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Shell & Tube

Heat Exchangers

EDS 2004/EXC 1-1

Presentation on shell and tube exchangers.

Heat Exchangers - Course Content

Section 1 - Introduction to Heat Transfer

Introduction to Heat Transfer Mechanisms

Conduction, Convection, and Radiation
Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient
Log Mean Temperature Difference
Example Problem - FCC Flue Gas Cooler
Hydraulics
Example Problems - Tube side Pressure Drop

EDS 2004/EXC 1-2

Table of Contents of First Section - Introduction and Basics of Heat Transfer

This may be a review of basic concepts but it is useful for establishing
nomenclature and symbols.

Heat Transfer Basics

Three Forms of Heat Transfer

Conduction
Convection
Radiation

EDS 2004/EXC 1-3

The three forms of heat transfer encountered in industrial situations are generally
these.
Radiation heat transfer is of little consequence in most refinery heat exchangers and
is generally ignored.

Conduction Heat Transfer

Heat transfer within a material.
Fouriers equation governs.
Q = A k dT

dx

EDS 2004/EXC 1-4

Conduction heat transfer is the transfer of heat within a material. The material can
be solid, liquid or vapor.
Q is the amount of heat transferred.
A is the area across with the heat is transferred.
k is the thermal conductivity of the material. It is a unique value for each material.
It is normally a function of temperature. In this equation, the thermal conductivity
at the average temperature should be used.
T is the temperature. dT is the differential temperature.
x is the distance that the heat is transferred. dX is the differential distance.

Convection Heat Transfer

Heat Transfer between solids and liquids/vapors
Q = A h T
where h is a function of physical properties and
geometry

EDS 2004/EXC 1-5

Convection heat transfer occurs between solids and either liquids and vapors in
contact with the solid.
Q is the amount of heat transferred.
A is the area across with the heat is transferred.
h is the heat transfer coefficient. It is generally empirically found for fluids
depending on their physical properties and the geometry of the flowing setup.
Therefore, the h value is found using different equations for flow inside a tube and
outside a tube, against a flat plate, using non-round shapes etc.
T is the temperature. T is the difference in temperature.

Conduction
Heat Transfer

Thermal Conductivity
of Various Materials

EXC-Roo-01
EDS 2004/EXC 1-6

This chart shows the thermal conductivity of various materials.

Note that the vapor materials occurs at the bottom of the chart, liquids occur higher
up, and solids near the top have the highest values of thermal conductivity.
The higher the value the easier the material transfers heat.
Most materials transfer heat better at higher temperatures, but not all.

Example - Conduction
T = 100C
2 mm

T = 30C

Boiling
Water

Hand

T
100C

dT/dx = - 35000 C/m

30C
x

dT
dx

(100-30) C
0.002 m

= 35 000 C/m

k (steel) = 46 kcal/(hr mC)

EXC-Roo-02
EDS 2004/EXC 1-7

A simple example everyone can relate to - touching a pot of boiling water with your
finger.
The inside of the the metal pot has water at its boiling point. The heat is conducted
through the metal of the pot to your finger on the outside.
Knowing the thermal conductivity of the pot, the thickness of the metal, and the
temperature of the water and your finger Continued

Example - Conduction
(continued)

o
Q
kcal
C
= 46
3500
o
m
A hr m C

Touch boiling kettle with a finger, A 1 cm x 1 cm = 0.0001 m2

Q = 0.0001 m2 x 1.61x106 kcal/hr/m2 = 161 kcal/hr
= 189 W
= 368 BTU/hr

EDS 2004/EXC 1-8

The amount of heat transferred to your finger can be calculated.

Using the various sets of units of measure.
It will be noted that the values shown here are actually very low compared to the
heat transfer rates in refinery type equipment.

Resistances in Series
L1

L2
T1

L3
T2

T hot

T cold

k1
T

k2

Fouling Tube wall

k3
Fouling

Tube metal has higher conductivity than fouling

EXC-Roo-03
EDS 2004/EXC 1-9

A slightly more complicated problem involves conduction through multiple layers

in series.
In this case, three layers are shown. This could represent the case of a tube with
fouling on both sides.
The amount the temperature drops in each layer is a function of the relative values
of thermal conductivity. The higher the value the less the temperature drop as there
is less resistance to heat transfer.

Resistances in Series
(continued)

Heat flux is calculated as follows:

Th Tc
Q
=
= k eff (Th Tc )
A L1 L 2 L 3

k + k + k
1
2
3

L
L
L
so k eff = 1 + 2 + 3
k

1 k2 k3

EDS 2004/EXC 1-10

The last example can be substituted into the conduction equation. By making up a
factor called k eff (effective thermal conductivity), the series conduction problem
looks just like the single layer problem.
In other words, the effective resistance is the sum of all the resistances. L1/k1 is the
resistance of the layer 1.
Once you have Q, any intermediate temperatures can be calculated:
Q
= T T
h 1
k
1 A
L
1

get T1, etc.

Convection Heat Transfer

Tubeside heat transfer coefficient
Use Dittus-Boelter Equation:
increase this
k
Di
Cp

v
k
Cp

v
Di

hi ....
increases
DECREASES
increases
DECREASES
increases
increases

= Thermal conductivity
= Specific heat
= Viscosity
= Density
= Velocity
= Inside diameter

hi =

Cp
k
0 .023

Di
k

1/ 3

Di v

0 .8

collect variables:
h i = 0 .023

k 2/ 3
D 0i . 2

Cp

1/ 3

0 .467 ( v )

0 .8

Correct for Outside Surface Area:

D
h io = i h i
Do

EDS 2004/EXC 1-11

Convection heat transfer is the second type to be discussed.

In convection the heat transfer is found empirically for each type of geometry. This
equation covers single phase heat transfer in a circular tube. The heat transfer
coefficient is a function of the physical properties of the fluid.
The table on the left shows the effect of changing each of the variables in the
equation. Note that the two factors that hurt heat transfer are increasing diameter
and increasing viscosity. Heat transfer is worse in larger tubes and with more
viscous fluids.
The last equation corrects this coefficient, which is calculated based on inside
diameter to the outside diameter of the tubes. All of the heat transfer equations
refer to the area across which the heat is transferred. To make that a consistent area
is used, all calculations are based on the area of the outside diameter of the tubes.
Therefore, this inside coefficient must be corrected.

Convection Heat Transfer

(continued)

Shellside Coefficient
Equation from Kern:
increase this
k
De
Cp

ho ....
increases
DECREASES
increases
DECREASES
increases
increases

h o = 0 .36

k De v

De

0 . 55

Cp

1/ 3

0 .14

Collect Variables:
h o = 0 .36

k 2/ 3
De

0 . 45

0 . 22

( v )

0 .55

Cp

1/ 3

0 .14

The last term (viscosity correction) is usually

small, and we will ignore it.
EDS 2004/EXC 1-12

This equation is the convection equation for fluid flowing on the outside of a
circular tube. The form of the equation is similar. An additional term that corrects
for the viscosity of the fluid at the wall temperature is present.
Again, increasing the diameter and viscosity hurts the heat transfer rate.
The diameter here is an equivalent diameter that will be covered later.

Combined Conduction
and Convection Coefficients
L

h1

h2

hot

cold

k tube
T

Tube wall

EXC-R00-04
EDS 2004/EXC 1-13

Combining the conduction and convection problems.

Consider a flat surface with fluids on each side. The heat is transferred from the hot
fluid to the surface by convection. Conduction occurs in the surface. A second
convection rate is on the other side of the surface.
This looks similar to the series conduction problem.

Combined Conduction and Convection

(continued)

Th Tc
Q
=
= k eff ( Th Tc )
A L1 L 2 L 3
+
+

k1 k 2 k 3

h1

h2

substitute as shown
U for keff (convention)

Th Tc
Q
= U ( Th Tc )
=
A 1
1
L
+
+

h 1 k tube h 2

There may be a few solid layers present (tube, 2 fouling layers).

EDS 2004/EXC 1-14

If you look at the equation for the series conduction problem and substitute the
convection heat transfer terms, our effective conductivity term becomes an effective
heat transfer term for the overall problem. This is call U or the Overall Heat
Transfer Coefficient.

Combined Conduction and Convection

(continued)

The overall resistance is the sum of the individual

resistances.

Th Tc
Q
= U (Th Tc )
=
A 1 xf

+ i + L + xfo + 1
hi k ktube kfo ho
fi

or
Q = U A T
EDS 2004/EXC 1-15

The U value term can be expanded to include the fouling layers on both sides of the
surface.
The U value becomes an easy way to relate the amount of heat being transferred to
the area and the temperature difference.

Combined Conduction and Convection

(continued)
Round Geometry

Tube wall is curved; outside area is different from

inside area: tubewall resistance is calculated as:

ro log e o
r
1 ro
1

i +
+
U=

h r
k tube
ho
i
i

or if you include fouling resistances

1 r
U= o
h r
i i

ro

ro log e r 1
i + +r ro +r
+
fi
fo

k tube
ho
ri

EDS 2004/EXC 1-16

Up to this point, the surface we showed were flat. Most tubular heat exchangers use
round geometries. A slight correction needs to be made due to the curvature of the
tubes versus a flat surface.
Therefore, the bottom equation describes the U value for most tubular type heat
exchangers.
This equation shows that BEFORE combining resistances they must be based on the
same area. The equation shown is based on the OUTER tube area, which is the
convention in the heat transfer industry.

Temperature Difference
When calculating duty, what T should be used here?
t out = 130

T out = 90

T in = 150

t in = 80

(Tin t out ) (Tout t in )

Teff =
= Tlog mean
Tin t out

log e

Tout t in

EDS 2004/EXC 1-17

Q=UAT is the basic equation for heat transfer in exchangers.

We have just talked about the U value.
The A or area is that of the outside of the tubes.
We still need to discuss the T term.
In a typical exchanger, there are two fluids entering and leaving. Each of these four
points has a temperature. Which temperature difference do we use?
For the exchanger shown in the last picture, one where the two fluids flow in
precisely opposite direction (counter current flow), the temperature difference is
found using this formula. This is referred to as the log mean temperature difference
of LMTD.

Temperature Difference
(continued)

In practice, pure countercurrent flow situations

often do not exist.
For example: Most exchangers have more than
one tube-pass.
hotout
b

hotin
coldout

coldin
EXC-Roo-06
EDS 2004/EXC 1-18

However, few if any exchangers are really using counter current flow. This
diagram shows a more typical exchanger. The tube side fluid travels the length of
the exchanger twice. One trip in the bottom half and the return in the top half. At
the same time, the shell side fluid travels once along the length of the exchanger,
but many times back and forth across it.
Again, which temperature difference is used here?

Temperature Difference
(continued)

T in the top half of the bundle > T bottom half.

What is the EFFECTIVE TEMPERATURE
difference in the exchanger?
What is T at a, b and c and d?
This is a difficult question. The answer
varies depending on all 4 inlet/outlet
temperatures.
We know that T effective is LESS than Tlm.

EDS 2004/EXC 1-19

The temperature differences are different at each end of the bundle and the
difference between the temperature of the two fluids is different depending where
along its journey it is.
The bottom line is that the temperature difference is less than that in a true counter
current flow case.
We will return to this problem later.

Example Calculation
FCC Flue Gas Cooler
Flue gas on the tubeside.
Boiler feed water is on the shellside.
Flue Gas: 51500 kg/hr, in at 740C, density = 0.81 kg/m3,
Cp = 0.259 kcal/kg/C, = 2.2 x 10-5 kg/s-m,
k = 0.029 kcal/hr/m/C.

EDS 2004/EXC 1-20

Example calculation problem.

The flue gases from an FCC regenerator are often cooled to protect pollution
control equipment or merely to conserve energy. The cooling is typically done in a
waste heat steam generator. In this case, the flue gas will flow on the inside of the
tubes while boiler feed water and steam is on the shell side.
The flue gas conditions and properties are listed here.

Example Calculation
(continued)

a) Calculate hio if there are 350 tubes, 1.75" OD (44.45

mm), 0.2" (5.1 mm) wall thickness.
b) Given the BFW coefficient as
ho =8 600kcal/hr/m2/C, bulk water temperature =
240C and using tube metal thermal conductivity
of = 37 kcal/hr/m/C, calculate tubewall temperatures.
c) What happens if BFW supply is lost ?

EDS 2004/EXC 1-21

Part A - Calculated the inside heat transfer coefficient for the flue gas stream using
the tube data.
Part B - Given the shell side heat transfer coefficient and conditions, calculate the
tube wall temperatures.
Part C - Predict what will happen if the supply of boiler feed water is lost.

Solution to Problem - FCC Flue Gas Cooler

Part a)
1) Calculate velocity:
Volumetric flow =

m3
51500 m 3
= 17.66
s
0 .81 3600 s

( 0.04445 2 0 .0051)
= 0 .323 m 2
4
2

tube flow area = 350

velocity =

17.66
= 54 .6 m s
0 .323

2) Calculate Reynolds number

D v ( 0.04445 2 0 .0051) 54 .6 0.81
Re = i
= 68 851
=

2.2 x 10 5

3) Calculate Pr
5
C p 0 .259 2.2 x 10 3600

= 0 .706
Pr =
=

0 .029
k

Part A First calculate the flue gas velocity.

Then calculate the Reynolds Number.
Then find the Prandtl Number.

EDS 2004/EXC 1-22

Solution to Problem - FCC Flue Gas Cooler

(continued)

4) Calculate inside heat transfer coefficient

Cp
k
hi =
0.023

Di
k
hi =

1/ 3

Di v

0 .8

0.029
1/ 3
0 .8
0.023 ( 0.706) ( 68851)
0.04445 2 ( 0.0051)

h i = 128.6 kcal / hr / m 2 / C

5) Correct to tube outside diameter

hio = 0.7705 hi = 99.1 kcal/hr/m2/C
EDS 2004/EXC 1-23

Now calculate the inside heat transfer coefficient and correct it for the outside area
of the tubes.

Solution to Problem - FCC Flue Gas Cooler

(continued)

Part b)
1) Calculate tubewall resistance
r
ro log e o
ri
resis tan ce =
k tube
0.04445
0.04445

log

0.04445 2 0.0051
Chr m 2
2
=
= 0.00015
37
kcal

EDS 2004/EXC 1-24

Part B Calculate the resistance in the tube wall itself. Remember the tube is round.

Solution to Problem - FCC Flue Gas Cooler

(continued)

2) Calculate U

r
ro log e o

ri
ro
1
1

U=
+
+
+ rfi + rfo
h io

k tube
ho
ri

1
1

U=
+ 0.00015 +
+ 0 + 0
99.1

8600

= 96.55

kcal
hr m 2 C

Q
kcal
= 96.55 ( 740 240 ) = 48 276
A outside
hr m 2
EDS 2004/EXC 1-25

Using the inside heat transfer coefficient, the given outside coefficient, the
calculated tube wall resistance, and ignoring any fouling resistances, the Overall
Heat Transfer Coefficient (U) is now calculated.

Solution to Problem - FCC Flue Gas Cooler

(continued)

3) Calculate hot side tubewall temperature:

Q
= U ( T )
A
Q
kcal
= 48 276
= h io ( 740 Tw , hot ) = 99.1 ( 740 Tw , hot ) =
A
hr m 2
= ( 740 Tw , hot ) = 487.1 C =
= Tw , hot = 252.9 C
EDS 2004/EXC 1-26

Knowing the value of Q/A and U, the temperature differences in each layer can be
calculated. Using the inside heat transfer coefficient, and the inside bulk fluid
temperature, the temperature at the outside of the tubewall can be found.

Solution to Problem - FCC Flue Gas Cooler

(continued)

4) Calculate cold side tubewall temperature:

1
Q
kcal
= 48 276
=
( 252.9 Tw,cold ) =
2
A
resis
tan ce
hr m

( 252.9 Tw,cold ) = 48 276

C hr m 2
kcal

0
00015
= 7.3 C
.
kcal
hr m 2

Tw,cold = 252.9 7.3 C = 245.6 C

Summary:
hio = 99.1 kcal/hr/m2/C
ho = 8 600 kcal/hr/m2/C
Tubewall temperature: 253C to 246C
EDS 2004/EXC 1-27

Using the fact that the Q/A term is a constant, the temperature drop in the tube itself
can be found.
In this case, note that the heat transfer coefficient is very high on the outside of the
tubes compared to that on the inside. Therefore, most of the temperature drop is in
the flue gas itself. The temperature of the tube is much closer to that of the water
than the temperature of the flue gas.

Solution to Problem - FCC Flue Gas Cooler

(continued)

Part c)

If BFW is lost, tube will soon reach 740C

since ho approaches 0
CS tubes cannot tolerate 740C, and will crack
Time to failure is in a few minutes
Tube failure allows steam into flue gas line

EDS 2004/EXC 1-28

Part C It is obvious that if the water on the outside of the tubes is lost, the temperature of
the tubes will approach the temperature of the flue gas. This will result in a tube
failure.

Hydraulics

Tubeside P is easy to calculate.

Calculations similar to pipe flow calculations.

2f t v 2 Ln
Pt =
Di
D v
where f t 0.046 i

0.19

L = Length of tubes
n = Number of passes
ft = Friction factor
EDS 2004/EXC 1-29

Changing topics:
Pressure drop on the tube side of an exchanger is similar to pipe flow pressure drop.
The flow is generally split among many tubes in parallel and may have several
directional changes.
The equation for fluid flow in pipes is adequate.
The friction factor is a function of NRe and tube diameter and is found in the
literature.
At high NRe, f is constant for a fix tube size.
Tube ID, in.

f
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.75
1.0
1.5

0.036
0.034
0.032
0.029
0.027
0.024
0.023
0.021

Friction
Factor
Chart

EXC-Roo-07
EDS 2004/EXC 1-30

The friction factor needs to be found using a chart like this or the simplifying
equation on the last page.

Hydraulics
(continued)

Shellside P
Need to know what area to use.
Use flow area between tubes at center of shell:
# tubes = D s/p

shell

bundleshell
clearance

A fs =

tube-tube
clearance
=p-D t

Ds
(p D t ) B s
p

Ds = Shell diameter
p = pitch
Bs = Baffle spacing

EXC-Roo-08
EDS 2004/EXC 1-31

Pressure drop on the shell side is a much harder problem. As the flow progresses, it
is flowing radially and longitudinally in a cylinder. The number of tubes it is
flowing past and the diameter of the cylinder is constantly changing.
This procedure provides a simplified solution to the problem based on using the
geometry at the center of the bundle. It assumes a uniform baffle spacing along the
axis of the exchanger.
To get more accurate calculations, use a computer simulation such as HTRI or
HTFS etc.

Hydraulics
(continued)

For small bundles or accurate calculation, allow

for bundle-shell clearance.
Ps =
v=

f s D s ( Nb + 1) v 2
2 De

Ws
A fs

D v
f s = 1.79 e

0 .19

2 D t2
4p

De =
Dt

Nb = Number of baffles
Ws = Volumetric flow rate
De = Equivalent diameter

EDS 2004/EXC 1-32

Additional parameters for the calculation are given here. Note this is where the
equivalent diameter mentioned for the shell side heat transfer coefficient is defined.

Hydraulics in General
varies with flow rate, length, and diameter scales:
P f ( geometry, fluid, flow ) v 2

LengthScale

DiamScale

P2 v 2 L 2 D 1
=
P1 v 1 L 1 D 2

Length Scale (L) is length measured in direction of flow (tube

length, or shell diameter).
Diameter Scale is a length measured perpendicular to flow (tube
ID or equivalent diameter).
This general form is valid for both shell and tubeside
For highly turbulent flow, f does not change much with increase
of flow rate
Exceptions: crude and atmospheric residue, asphalt etc. Then
variation of f with flow rate must be included.
EDS 2004/EXC 1-33

In general, it is possible to compare the effect on pressure drop by modification to

the exchanger quite simply.
The pressure drop ratio is the ratio of the velocity squared, the difference in flowing
length, and the difference in flowing diameter.
This is true for either side of an exchanger. It is slightly less precise on the shell
side due to the more complicated flow paths.

Quick Estimations
Example 1
If existing exchanger has tube P = 70 kPa, and revamp
needs extra 10% flow:
Prevamp 70 kPa (1.1)2 = 70 (1.21) = 85 kPa
Example 2
A heat exchanger design has 2 tube passes, Ptube = 15
kPa (too low).
Someone proposes changing to 4 tube passes
velocity doubles, number of passes doubles:

P = 15 2 2 2 = 15 8 = 120 kPa

(too high).
EDS 2004/EXC 1-34

Example 1 - Increase the flow by 10%

This increases the velocity by 10% and has no effect on length or diameter so the
result is simply the square of the velocity or 21%.
Example 2 - Going from 2 to 4 tube passes
This doubles the velocity as half the tubes are available for each pass. It also
doubles the length as the flow goes along the axis of the exchanger 4 times instead
of twice. Therefore, the pressure drop goes up by 2 squared due to velocity times
another 2 for length for a total of 8 times.

Quick Estimations
(continued)

Example 3
Retube existing exchanger from 1" OD 16 BWG (0.065" wall)
tubes to 1" OD 14 BWG (0.083" wall) tubes (same flow rate)
Old Tube ID is = 1" - 2 (0.065") = 0.870"
New Tube ID is = 1" - 2 (0.083") = 0.834
2

P14 v 14 0.870
=

P16 v 16 0.834
2

0.870 2 0.870 0.870 5

=
=

= 1.24
0.834 0.834 0.834

Therefore, this retubing will increase the pressure drop by 24%.

EDS 2004/EXC 1-35

Example 3 - Retubing the exchanger with slightly thicker tubes

The velocity increase by the square of the change in inside diameter. Therefore, the
pressure drop increases by the ratio of the diameters to the fourth due to the velocity
and once more due to the change in diameter. Therefore, the ratio of pressure drops
is the 5th power of the diameter ratio. So the 4% change in diameter results in a
24% change in pressure drop.