Shell & Tube Heat Exchanger with a Helical Fin CFD Simulation

Description

Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger

The main parameters for selecting a heat exchanger from its different types can be stated in the following parameters:

Heat exchangers must satisfy the characteristics of the overall process of the system. Also, sites should use a durable heat exchanger depending on the environmental conditions. They must be repairable according to working conditions. This configuration should be selected to make continuous cleaning or replacement of components sensitive to physical and chemical corrosion or vibration possible. HEX should be economical. The costs of installing and repairing a HEX include losses in production due to the time taken to repair and the unavailability of a Heat exchanger should be calculated and minimized. There are always limitations to an industrial site regarding the diameter, length, width, weight, and configuration of pipes, that should be considered.

The heat exchangers can be categorized in terms of various parameters, some of which are as follows:

1.  Direct heat transfer fluid (recuperator) / indirect (regenerator):

This means how the heat transfer mechanism in the heat exchanger is carried out by the two operating fluids. it can be directly heat transfer or by locally sourcing and then heat transfer mechanism.

2. Direct contact heat transfer / Indirect (transmural heat transfer)

3. Geometric Properties of heat exchanger:

Tubes, plates, and enhanced surfaces

4. Heat transfer mechanism of heat exchanger (single phase & two phase):

Single phase, evaporation, and condensation

5. Fluid direction:

Parallel flow, counter flow, and cross flow

Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger CFD Simulation

Heat Exchanger Geometry and Mesh

The 3-D geometry of shell and tube heat exchanger considering a helical tape is designed and meshed by Design modeler and ANSYS Meshing softwares, respectively. The mesh type is unstructured.

Set-Up

A summary of the set-up for shell and tube Heat exchanger CFD simulation is as following:

Model
discretization	Time	Multi-Phase	Solver	Turbulence	Wall Func.
Second Order	Steady	Mixture	Coupled	K-e	Standard

The properties of the used fluids for shell and tube heat exchanger will also be as follows. (All units are in accordance with the standard Fluent unit.)

Material Properties
Fluid	Viscosity	Thermal Conductivity	Density	Specific Heat
Al2O3	0.001003	40	3970	765
Water	0.001003	0.6	998.2	4182

 

All files, including Geometry, Mesh, Case & Data, are available in Simulation File. By the way, Training File presents how to solve the problem and extract all desired results.