OBJECTIVES

1.1 To determine the heat transfer rate of a shell and tube heat exchanger for
Parallel and Counter Current Flow.
1.2 To determine the overall heat transfer coefficient by using log mean
temperature difference under different flow rates.
INTRODUCTION
Shell and tube heat exchanger is a bench top model designed for the students to study
the heat exchange characteristics in fluid flow for liquid-liquid configuration in shell and
tube. The heat exchanger is made of borosilicate glass shell and stainless steel tubes with
connecting flanges with 8 internal temperature measuring points. The valves and piping
arrangement of the apparatus enable students to conduct parallel and counter current
flows.
THEORY
Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger
Heat exchangers are mainly classified according to the flow arrangement and
design construction. A basic heat exchanger would be a concentric tube (also known as
double pipe) where fluids move in the same or opposite direction.
The configuration of shell and tube heat exchanger is shown in Figure 1. Specific
forms differ according to the number of shell and tube passes. The simplest construction
would have a single shell pass and single tube pass.

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Figure 1: Single shell pass and single tube pass shell and tube heat exchanger in counter
flow.
Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient
The most essential and often most uncertain part of any heat exchanger analysis is
determination of the overall heat transfer coefficient. This coefficient is defined in terms
of the total thermal resistance to heat transfer between two fluids. During normal
operation of a heat exchanger, surfaces are often subject to fouling by fluid impurities,
rust formation or other reactions between the fluid and the wall material. Any deposit
forming films or scales on the wall surface can greatly increase the resistance to the heat
transfer. This effect can be accounted for using the additional thermal term known as the
fouling factor, Rf. The overall heat transfer coefficient may be expressed as:
(1)

1
1
1

UA U c Ac U h Ah

where c and h refer to the cold and hot side respectively.

Assuming that the heat transfer only occurs within the hot and cold fluids in the heat
exchanger, the steady flow equation may be given as,
q m i h , o i h , i

(2)

and

q m ic , o ic , i

(3)

where i is the fluid enthalpy, subscripts h and c refers to the hot and cold fluids, and
subscripts i and o refers to the inlet and outlet conditions. If there is no change in the fluid
phase and we can assume constant specific heats, the equation reduces to,
q mc p , h Th ,o Th ,i (4)

and

q m c p ,c Tc ,o Tc ,i

(5)

where the temperatures appearing in the expressions refer to the mean temperatures at
designated locations. Take note that the above equations are independent of exchanger
types and flow configurations.
We shall be interested in the term of temperature difference T which is the difference in
hot and cold side temperature. However, the temperature varies with position in the
exchanger, thus it is necessary to obtain the mean temperature difference Tm

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The heat transfer rate equation is given by,

q UATm

MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENTS

Figure 4: Unit construction of Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger

LEGEND
A - U-tube manometer
B - Temperature measuring points
C - Flow meters

I - Digital temperature displaysJ - Hot

water tank

D - Flow regulators
E - Main power switch
F - Heater switch
G - Water pump switch
H - 4-point temperature selector switch
PROCEDURES
1. The flow pattern was set up to parallel. The flow rate of cold water side was
set up to 4 lpm
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2. The heat transfer medium was heated by switching on the heater until it
reaches a temperature of 60oC. The temperature value was recorded.
3. The flow rate of the hot water side into the heat exchanger was adjusted to 8
lpm with the controls to obtain a constant rate of heat transfer.
4. At least 2 minutes was waited for the temperature to reach steady-state.
Temperature readings was recorded
5. The experiment with different hot water side flow rates of 10 lpm and 12 lpm
was repeated.

RESULTS AND CALCULATION

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Flow rate

H.w : 8

( L/min)
H1

C.w : 8
62.6

10
61.7

12
61.2

H2

57.2

55.5

55.0

H3
C3

52.6
37.7

50.4
35.9

49.6
35.3

C2

33.7

32.8

32.4

C1

28.5
28.6
Table 2 : Parallel flow

28.6

Flow rate

H.w : 8

( L/min)
H1

C.w : 8
63.4

10
60.3

12
57.1

H2

58.0

54.9

52.1

H3
C1

51.9
28.5

49.4
28.6

46.6
28.6

C2

30.9

30.5

30.0

C3

37.8
36.1
Table 2 : Counter current flow

34.6

GRAPH
Parallel flow

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Counter current flow

CALCULATION

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For parallel flow

T for parallel flow = ( THin Tcin ) (THout TCout )
ln [( THin Tcin ) (THout TCout )]
=

( 62.6 28.5 ) (52.6 37.7 )

ln [( 62.6 28.5 ) (52.6 37.7 )]

= 6.49 C
Flow rate of water :
QC = QH = 8 lpm = 1.33 X 10-4 m3/s
Power absorbed = QC C CpC (TCout TCin)
= ( 1.33 X 10-4 m3/s ) ( 983.3 kg/m3) (4200 J/kgoC) (37.7 28.5 )
= 5053 W
Area = NpaiD L
= 16 x pai x 0.00953m x 0.4m
= 0.19 m2
power absorbed
t m area
Overall heat transfer coefficient, U =

5053 W
6.49 C x 0.19 m2
= 4097.80 W/ m2 .C

q UATm

= ( 4097.80 W/ m2 .C )( 0.19 m2 )( 6.49 C )

= 5053 W

For counter current flow

T for counter current flow =

( THin Tcin ) (THout TCout)

ln [( THin Tcin ) (THout TCout)]

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= ( 63.4 28.5 ) (51.9 37.7 )

ln ( 63.4 28.5 ) (51.9 37.7 )
= 6.83 C
Flow rate of water :
QC = QH = 8 lpm = 1.33 X 10-4 m3/s
Power absorbed = QC C CpC (TCout TCin)
= ( 1.33 X 10-4 m3/s ) ( 983.3 kg/m3) (4200 J/kgoC) (37.7 28.5 )
= 5053 W
Area = NpaiD L
= 16 x pai x 0.00953m x 0.4m
= 0.19 m2
power absorbed
t m area
Overall heat transfer coefficient, U =

5053 W
6.83 C x 0.19 m2
= 3893.8 W/ m2 .C

q UATm

= ( 3893.81 W/ m2 .C )( 0.19 m2 )( 6.49 C )

= 4801 W

DICCUSSION
From this experiment, we found that the temperature difference between the two
fluids for parallel flow is decrease from T1 at the inlet with temperature 34.1C to T2 at
the outlet with temperature 14.9 C. When T1 differs from T2 by more than 40 percent,
the error in using the arithmetic mean temperature different is less than 1 percent. But the
errors increase to undesirable levels when T1 differs from T2 by great amounts.
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Therefore we should always use the logarithms mean temperature difference when
determining the rate of heat transferrin a heat exchanger. The Tlm for parallel flow with
temperature 6.49 C is always less than Tam which is 9.60 C.
For specified inlet and outlet temperatures, the log mean temperature difference for a
counter flow heat exchanger is always greater than that for a parallel flow heat exchanger
that is Tlm ,CF > Tlm,PF with temperatures 6.49 C and 6.83 C respectively. Thus, a
smaller area is needed to achieve a specified heat transfer rate in a counter flow heat
exchanger, assuming the same value of the overall heat transfer coefficient. Therefore, it
is common practice to use counter flow arrangements in heat exchangers.

CONCLUSION
As a conclusion, the Tlm is always less than Tam. Therefore, using theoretical Tam in
calculations instead of Tlm experimentally will overestimate the rate of heat transfer in a
heat exchanger. The boiler and condenser can be considered to be either parallel of
counter flow heat exchanger since both approaches give the same result. The objectives is
achieved.
REFERENCES

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