ADHITHYA SARASWATHI RAJAN

G1303067E

M.Sc. AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

Heat Exchanger
E3.1AE

Submitted By: Adhithya Saraswathi Rajan G1303067E School of Mechanical and Aerospace

ADHITHYA SARASWATHI RAJAN

G1303067E

M.Sc. AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

OBJECTIVE:
To perform experiments for comparing the parallel and counter flow, and also to determine the effect of fluid velocity on the surface heat transfer coefficient for counter flow inside and outside the tube.

THEORY:
When there is a temperature gradient, heat is transferred. There are three modes heat transfer, viz. Conduction, Convection and Radiation. All these three can exist in a single operation. For example, in a heat exchanger the heat transfer through fluids is by the combination of conduction and convection. The effect of radiation is not significant at lower temperatures. Conduction is the transfer of energy from the more energetic particles of a substance to the adjacent less energetic ones as a result of interactions between the particles. In the case of heat exchangers it is assumed that the curvature effects of the tube wall are negligible and hence it can be seen as a plane wall for simplicity. Fouriers Law for 1 -D conduction through a plane wall is given by:

Where Q = heat transfer rate. k = thermal conductivity of the wall material. A = area normal to the direction of heat flow. x = thickness of the wall. T = temperatures difference between the upstream (T1) and downstream (T2) of the wall respectively. Comparing the above equation with the corresponding electrical equation : V = IR, it can be said that the resistance to heat conduction by the plane wall is:

Convection is the mode of energy transfer between a solid surface and the adjacent liquid or gas that is in motion, and it involves the combined effects of conduction and fluid motion. There are namely two types of convection: (1) Forced Convection, in which the motion of the fluid is caused by mechanical means such as a pump. (2) Free Convection, in which the motion of the fluid is caused by natural means such as heating. Also the flow is classified into two types: (1) Laminar & (2) Turbulent. In laminar flow (Re<2300) fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption between the layers. This type of flow occurs at lower velocities. While in turbulent flow (Re>2300) it is characterized by

ADHITHYA SARASWATHI RAJAN

G1303067E

M.Sc. AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

chaotic property changes. In this high momentum convection is present. Hence forced convection in turbulent flows gives better heat transfer in a heat exchanger. The rate of convective heat transfer to or from a surface is given by the Newtons Law of cooling: Q = hA(Tf Ts) Where Q = heat transfer rate. h = surface heat transfer coefficient. A = heat transfer area. Tf = temperature of the fluid. Ts = temperature of the surface. Also, the resistance of the surface will be given as: R= =

In a typical heat exchanger, the heat is transferred from a hot fluid, through a separating wall, to a colder fluid. Hence heat is to be driven through three resistances in series, which can be given by the following formula: R = Rhot +Rwall + Rcold = + +

from a temperature of Th to Tc . The subscripts h and c denote the respective properties at the hot and cold surfaces. Hence the rate of heat transfer is given by:

In a heat exchanger we may assume that the tube wall may be thin. Hence Ah=Ac=A=Am. Therefore the rate of heat transfer maybe written as: Q = UAm(Th Tc) Where U = overall heat transfer coefficient = Am = mean area Th = Temperature of hot fluid Tc = Temperature of cold fluid

In a heat exchanger there can be two ways in which the two fluids (hot and cold) meet: (1)Parallel flow, (2) Counter flow. In parallel flow both the hot fluid and cold fluid flow in the same direction from inlet to outlet. While in the counter flow the fluids flow in the opposite direction.

ADHITHYA SARASWATHI RAJAN

G1303067E

M.Sc. AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

Fig.: Temperature variation over length of the tube. Log-mean-temperature-difference [LMTD]: We know that,

We can use this equation to separately examine the hot and cold fluid flow: dQ = - Ch*dTh ; where Ch = (mCp)h - (2) and, dQ = Cc*dTc ; where Cc = (mCp)c (3) The expression for heat transfer between fluids is:

On rearranging (2) & (3) we get,

and
1 Ch Substituting (4) in the above eqn. we get, d(Th-Tc) = U (Th - Tc Ch Cc 1 1 ) dA 1 ) Cc

dTh - dTc = d(Th-Tc) = Q (-

On integrating the above equation:

ADHITHYA SARASWATHI RAJAN

G1303067E

M.Sc. AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

1 = U (Ch

1 ) Cc

Also by integrating equations (2) & (3), we get, Q = - Ch (Th2 - Th1)

Q = Cc (Tc2 - Tc1)
Replacing the specific heats found in the above equations in the equation (5), Th2-Tc2 ln [ Th1-Tc1 ]= Q UA [ (Th2 - Th1) (Tc1 - Tc2) ]

Rearranging the above equation into a familiar way:

Q = UA

= Log Mean Temperature Difference [LMTD]. The heat transfer calculations in heat exchangers are eased if the LMTD is used. The larger the LMTD the more is the heat transferred. It has been assumed that the rate of change for the temperature of both fluids is proportional to the temperature difference, but if the specific heat changes the LMTD is no longer accurate. Overall surface heat transfer coefficient between inner surface and hot stream:

hh =
Overall surface heat transfer coefficient between outer surface and cold stream:

hc =

ADHITHYA SARASWATHI RAJAN

G1303067E

M.Sc. AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

Parallel and Counter Flow The first part of the experiment is to compare the parallel and counter flow. The data table1 shows the comparison of heat transfer between the parallel and counter flows. When the tables last two rows are observed it can be seen that heat transfer from hot water (2633.4 W) and cold water (1638.56 W) in counter flow is higher than the heat transfer rate in parallel flow (2090 W & 1496.44 W respectively). With this data it can be concluded that the heat transfer is more efficient in the counter flow. It can also be said that the exit temperature of the hot water is lower in the case of counter flow when compared to the parallel flow which is confirmed by the numeric value of T6 = 52.6 oC and 55 oC for the exit temperature of hot stream for counter and parallel flow respectively. The other point to be noted is that the initial temperature for both the flows is almost the same. It can also be noted from the table 1 that the heat transfer rate for the cold fluid and the hot fluid are not same. Hence it can be said that all the heat is not transferred from the hot fluid to the cold fluid and the difference in the heat transfer is actually a heat transfer to the tube walls and to the atmosphere (as 100% insulation can never be provided). This is the reason Qh is to be used for calculations and not Qc. Also it is known that Re = DV/. Here D=7.9*10-3, =980 kg/m3,=0.434*10-3(at 65oC), Q=0.05*10-3. After calculations it is determined that Re = 18,196.56. Hence the flow is turbulent. Effect of fluid velocity on the surface heat transfer coefficients inside and outside the tube The next part of the experiment is to determine the effect of fluid velocity on the surface heat transfer coefficient. The table 4 shows the data with flow rate varying from 100% to 20%. From the table it can be observed that the overall heat transfer coefficient is linearly decreasing with the decrease in flow rate from 100% to 20%. From this table it can also be noted that the overall surface heat coefficient for inside the tube is significantly higher than that of outside the tube. By observing the graph it can be seen that the overall heat transfer coefficient (U) and overall surface heat transfer coefficient outside the tube (hc) are almost overlapping at all points. This can be explained by the following formula: U = overall heat transfer coefficient =

We already know that the wall of the tube provides very little resistance to the heat flow and hence can be neglected. Also, from the table 4 it can be seen that the overall surface heat transfer coefficient inside the tube (hh) is very large as most of the heat transfer takes place within the inner tube and therefore the inverse of this value will be small and contributes little to the overall heat transfer coefficient (U). Hence, the only contributing factor is hc and this is the reason they seem to overlap in the graph.

ADHITHYA SARASWATHI RAJAN

G1303067E

M.Sc. AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

REFERNCES:
1. www-old.me.gatech.edu/energy 2. www.engineeringtoolbox.com/water-thermal-properties-d_162.html 3. Cengel Y.A. Heat transfer A practical approach