Experiment no.

4
Concentric Tube Heat Exchanger

Objective:

1. To study the working principle of parallel flow and counter flow heat exchangers.
2. To study effect of fluid temperature on counter flow heat exchanger performance
3. To study effect of fluid flow rates on heat exchanger performance

Theory:

A heat exchanger is a piece of process equipment in which heat exchange takes place between
two fluids that enter and exit at different temperatures. The primary design objective of the
equipment may be either to remove heat from a hot fluid or to add heat to a cold fluid.
Depending upon the relative direction of fluid motion, shell-and-tube heat exchangers are
classified as parallel flow, counter flow, cross flow. In parallel flow, the hot and cold fluids flow
in the same direction and therefore enter the exchanger on the same end and exit the exchanger
on the same end. In counter flow, the two fluids flow in opposite directions and thus enter the
exchanger and exit the exchanger from opposite ends. Cross flow heat exchangers will not be
analyzed as a part of this laboratory experiment.

Figure 1 - Diagram of Parallel and Counter Flow Configurations

Observations:

Hot Water Cold Water

Parallel HX thi thmid tho tci tcmid tco
o
Qc = 1 lpm Temperature ( C) 51 48 46 29 35 39
Qh = 2 lpm Corres. Length (m) 0 0.75 1.5 0 0.75 1.5
Counter HX
Qc = 1 lpm Temperature (oC) 51 48 46 31 36 41
Qh = 2 lpm Corres. Length (m) 0 0.75 1.5 1.5 0.75 0
Table 1 - Raw Data for Parallel Flow and Counter Flow Effectiveness Calculation
Exchanger

mccc∆tc or
mhch∆th /
mhch∆th
mccc∆tc
(mc)min

(mc)min
Qh lpm
Qc lpm

(thi-tci)
thi - tci
mhch
Heat

mccc

∆th

є=
∆tc

Parallel
1 2 69.75 139.5 69.75 10 5 22 697.5 697.5 0.45455
Flow
Counter
1 2 69.75 139.5 69.75 10 5 20 697.5 697.5 0.5
Flow
Table 2 - Calculation for Parallel Flow and Counter Flow Effectiveness Calculation

Figure 2 - Parallel Flow Graph Figure 3 - Counter Flow Graph

 Hot Water Cold Water
Qcold
(lpm) Qho(lpm) thin oC thmid oC tho oC tcin oC tcmid oC tco oC
1 2 66.5 61 59 29 39 46
1 2 61 56 54 29 37 44
1 2 56 52 50 29 36 41
1 2 51 48 46 29 35 39
Corr. Length for temperature (m) 0 0.75 1.5 0 0.75 1.5
Table 3 - Raw Data for Water Temperature Variation in Parallel Flow

Hot Water Cold Water

Qcold
(lpm) Qho(lpm) thin oC thmid oC tho oC tcin oC tcmid oC tco oC
1 2 51 48 46 31 36 41
1 2 56 54 49 31 38 44
1 2 61 58 53 30 38.5 46
1 2 66 62 56 29 39 49
Corr. Length for temperature (m) 0 0.75 1.5 1.5 0.75 0
Table 4 - Raw Data for Water Temperature Variation in Counter Flow

COUNTER FLOW HEAT EXCHANGER

Hot Water Cold Water
Qcold
(lpm) Qhot (lpm) thin oC thmid oC tho oC tcin oC tcmid oC tco oC
2 1 66 57 49 29 32 38
2 2 66 60 55 29 34 41
2 3 67 62 57 29 35 43
2 4 67 63 59 29 36 44
Corr. Length for temperature
(m) 0 0.75 1.5 1.5 0.75 0
PARALLEL FLOW HEAT EXCHANGER
Qcold Qhot Hot Water Cold Water
o o o o
(lpm) (lpm) thin C thmid C tho C tcin C tcmid oC tco oC
2 1 51 46 43 29.5 31.5 33.5
2 2 51 47 45 29.5 32.5 35
2 3 51 48 46.5 29.5 33 37
2 4 50.5 48.5 47 30 33.5 37.5
Corr. Length for temperature
(m) 0 0.75 1.5 0 0.75 1.5
Table 5 - Raw Data for Flow Rate Variation in Counter & Parallel Flow
 Figure 4 & Figure 5 - Temperature Graphs for Varying Flow Rates of Qhot with Constant Qcold

Figure 6 & Figure 7 - Temperature Graphs for Varying Flow Rates of Qhot with Constant Qcold

Analysis:

From the data in Table 1, the general characteristics of parallel flow and counter flow
heat exchangers can be observed. In the parallel flow configuration, the exit temperature of the
hot fluid must be higher than the exit temperature of the cold fluid. This is supported by the data
taken. In the counter flow configuration, the exit temperature of the hot fluid must be higher
than the entrance temperature of the cold fluid, but it does not necessarily need to be higher than
the exit temperature of the cold fluid. This is also supported by the data, even though in this case
the exit temperature of the hot fluid is still hotter than the exit temperature of the cold fluid.
From the calculations resulting in overall effectiveness, it is shown that the counter flow heat
exchanger is more effective than the parallel flow heat exchanger. This supports generally held
knowledge and experimental data concerning the two types of heat exchanger, governed by the
Clausius Statement. Additionally, in the counter flow heat exchanger, had the exit temperature
of the cold fluid been hotter than the exit temperature of the hot fluid, the effectiveness would
have been even higher, reflecting common data in many textbooks.
From the data in Table 3 and Table 4, the temperature differences under constant flow
rates are shown. Under constant flow rate conditions, the ratio between temperature differences
is also constant. If there is a rise in the temperature difference of the hot fluid, there will also be
a rise in the temperature difference in the cold fluid. This is governed by a special case of the
First Law of Thermodynamics. In this case, the energy is transferred from hot to cold fluids with
constant mass flow rates. Therefore the ratio between temperature differences does not change
even though the numerical values of the temperature differences may change.
From the data in Table 5, the temperature differences under different flow rates are
shown. In this case, the ratio between temperature difference in the hot fluid and temperature
difference in the cold fluid changes with respect to the flow rates. This is governed by the First
Law of Thermodynamics. In this case, the energy removed from the hot fluid is the energy
added to the cold fluid. The higher the flow rate of a fluid, the lower the temperature change in
that fluid will be. The opposite is also true, the lower the flow rate of the fluid, the higher the
temperature change in the fluid will be.

Conclusions:

The heat exchanger apparatus follows the basic laws of thermodynamics and this can be
shown experimentally. From all of the parallel flow configurations, the exit temperature of the
hot fluid is always hotter than the exit temperature of the cold fluid. This supports the Clausius
Statement in which heat may not spontaneously transfer from a colder body to a hotter body.
From the other experiments that hold flow rates constant or vary the flow rates, it is clear that the
First Law of Thermodynamics and conservation of energy applies to the heat exchanger
apparatus.
In practical application, the counter flow configuration is preferred for its higher
effectiveness. This experiment did show that this configuration does in fact have a higher
effectiveness than the parallel flow configuration. Additionally, the counter flow configuration
is also capable of have a cold fluid exit temperature that is higher than the hot fluid exit
temperature. This was not shown experimentally, however from the data collected it is clear that
the flow rates were too high to achieve this desired result. If the experiment were repeated with
lower flow rates, it would be possible to demonstrate a situation where the exit temperature of
the cold fluid is hotter than the exit temperature of the hot fluid.