ME 320: Heat Transfer Laboratory

Heat Exchanger Design Project

Brazed Plate Heat Exchanger Photo courtesy of Econo Heat, Inc.

http://www.econoheat.com

© 2005 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

All Rights Reserved
ME 320: Heat Transfer Laboratory
Heat Exchanger Design Project
I. Introduction

This handout describes a team-based design project to be used with the ME 320 Heat Exchanger
Laboratory. A laboratory report, as described in the ME 320 Heat Exchanger Laboratory handout, will be
written by each team covering the testing and analysis of heat exchangers. In addition, your team will
complete the heat exchanger design project described in this handout. This portion of the heat
exchanger laboratory will consist of a written report by your team covering information requested for your
team’s design project. In addition to team grades assigned to the written reports by instructors, team
members will complete peer evaluations in order to help assess the level of each team member’s
participation in the activities.
The project considers the design of “brazed plate” heat exchangers. Your team will be assigned
a specific situation in which a heat exchanger is to be designed at minimum cost. The goal will be to
determine how many plates (along with other parameters such as length of the plates, flow rate of the
cold fluid) result in the most economical heat exchanger. Communication and division of responsibilities
among team members are very important. Each member of a team, however, will be expected to be
familiar with all aspects of the laboratory and design project reports. Suggestions will be made in the
following sections regarding division of responsibilities. As a cooperative learning exercise,
communication among different teams is also encouraged. Members from different teams with similar
project responsibilities may wish to meet to discuss their ideas and approaches to project activities.

II. Background

A. Heat Exchanger Information

The laboratory handout on heat exchangers and your textbook are the primary references
required for these activities. Be sure to review these concepts and discuss any questions with instructors
and team members. The laboratory activity portion of the heat exchanger project is meant to familiarize
you with the performance of heat exchangers. Be sure to understand the “log-mean temperature
difference” (LMTD) and the “effectiveness-NTU” (ε-NTU) methods for predicting heat exchanger
performance.
The type of heat exchanger to be analyzed in the design project is called a “brazed plate” heat
exchanger. This type of heat exchanger is a member of the “flat plate” heat exchanger family that is a
very popular type of heat exchanger because of its compactness and high performance level. A web-
search is recommended in order to find information on these heat exchangers. Try the following search
words: “flat plate heat exchangers”, “brazed plate heat exchangers”, “plate exchangers”. Typical
dimensions and performance information (heat transfer and pressure drop) will be available at a number

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ME 320: Heat Transfer Laboratory
Heat Exchanger Design Project
of these sites. Do not contact dealers or representatives for information unless you are planning to
purchase a heat exchanger.
The brazed plate heat exchanger essentially consists of one or more plates that separate the hot
and cold flow passageways. The hot and cold fluids flow in counterflow directions. The plates of the
exchanger are commonly constructed of 316 stainless steel with a thickness of approximately 0.5mm.
The plates are stamped to a desired size with a variety of embossment patterns pressed into the sheet
metal. The embossments significantly enhance the heat transfer by creating turbulence in the flow. The
embossments also act as spacers for creating the flow passageways. A typical plate spacing for a fluid
flow passageway is 3mm. Thin sheets of copper or nickel are stamped with the stainless steel plates. A
number of plates (generally between 1 and 100) are stacked together with endplates that provide strength
and contain pipe connections. The whole assembly is placed into a brazing oven. When the melting
point of copper or nickel is reached, the foil sheets “wick” into the seams of the assembly and braze it
together.
As described in the heat exchanger laboratory activity handout, the overall heat transfer
coefficient between the hot and cold fluids can be determined from a series resistance analysis of the
heat transfer coefficients on either side of a plate and the conductive resistance of a plate.

1
UA = (1)
Rc + R W + Rh

where fouling effects have been neglected, and

R c is the convective resistance between the cold fluid and the wall,

R W is the conductive resistance of the wall, and

R h is the convective resistance between the hot fluid and the wall.

Figure 1 is a schematic of the plate exchanger cross-section between the hot and cold fluids. The walls
between the fluids can be assumed flat when determining the conductive resistance term. The areas for
the plate and the hot and cold fluid surfaces on each side of a plate can be assumed equal. The
convective heat transfer coefficients are determined from a Nusselt number relation for the flow field in
the fluid passageways. This relation has been developed from performance data for a type of plate heat
exchanger with “chevron-style” embossment patterns on the plates.

hl f
Nu = = 0.24 Re 0.93 (2)
k

where

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ME 320: Heat Transfer Laboratory
Heat Exchanger Design Project
Nu = Nusselt number lf = plate spacing
Vl
Re = Reynolds number = f V = fluid bulk velocity
υ
h = heat transfer coefficient υ =kinematic viscosity
k = fluid conductivity
lf

Cold fluid Hot fluid

flow flow

Tc Th

1 t 1
Rc = Rw = Rh =
hc Ac kwAw hh Ah

Wall Wall
Wall

Figure 1 Schematic of the cross-section of the plate heat exchanger.

One final note concerning the analysis of heat exchangers may be helpful for understanding
when to use the LMTD relation versus the ε-NTU relation. These two relations are equivalent
expressions that describe the heat transfer between the hot and cold fluids. The relations are not
independent relations, and using both in an analysis will show you that zero is equal to zero. Either of
these relations, in combination with the two thermodynamic energy balances on the hot and cold fluids
form the primary set of equations for analyzing a heat exchanger.
Two situations are commonly encountered for heat exchangers. First, in manufacturing
situations, one fluid is often fully specified in terms of its flow rate and inlet/outlet temperatures. This
occurs when a fluid must be conditioned as it exits one process in order to meet another temperature
condition before entering the next process stage. In this case, the LMTD situation tends to be the more
convenient analysis method.
The second situation occurs when it is desirable to “recover” energy from a fluid before it is
exhausted from a process. For example, power plants have heat exchangers called “economizers” that
are placed in the exhaust gas stack from the boilers in order to preheat water going to the boiler with
energy recovered from the exiting combustion gases. In this situation, the heat exchanger outlet
temperatures are unknown. The value of the energy recovered becomes an important part of the
economic analysis for determining the amount of energy that can be most economically recovered. The
ε-NTU method, which is expressed in terms of inlet temperatures, is often the more convenient relation
form for determining the exchanger heat transfer.

B. Heat Exchanger Pressure Drop

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ME 320: Heat Transfer Laboratory
Heat Exchanger Design Project
Prediction of the pressure drop across a heat exchanger is important for determining how much
energy must be expended for moving the fluids through the heat exchanger. As in the flow through a
pipe or valve, non-dimensional relations between a friction factor and Reynolds number can be
developed for a heat exchanger’s flow passageways. Therefore, one can run an experiment with fluids
and heat exchangers that may be different from a particular situation, but act in a “similar” manner to the
situation of interest.
For the brazed plate heat exchanger, the following friction factor relation has been developed
based on flat plate heat exchanger performance data.

⎛ ΔP ⎞⎛ l ⎞
f = ⎜⎜ 2 ⎟⎟⎜ f ⎟ = 4 x10 −9 Re3.46 (3)
⎝ ρV ⎠⎝ L ⎠
where
f = heat exchanger friction factor ρ = fluid density
L = plate length ΔP = pressure drop

The power required to pump fluid through each side of the heat exchanger is ideally equal to the
pressure drop times the volumetric fluid flow rate. Potential and kinetic energy effects can be neglected
for the project analyses. We can express the power required by a pump for each fluid flowing through the
heat exchanger as:

& & (ΔPf ρ)

m
W = (4)
η
pump

where
& = mass flow
m ρ = density
ΔPf = heat exchanger pressure drop η = combined pump and motor efficiency
W& = pump power
pump

The above relation assumes an incompressible fluid. For the analyses required in this project, you may
assume all fluids to be incompressible.

C. Economic Analysis Information

The design project aspect of this laboratory requires an economic analysis in order to “optimize”
your heat exchanger design. Economic factors will cause optimum solutions to exist when the defining
factors are in opposing directions. For example, to enhance heat transfer, one would force a fluid through
small passageways in order to increase velocities, which in turn, increase heat transfer coefficients. The
higher heat transfer coefficients require less heat transfer surface area for a desired heat transfer rate,
resulting in lower heat exchanger cost. As flow passageways are reduced, however, pressure drop

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ME 320: Heat Transfer Laboratory
Heat Exchanger Design Project
across a heat exchanger increases, causing increased cost for pumping the fluids through the heat
exchanger.
A “Life Cycle Cost” (LCC) analysis approach is recommended for determining your situation’s
optimal condition. In the LCC method, all costs over the lifetime of a project are added together. Interest,
inflation, and escalation factors are assumed (guessed) in order to account for the “time value” of money
related to various costs. The LCC equation forms an “objective function”, which, subject to any
constraints, is the relation we wish to minimize. For our design project, two cost terms are assumed:
installation costs and operation costs.

LCC = I+E (5)

where

LCC = life cycle cost

I = purchase and installation cost
E = operating cost

Information in your design project description will give information related to costs for your particular
situation. No time value of money effects need to be considered. That is, a dollar today is a dollar ten
years from now.
Minimization of the LCC relation may be performed analytically if the derivative of the LCC
function with respect to its independent variables can be performed. In our case, an analytical solution is
not recommended because of the number and form of equations defining the problem. Instead,
formulation of a spreadsheet or other convenient technique for solving ranges of variables is
recommended. More information will be given later to describe a suggested process for analyzing your
situation.
When optimization of the LCC function is difficult to analyze directly, as in this case, computing
the LCC over a range of values until a minimum is found (a simple “search” method) is a useful
technique. Once a minimum region is found, the search can be refined. Figure 2 is a plot showing an
example of minimizing the LCC of a heat exchanger in terms of its lifetime energy cost and
purchase/installation cost as a function of the number of plates. A range of cold fluid flow rates can be
used in order to cool the hot fluid to the desired temperature, as indicated in Figure 2. An important
feature to notice is that the minimum LCC is a point where the cost of one effect becomes more dominant
than another effect. This is true in general when optimal conditions are reached; however, when dealing
with multi-variable situations, determining the effects changing in dominance may be difficult. In the
present situation, as the number of plates is reduced, the pressure drop increases sharply, requiring a
significant amount of power for pumping fluid through the heat exchanger. As the number of plates (flow

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ME 320: Heat Transfer Laboratory
Heat Exchanger Design Project
passageways) is increased, velocities in the plate passageways are reduced, however, the heat
exchanger becomes larger. The optimal condition, therefore, is a balance between the operation costs
and the purchase/installation costs.
An additional characteristic to observe when optimizing a system is its sensitivity to variations
away from the optimal condition. In our case, for example, one should anticipate whether the optimal
solution gives system flexibility for future alterations. What if the system is projected for expansion in the
future? The optimal solutions shown in Figure 2 indicate that the three flow rate conditions have
reasonably similar minimum costs. Would one of the heat exchangers be better if a higher or lower flow
rate occurs? What if the cost of electricity for operating the pumps changes? What if the condition of one
or both of the fluids changes? For example, if the temperature of the process is altered, resulting in a
change in fluid viscosity, density, specific heat, and conductivity, would the optimal solution be affected
significantly?

30000
LIfe Cycle Cost ($)

25000

20000

Flow Optimum
15000
Flow A
Flow B
10000
0 10 20 30 40
Number of Plates
Figure 2 Life Cycle Cost (total cost) of a heat exchanger.

Figure 2 Optimization of LCC based on number of plates

III. Design Project Situations

Each design team will be given a set of process conditions along with other information related to
the cost and design parameters for their heat exchanger design project. In each case, the “hot” fluid’s
mass flow rate and temperature change are fully defined. As previously described, this is a common
situation in manufacturing where a fluid must be conditioned from one temperature level to another in

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ME 320: Heat Transfer Laboratory
Heat Exchanger Design Project
order to proceed to the next process stage. The cold fluid’s inlet temperature is specified, but the cold
fluid’s mass flow rate and outlet temperature have a range of values that may be chosen.
The following suggestions are made to help your team through the analysis process. The
suggestions are not meant to restrict your team or to imply that this is the best manner in which you may
find solutions to the problem.
1) Several items can be determined without any knowledge of the specific nature of the heat
exchanger.
a) The hot fluid conditions allow you to determine the heat transfer required by the process.
b) The cold fluid has an allowed range of outlet temperatures. What are the limits of the cold fluid’s
outlet temperatures?
c) A range of cold fluid mass flow rates, related to the possible range of cold fluid outlet
temperatures, also exists. A table (e.g., in Excel) could be developed that determines the mass
flow required for possible cold fluid outlet temperatures that span the range of allowed cold fluid
outlet temperatures (10% increments of outlet temperature over the possible outlet temperature
range would give sufficient detail).
d) At each of the cold fluid outlet temperature/mass flow combinations, sufficient information exists
for determining the heat exchanger’s LMTD, UA, NTU, and effectiveness values.
2) A series of computational tables can be developed that explores variations in the plate heat
exchanger’s specific characteristics. For example, at one of the possible cold fluid outlet
temperature/mass flow conditions, a table can be developed that varies the number of heat
exchanger plates. Generally, plate exchangers are restricted to less than 100 plates. You are free to
either invoke this constraint or to assume that more plates may be assembled. Note that an “odd”
number of plates results in an “even” number of flow passageways. That is, a heat exchanger with
one plate, with an endplate on either side, results in one “hot” fluid flow passageway and one “cold”
fluid flow passageway. There is only one heat transfer surface between the two fluids for the single
plate limit. The computational table could be assembled over a range of plate numbers for a given
flow condition (e.g., 11, 33, 55, 77, and 99 plates). The optimal plate solution over this range of
plates can be further refined if the optimum exists within this range. Within this table, several of the
heat exchanger’s specific characteristics can be determined:
a) Hot and cold fluid Reynolds numbers, hot and cold heat transfer coefficients, and the overall heat
transfer coefficient
b) Heat exchanger surface area and length of the heat exchanger plates (the width of the plates is
given in your team’s project specifications)
c) Hot and cold fluid pressure drops, and the associated pumping power
d) Heat exchanger cost, pumping costs, and life cycle cost

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ME 320: Heat Transfer Laboratory
Heat Exchanger Design Project
Note that the cost of the heat exchanger is related to its weight. Although heat exchangers are not sold
by weight, a correlation of flat plate heat exchanger prices indicated that its cost is directly related to its
weight. Also, note that the end plates (required by all heat exchangers) have a given weight per surface
area while the intermediate plates separating the flow passageways can be determined by knowing the
density of the stainless steel and the overall plate volume.

IV. Team Organization

Project teams will consist of 3 to 4 members assigned by your instructor. Requests for
teammates will not be accepted. Because lab sections typically consist of 2 teams, there is a reasonable
chance that you will be partnered with a lab mate of choice in any case. There are several benefits to this
policy. First, not having a friend on a team may ensure that you will be friends after the project. Second,
interacting with people you would not normally choose as teammates is always a valuable teamwork
learning experience. Third, we encourage interaction among different teams. That is, cross-fertilize
ideas and work with your friends on other teams in order to answer questions, develop analysis
techniques, and have some fun.
Randomly covering design project activities in an unstructured manner for accomplishing project
goals is not recommended. Areas of responsibility, assignment of personnel to each area, and setting a
time schedule should be formally defined. Maintaining flexibility and assessing whether modifications are
needed should also occur. For example, one or two teammates may be assigned to analyze the heat
exchanger experiment results and develop the written report, while two others may concentrate on the
analysis and report material for the design activity. Teams with 3 members may have one member
analyzing data from the experiment, another member analyzing the heat exchanger design project, and
the third member assembling written report and oral report materials. Finally, someone should be in
charge of coordinating overall activities, checking materials, and maintaining communication among all
team members.
Because of the large number of calculations involved in this analysis, assigning a team members
to independently check calculations and unit conversions by hand is strongly recommended.
Spreadsheets and computer programs do exactly what they are told (not what is intended). A simple
factor of two error may not seem important in a homework situation, but when it is part of a decision to
spend lots of money, it can easily cause money (and jobs, career advancement) to be wasted.
However your team is organized, it is important that every team member is familiar with the
analyses and assessments made in the written report. That is, any team member is expected to be able
to answer any question posed by instructors regarding both lab activity and project design reports. Team
members responsible for a particular activity must teach other members about their results. Team grades
will be assigned for the written reports.

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ME 320: Heat Transfer Laboratory
Heat Exchanger Design Project
An anonymous peer-evaluation form will be distributed to team members in order to assess
member participation in activities. Grades for the lab activities are not “curved” or scaled in a manner that
only allows a specified number of people at each grade level. That is, helping others does not result in
reducing your chances for receiving a high score. Likewise, peer-evaluations are meant to be a means
by which you give your honest evaluation of your team members’ participation in order to help distinguish
those individuals who contributed more and those who contributed less than expected. Finally, the peer-
evaluation is not meant to be an evaluation of specific team member skills. Some team members may be
very skilled in analysis while others are talented in report writing or organizing and coordinating activities.
All of these contributions are important.