Investigation of shell and tube heat exchanger with segmental baffles and novel tube arrangements to enhance the performance of Re-boiler - A CFD analysis

Abstract

In this paper, a thermal performance investigation has been conducted on shell and tube heat exchangers used as re-boilers for both with and without baffles. Common steam was employed as the heating medium. A three-dimensional two-fluid numerical model was developed for the re-boiler shell side, aiming to calculate two-phase flow for thermal-hydraulics performances. Four models of shell and tube heat exchangers were created, including two (with and without baffles) with square tube arrangements and triangle tube arrangements. The shell diameters of 297mm and the length of 660 mm. The process fluid for the shell side was n-pentane, while water was selected for the tube side. The highest Nu value for a baffled triangular tube configuration was achieved. The enhancement in Nu number was found to be 58.87% and 55.61% for the baffled triangular and squire tube arrangement respectively when compared with the no baffled tube.