The Design of Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers - A Review

The paper considered a review for the design of a shell and tube heat exchanger. Therein, popular analytical techniques such as log mean temperature difference (LMTD) and effectiveness-number of transfer units (ε-NTU) were considered in the analysis. In the design, analysis, performance charts and tables describing the performance of the shell and tube heat exchanger in terms of crucial dimensionless parameters were developed. These fundamental dimensionless parameters account for the thermal & the physical properties of the fluids and the heat exchanger (HX) material. Using the information from the performance charts and tables, a basic design for the shell and tube heat exchanger can be readily formulated. The basic design involves choosing an appropriate number of transfer units (NTU) and capacity rate ratio for a given application. The NTU and capacity rate ratio can then be extrapolated to develop a detailed design for the shell and tube heat exchanger. Since NTU and capacity rate ratio accounts for all the significant physical and thermal properties of the heat exchanger, performance tables and charts would certainly helpin maximizing the performance and minimizing the cost of the shell and tube heat exchanger.In the case considered herein, both LMTD and ε-NTU techniques yield the same exact results.