INTRODUCTION

A heat exchanger is a device which affects the transfer of heat from one fluid to another fluid
(with or without direct contact). The main objective of a heat exchanger is to add heat to a cold fluid
or to remove heat from a hot fluid. There are two types of heat exchangers. They are Open type and
Closed type. Closed type again three two more types, namely, Parallel flow, counter flow and
crossflow. Here in the practical, only parallel flow is tested. In parallel flow, both the hot and cold
fluids flow in the same direction, where as in the counter flow the hot and cold fluids flow in the
opposite directions.
Here a shell and tube type of heat exchanger is used. These heat exchanger principles are
vastly applied on vehicle radiators, air conditioning systems, steam condensers and etc. Other uses
are in cooling systems. The effectiveness of these heat exchangers are based on the ways they are
constructed and the pattern of flow used.

OBJECTIVES
 To observe the working principles of a heat exchanger working under parallel and counter flow.
 Obtaining the heat transfer coefficient, power emitted, absorbed, and lost, the log mean
temperature difference, and the overall efficiency to compare the two types of flows.

THEORY
One of the most important things in a heat exchanger is the overall heat transfer coefficient.
Even though it is important, it is not easy to obtain the overall heat transfer coefficient experimentally.
The overall heat transfer coefficient depends on the fluid convention and the wall conduction
resistances as well as the resistances caused by the deposits and chemical reactions known as fouling
which takes place on the surface of the heat exchanger during normal operation. The usage of the fins
will also affect this coefficient. The fins will be reducing the overall resistance by increasing the area
available to transfer the heat.
𝑞 = 𝑈𝐴∆𝑇𝑙𝑚
∆Tm – Log mean temperature difference
U – overall heat transfer coefficient
A – Surface area
q – heat transferred

Here, the temperature difference is taken as log mean temperature difference. It is because
the temperatures at inlet and exit for hot and cold fluids are normally readily available, therefore we
have to find the log mean temperature expression in terms of these inlet and exit temperatures.

1
 (∆𝑇2 − ∆𝑇1 )
∆𝑇𝑚 =
ln(∆𝑇2 /∆𝑇1 )
(∆𝑇1 − ∆𝑇2 )
=
ln(∆𝑇1 /∆𝑇2 )

PARALLEL FLOW

COUNTER FLOW

Figure 1-Types of heat exchangers

For parallel flow heat exchanger;

∆𝑇1 = 𝑇ℎ𝑖 − 𝑇𝑐𝑖
∆𝑇2 = 𝑇ℎ𝑜 − 𝑇𝑐𝑜
Overall heat transfer coefficient – U
𝑞𝑎𝑏𝑠
𝑈=
𝐴∆𝑇𝑙𝑚
Here, the calculation is done by obtaining the heat absorbed and the heat emitted. It is assumed
that kinetic energy and the potential energy is negligible and that the specific heat is constant.
Therefore, by using an energy balance for the system;
2
 𝑞̅𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑑 = (𝑉̅ 𝜌𝑐𝑝 )𝑐 (𝑇𝑐𝑜 − 𝑇𝑐𝑖 )
𝑞̅𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑑 = (𝑉̅ 𝜌𝑐𝑝 )ℎ (𝑇ℎ𝑖 − 𝑇ℎ𝑜 )

By assuming that the heat exchanger is not adiabatic, we can get;

𝑞𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 = 𝑞𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑑 − 𝑞𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑑

Efficiency of the heat exchanger = 𝜂;

𝑞̅𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑑
𝜂= × 100
𝑞̅𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑑

APPARATUS
 Heat exchanger apparatus
 Thermometer
 Two collecting jars (one for hot fluid and other for cold fluid)
 Water supply
 Steam boiler
 Stop watch

Figure 2-Heat Exchanger Apparatus

3
PROCEDURE
 First, the apparatus was set for parallel flow.
 Then, the steam supply tube was connected to the heat exchanger.
 Next, the steam boiler was turned on.
 Then, a water supply with a sufficient flow rate was connected to the heat exchanger.
 Next, when the water started to boil, and when the steam pressure was about 4-5 bars, the
throttling valve was open to let steam into the heat exchanger.
 Then, when the flow rate of condensed water was constant and after the system was bled of
air, a stop watch was turned on and collecting jars were kept at the cold water and hot water
outlets.
 Water was collected in the jars for a known time period, and the temperature of cold water in,
cold water out and temperature of condensed water out was taken down using a thermometer.
 The temperature of hot water in was obtained via a steam table at the pressure which steam
was transferred from the boiler.

4
RESULTS
Initial pressure of steam - P1 - 2.5 bar

Final pressure of steam - P2 - 1.5 bar

Temperature of Cold water out - Tcout - 720C

Volume of cold water out - Vc - 1225 ml

Temperature of Hot water out - THout - 750C

Volume of cold water out - VH - 170 ml

Time taken - T - 02.56.70 minutes

Rate of cold water flow - 𝑉̅𝑐 - 0.42 l/min = 7×10-6m3/s

Temperature of Cold water in - Tcin - 250C

Temperature of Hot steam in - THin - 111.30C (from steam tables at 1.5 Bar)
Rate of hot water flow - 𝑉̅ℎ - 0.0576 l/min = 9.6×10-7m3/s
Density of water - ρc - 1000 kg/m3
Density of steam (at 720C) - ρh - 1/Va (at 720C) = 1/4.678m3/kg = 0.2138 kg/m3

Dimensions of the heat exchanger;

Copper tube outer diameter - 9.55mm
Copper tube thickness - 0.68mm
Copper tube total length - 2271.8mm

𝐴 = 𝑙×2×𝜋×𝑟
= 2271.8𝑚𝑚 × 2 × 𝜋 × 4.1𝑚𝑚
= 0.0585𝑚2

 Note:tThe practical was conducted only for the parallel flow set up

5
CALCULATIONS
∆𝑇2 − ∆𝑇1
∆𝑇𝑙𝑚 =
ln(∆𝑇2 /∆𝑇1 )
∆𝑇1 = 𝑇ℎ𝑖 − 𝑇𝑐𝑖
= 111.3 − 25 = 86.3
∆𝑇2 = 𝑇ℎ𝑜 − 𝑇𝑐𝑜
= 75 − 72 = 3

∆𝑇2 − ∆𝑇1
∆𝑇𝑙𝑚 =
ln(∆𝑇2 /∆𝑇1 )
(3 − 86.3)
=
ln(3/86.3)
= 24.8

𝑞𝑎𝑏𝑠
𝑈=
𝐴∆𝑇𝑚

𝑞̅𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑑 = (𝑉̅ 𝜌𝑐𝑝 )𝑐 (𝑇𝑐𝑜 − 𝑇𝑐𝑖 )

= (7 × 10−6 𝑚3 /𝑠 × 1000𝑘𝑔/𝑚3 × 4200𝑘𝐽/𝑘𝑔𝐾)(72 − 25)𝐾

= 1381.8 𝑊
𝑞̅𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑑 = (𝑉̅ 𝜌𝑐𝑝 )ℎ (𝑇ℎ𝑖 − 𝑇ℎ𝑜 )

= (9.6 × 10−7 𝑚3 /𝑠 × 0.2138𝑘𝑔/𝑚3 × 4200𝑘𝐽/𝑘𝑔𝐾)(111.3 − 75)𝐾

= 0.03129 𝑊
𝑞𝑎𝑏𝑠
𝑈=
𝐴∆𝑇𝑚
1381.8 𝑊
=
0.0585𝑚2 × 24.8
= 𝟗𝟓𝟐. 𝟒𝟒 𝑾𝒎−𝟐
𝑞̅𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 = 𝑞̅𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑑 − ̅𝑞𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑑
= 0.03129 𝑊 − 1381.8 𝑊
= −𝟏𝟑𝟖𝟏. 𝟕𝟕 𝑾

𝑞̅𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑑
𝜂= × 100
𝑞̅𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑑
1381.8 𝑊
= × 100
0.03129 𝑊
= 𝟒𝟒𝟏𝟔𝟏𝟎𝟕. 𝟑𝟖%

6
Figure 3-Temperature Distribution for Parallel Flow Heat Exchanger

7
DISCUSSION
Errors
During the experiment process, few errors were noted. These errors could be a main reason
for the deviations and errors in readings. It was observed that the rate of flow of cold water was not
constant throughout the practical. When the cold water flow was observed to obtain the rate of flow,
it was observed that the rate was not uniform throughout the practical. It is mainly due to not using
special valves to adjust the water flow rate. This could result in inaccurate cold water flow rates.
Another error is that the rate of steam flow. Since the boiler in the experiment was very small,
the amount of steam produced is very less. Therefore, the steam pressure reduces quickly, and as a
result, the input temperature of steam also varies accordingly. If the boiler is big, it could contain a
higher amount of steam in it and the initial and final pressure difference will not be of a high
difference, and hence the temperature of the inlet steam will not vary a lot. When the stop watch was
started, the recorded pressure was 2.5 bar and when the stop watch was stopped, the pressure shown
was 1.5bar. By this we can see that there is a difference of 1 bar in the pressures. At 2.5bar, the
temperature of steam is about 1270C and at 1.5 bar the temperature is about 1110C (data obtained via
steam tables), hence we can see that there is a temperature difference throughout the process. Usage
of a larger boiler could reduce this error. For calculations, the pressure 1.5 bar was taken as steady
state and the steam inlet temperature was obtained.
The flow rate of the hot fluid was obtained by using the volume of water condensed. Here, it
was noted that water escaped the tube as steam too. That respective volume was not taken into account
when taking the flow rate. Since the visible amount of steam escaped was high, this reduction in the
flow rate could have resulted in a very low power emitted. If the steam escaped was also taken into
account, we could have obtained a more acceptable value for the power emitted.
During the process of obtaining results, steady state was not reached, it was assumed at steady
state and the readings were taken down. This could also be one of the many errors in this practical.

Improvements
It was observed that the non-uniform cold water flow rate was an issue in the setup. To get rid
of this, a constant pressure pump or a constant pressure head could be used. By using one of the
mentioned, a uniform flow rate could be obtained for the practical process, which will give more
accurate outcomes.
The steam boiler used here was a very small one. The volume and pressure of steam which it
could accommodate is very low. By using a bigger boiler with a higher pressure limit, a higher amount
of steam could be stored in it, and when the steam is used for the practical, the pressure drop will be
minimum since it has a higher pressure and the boiler heats up water and produces more steam in the

8
time being. As a result, the temperature difference of the steam at the initial point and final point will
be very low.

Heat Exchangers in Industry

Heat exchangers are very commonly used in both industry and day to day life. in day to day
life, these heat exchangers are used in Air conditioners, Refrigerators, Automobiles and etc.
1.) Food industry
In food industry, heat exchangers are used to cool down various products. Products like
hazelnut paste and several other pastes need to be cooled down or heated up to process them
further, for this, heat exchangers are used.
Scraped Surface Heat Exchangers (SSHE) are used in these food related applications. They
are designed for materials with higher viscosity and to exchange heat in several heat sensitive
items such as fruit pulps. Due to the continuous scraping phenomenon, it ensures a uniform
heating process and it prevents fouling. There are several types of SSHE’s used in the food
industry and out of them, Alternate Blade Scraped Surface Heat Exchanger is proven to be highly
efficient in the food paste heating and cooling process. Here the amount of heat transfer can be
adjusted by changing various parameters of the exchanger.
2.) Ethanol Production
Nowadays, ethanol is gaining much popularity as an alternative type of fuel which could
replace conventional fossil fuels. Here, instead on single or double heat exchangers a network of
heat exchangers is used. By the usage of heat exchangers, the energy can be saved and the waste
heat can be utilized.
In the production process of ethanol, the spirit is first boiled and evaporated, and then the
vapour is sent via a heat exchanger and condensed to form into a distilled liquid. It is said that
this distillation process increases the strength or the concentration of this ethanol. It also purifies
the ethanol spirit.
3.) Pulp and Paper industry
In the pulp and paper industry, a large amount of energy is used in the drying process. This
drying is an essential process carries out in the paper industry. Heat exchangers are used here for
air heating purposes, which also reduces the amount of electricity used up.
For this process, steam heat exchangers are used. They are often used to heat up air. The
heated air will be used to dry wood pulp in mills and wood in kiln dryers. In these heat
exchangers, the most commonly used heat transfer fluid used is water and water-glycol mixture.
These steam heat exchangers are known as steam coils and they sometimes malfunction and fail
the coils. These coils sometimes break due to the condensate freezing up.

9
4.) Automobile industry
In the automobile industry, heat exchangers are used for both radiators and air condition
condensers. Radiators are used to cool down the engine temperature of a vehicle and the air
conditioning condenser is used to release the heat of the compressor gas in the air conditioning
system. Here (in radiators), the heat exchangers used are similar to shell and tube heat exchangers
in cross flow design, with many tube passes. The coolant is pumped through the exchanger while
it is cooled down using air. Since the goal here is to remove heat from the system, the heat
exchanger need to have a maximum heat transfer from the system. Here in these radiators, water
is used because it has a very high heat capacity and a thermal conductivity. Addition of coolant
to water lowers the k value of water while it increases the boiling temperature and reduces the
freezing temperature.
5.) Pharmaceutical Industry
Heat exchangers play a huge role in the pharmaceutical industry. It is very efficient and
convenient. The main advantage of using heat exchangers is that it has the ability to reliably and
consistently cool technology without using very large quantities of energy. These heat
exchangers are used in cooling electrical circuits, machinery to keep them from overheating.
In the pharmaceutical industry, more than the cooling of machinery and electronics, the
heat exchangers are used in maintaining temperatures of pharmaceutical solutions and chemicals.
These chemicals often have to be mixed or combined at specific temperatures for a required
amount of time. Since heat exchangers have the ability to provide a reliable thermal management
process for longer periods, they are the ideal solution for the application. They can also improve
the production rates and increase the quality of products.

10
CONCLUSION
Heat exchangers have many advantages both in industry and domestic use. A heat exchanger
with a higher efficiency can be very helpful in both the above mentioned cases. These heat exchangers
are often modified according to the requirement of the application.
This practical process explains the basic principles of a heat exchanger and how it can be used
for applications.
In conclusion, heat exchangers are efficient devices to transfer heat from one fluid to another,
and these can be used in many applications for a perfect output. This practical process was not 100%
successful, but the process was sufficient to get a basic idea about the concepts and the working
principles of a heat exchanger.

11
REFERENCES
 Tutor Hunt [2019] Applications of heat exchangers [online]. Available at:
https://www.tutorhunt.com/resource/16340/ Accessed on: April 2, 2019
 Thermo Fin [2018] Pulp and paper industry [online]. Available at:
http://www.thermofin.net/industries-we-serve/pulp-and-paper-industry/ Accessed on: April
2, 2019
 Non Thermal [2017] Heat exchangers in Pharmaceutical Industry [online]. Available at:
https://norenthermal.com/blog/2017/10/how-are-heat-exchangers-used-in-the-
pharmaceutical-industry/ Accessed on: April 2, 2019

12