows. Each pair of plates are then Natural Gas Flue Gases 0.881
stacked together to form a sandwich type construction in Coal Flue Gases 1.761
which the second fluid flows in the spaces formed between Fouling in heat exchangers is traditionally treated using the
successive pairs of plates. These types of heat exchangers concept of a fouling resistance. This resistance is added in
provide for a compact and lightweight heat transfer surface. series to either side of the wall resistance in the definition of
As a result of the small plate spacing and corrugated design, the overall heat transfer coefficient.
high heat transfer coefficients result along with strong eddy 1 1 1 1
formation which helps minimize fouling. Because of the   R f ,i   R f ,o  (67)
simple construction, they are easily cleaned and find wide use UA i hi Ai Skw o ho Ao
in food processing applications. The fouling resistance may be computed from
tf
E. Boilers, Condensers, and Evaporators Rf  (68)
A condenser and evaporator are heat exchangers in which a k f Aw
change of phase results. In a condenser, a vapor is converted for a plane wall, and
lnd f / d c 
into a liquid, while in an evaporator (and a boiler) liquid is
converted into a vapor. Due to the two-phase nature of these Rf  (69)
devices, design is not as straight forward. Two phase fluid 2k f L
flows are much more complex than their single-phase
for a tube.
counterparts. Additional understanding of the phase makes up
Unfortunately, fouling in heat exchangers has not been
and distribution is required to perform the necessary design
modeled adequately for predictive purposes. Some typical
calculations. In addition, design correlations for two phase
values of fouling resistances are given in Table 3 for a number
flows can be somewhat complicated.
of fluids.
Another method of designing for fouling, is through the
VII. TYPICAL HEAT EXCHANGER DESIGNS specification of percentage over surface, that is increasing the
surface area to initially provide for a heat exchanger which
Fouling in heat exchangers represents a major source of
exceeds the design heat transfer rate. This is often done for
performance degradation. Fouling not only contributes to a
heat exchangers which cannot be cleaned easily such as shell
decrease in thermal efficiency, but also hydraulic efficiency.
and tube heat exchangers. Often as a rule 25 percent over
The buildup of scale or other deposit increases the overall
surface is prescribed. The percentage over surface is defined
thermal resistance of the heat exchanger core which directly
as
reduces the overall thermal efficiency. If buildup of a fouling
deposit is significant, it can also increase pressure drop due to

7
  Af  McQuiston, F.C. and Parker, J.D., Heating, Ventilation, and
%OS    1  100 (70) Air Conditioning: Analysis and Design, 1988, Wiley,
 Ac  New York, NY.
The effect that fouling has on a heat exchanger’s performance Elmardi, Osama Mohammed, Solution of Problems in Heat
can be seen by examining the change in pressure drop: Exchanger in Arabic, August (2018),
2 www.ektab.com, Jordan.
p f f f dc Vf 
   (71) Elmardi, Osama Mohammed, Heat Transfer: Solved Examples
pc fc d f  Vc  and Additional Problems in Arabic, September
(2018), www.ektab.com, Jordan.
If the mass flow rate is constant, then  = ρVcAc = ρVfAf ,
m Rohsenow, W.M., Hartnett, J.P, Cho, Y.I., Handbook of Heat
and we obtain Transfer, 1998, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.
5
p f f f  dc  Shah, R.K. and Sekulic, D., Fundamentals of Heat Exchanger
   (72) Design, 2003, Wiley, New York, NY.
pc f c  d f 
 Smith, E.M., Thermal Design of Heat Exchangers, 1995,
If the pressure drop is maintained constant, then we obtain, Wiley, New York, NY.
after substituting for mass flow rate:
3 Author
m f f df 
 c   (73) Osama Mohammed Elmardi
m c f f  dc  Suleiman was born in Atbara, Sudan
For any other condition, such as pump driven flow, we may in 1966. He received his diploma
solve for the new operating point. Fouling will effectively degree in mechanical engineering
increase the system curve, which shifts the operating point to from Mechanical Engineering
the left, i.e. lowering the actual flow. If the flow rate College, Atbara, Sudan in 1990. He
decreases, then the heat transfer coefficient also decreases. also received a bachelor degree in
This decrease combined with the increased resistance due to mechanical engineering from Sudan
the fouling layer, leads to an overall decrease in thermal University of science and
performance, i.e. a lowering of the Q/ (T h,i − Tc,i) curve. technology – Faculty of engineering
in 1998, and a master degree in solid
mechanics from Nile valley university (Atbara, Sudan) in
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 2003, and a PhD in structural engineering in 2017. He
The author would like to acknowledge with deep thanks and contributed in teaching some subjects in other universities
profound gratitude Mr. Osama Mahmoud Mohammed Ali of such as Red Sea University (Port Sudan, Sudan), Kordofan
Daniya Center for Publishing and Printing Services, Atbara, University (Obayed, Sudan), Sudan University of Science and
who spent many hours in editing, re – editing of the Technology (Khartoum, Sudan) and Blue Nile university
manuscript in compliance with the standard format of (Damazin, Sudan). In addition, he supervised more than
international journal of engineering applied science and hundred and fifty under graduate studies in diploma and B.Sc.
technology (IJEAST). levels and about fifteen master theses. The author wrote about
twenty-two engineering books written in Arabic language, and
twelve books written in English language and fifty research
VIII. REFERENCES papers in fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, internal
combustion engines and analysis of composite structures. He
Bejan, A., Heat Transfer, 1993, Wiley, New York, NY. is currently an assistant professor in department of mechanical
Kakac, S. (ed.), Boilers, Evaporators, and Condensers, 1991, engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Nile
Wiley, New York, NY. Valley University. His research interest and favorite subjects
Kakac, S. and Liu, H., Heat Exchangers: Selection, Rating, include structural mechanics, applied mechanics, control
and Thermal Performance, 1998, CRC Press, Boca engineering and instrumentation, computer aided design,
Raton, FL. design of mechanical elements, fluid mechanics and dynamics,
Kays, W.M. and London, A.L., Compact Heat Exchangers, heat and mass transfer and hydraulic machinery. The author is
1984, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY. also works as a technical manager and superintendent of Al –
Kern, D.Q. and Kraus, A.D., Extended Surface Heat Transfer, Kamali mechanical and production workshops group which
1972, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY. specializes in small, medium and large automotive overhaul
maintenance and which situated in Atbara town in the north
part of Sudan, River Nile State.