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Journal of Polymer & Composites Original Research Special issue

Geometrical, Numerical and Materialistic Parameters used for Studying and Reducing Tube-Side Flow Inconsistency in Tube and Shell Heat Exchangers: An Overview

  1. Kartik Ajugia Department of Mechanical Engineering, SVKM’s Dwarkadas J. Sanghvi College of Engineering, Mumbai
  2. Vinayak H Khatawate Department of Mechanical Engineering, SVKM’s Dwarkadas J. Sanghvi College of Engineering, Mumbai
  3. Hari Vasudevan Department of Mechanical Engineering, SVKM’s Dwarkadas J. Sanghvi College of Engineering, Mumbai

Abstract

A Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger (STHE) exchanges heat between two fluids flowing at different temperatures. More than 60% of the market is occupied by STHE’s out of all the different kinds of heat exchangers. Maldistribution is the uneven fluid flow distribution in the tubes of the STHE. The aim of this study is to provide a detailed review on the various methods used by researchers for reducing the maldistribution on tube side of STHE’s. With a view to lessen the non-uniformity in the tube side of a STHE, several researchers have employed various strategies. These include the use of baffles placed in the header, nozzle and orifices paced in the tube inlets etc. and a significant amount of reduction in the maldistribution has been observed with the use of these methods. Another way of improving the heat exchanger efficiency is making use of polymeric and composite materials. Some of these material have very high thermal conductivity resulting in drastic improvements of the heat transfer. The problem of maldistribution persist in heat exchangers whether the materials used are conventional or polymers and composites. This study can be further extended to check the feasibility of the various methods used by researchers to reduce the maldistribution at different inlet Reynolds number and different geometrical cases like the nozzle position and the area ratios in sync with high thermal conductivity material usage like the polymer and composites due to their different viscosity compared to conventional materials.

Keywords

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