TH553 · Shell-and-Tube Exchanger

Shell-and-Tube Heat Exchanger Module for TH550

Experiments

Energy balance on both streams - heat duty from mass flow rate and temperature rise, tube side against shell side
Co-current and counter-current connection of the two circuits, and comparison of the resulting temperature profiles
Why shell-side flow is neither purely co-current nor purely counter-current, and the correction factor this imposes on the logarithmic mean temperature difference
Role of the segmental baffles - the shell-side film coefficient with the flow forced across the bundle rather than along it
Determination of the overall heat transfer coefficient from the measured duty and the bundle area
Visual tracing of the shell-side path through the clear shell, the flow pattern a steel industrial exchanger hides completely

Description

The shell-and-tube exchanger is the workhorse of the process industry. A bundle of parallel tubes is sealed into a tubesheet at each end and enclosed in a cylindrical shell: one fluid flows through the tubes, the other through the shell, over the outside of the bundle. Left to itself the shell-side fluid would run straight down the shell and barely touch the tubes; segmental baffles prevent that, each blocking part of the cross-section so the flow has to turn and sweep across the bundle. This converts a lazy parallel flow into a series of cross-flow passes, raising the shell-side film coefficient sharply, and it also supports the tubes against vibration. On this module the shell is clear PMMA and the baffles are visible through it, so the flow path an industrial steel exchanger hides completely can be seen and traced directly.

Top view of the TH553 shell-and-tube heat exchanger module

Flange & end cover

Shell-side nozzles

Base plate

Clear PMMA shell

21-tube bundle

Segmental baffles

Top view of the TH553 shell-and-tube heat exchanger module

Specifications

Base unit Sangari TH550

Shell ø160 × ø150 mm clear PMMA, 580 mm

Tube bundle 21 × ø10 × ø8 mm stainless steel

Tube length 520 mm

Tube outer surface ≈ 0.34 m² (0.27 m² inner)

Baffles 5 segmental, 2 mm stainless steel

Baffle geometry ø150 mm, 85 mm segment

Shell nozzles brass G1/4 nipples

Sealing ø140 × 5 O-ring per end, ø9 × 2.5 per tube

Flow arrangement co-current or counter-current, by swapping the cold-side couplings

Working temperature 0…100 °C

Couplings 4 × DN 7.2 quick-release

Base plate 555 × 355 × 4 mm

Module envelope 701 × 355 × 246 mm

Water Supply

31 kg

Shell-and-Tube Heat Exchanger Module for TH550

Experiments

Description

Specifications

Mastering Heat Exchangers Lab