Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
3, September (2009)
ISSN 1813-7822
Abstract
This investigation deals with the performance prediction of cross flow air cooled heat
exchangers. An experimental work was carried out on a finned tube air cooled heat
exchanger. A water supplying system rig was built for this object which provides water at
temperature range of (10 to 50) C with water circulating rate up to (2000) l/hr. Air
volumetric flow rates of (500,1000 and 2000) cfm at a temperature of (32) C was used
during the experiments. A two dimensional model was suggested to perform the core
dimensions prediction of the air cooled heat exchanger. This model was based on the step
by step technique which is suggested to divide the height and depth dimensions of the heat
exchanger to slices and rows respectively. The thermal performance represented by heat
load, heat transfer coefficient (air side), overall heat transfer coefficient and air exit
temperature from heat exchanger were predicted by the present model. The suggested
simulation model showed that the maximum discrepancy between the predicted and
experimental values of the heat exchanger performance was about (3 %).
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ISSN 1813-7822
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1. Introduction
Compact heat exchangers have been widely used in various applications in thermal fluid
systems including automotive thermal management systems. Radiators for engine cooling
systems, evaporators and condensers for HVAC systems, oil coolers, and intercoolers are
typical examples of the compact heat exchangers that can be found in ground vehicles.
Generally, the main object of compact heat exchanger is the large heat transfer area relative to
the size.
Ganapathy (1979) [1] concluded that for air- cooled condensers ambient air is the most
important variable in the design. Since ambient temperature in a location varies throughout
the year, a higher value, if used, would result in over sizing the unit .A lower value would
give poor performance. Current practice is to use a design temperature that exceeds (2 to 5) %
of the annual period.
Hedderich and Kellehere (1982)[2] developed a computer code for the analysis of air
cooled heat exchangers and was coupled with a numerical optimization program to produce an
automated air cooled ,heat exchanger design and optimization procedure. A general iteration
free approximation method was used for the analysis which calculates the mean overall heat
transfer coefficient and the overall pressure drop for many arrangements.
The analysis takes into account the variation of heat transfer coefficients and the
pressure drop with temperature and length of flow path .The capability is demonstrated by the
design of an air cooled finned tube heat exchanger and is shown to be useful tool for heat
exchanger design.
Matthew and Joseph (2002) [3] developed a conceptual designs for wet and dry cooling
systems as applied to a new, gas fired, combined cycle 500-MW plant at four sites chosen to
be representative of conditions in California. Cooling system power requirements for dry
systems are four to six times those for wet systems. Dry systems, which are limited by the
ambient dry bulb temperature, cannot achieve as low a turbine back pressure as wet systems,
which are limited by the ambient wet bulb.
Dohoy and Dennis (2006)[4] divided the heat exchanger core into small control volumes
along the tube. Finite Difference Method (FDM) with staggered grid system was employed in
their numerical model. FDM enables us to take into account the significant air temperature
increase as well as the local variations of the properties and the heat transfer coefficient. The
maximum difference between the experimental data and calculated results is (5%) for the
given range of the simulated conditions.
More recently, Tarrad, et al. (2008) [5] investigated the performance prediction of the
cross flow air-cooled heat exchanger. They developed a new simplified correlation for the air
39
ISSN 1813-7822
side heat transfer coefficient depended on the dimensional analysis with Buckingham-pi
theorem. The discrepancy between the predicted and experimental values of the overall heat
transfer coefficient and heat duty were within 2% and 4% respectively for both of the tested
tube banks.
In the present study a step by step technique is applied to find out the thermal design of
the single pass air cooled heat exchanger. The work was verified by experimental data
obtained through a closed circuit built for this object. A computer program model was built
for this purpose to incorporate the idea of the step by step method suggested in this study.
2. Test Rig
The experimental rig is a modification of an existing apparatus available in the
laboratory developed previously by Tarrad and Mohammed (2006) [6]. The cold water is
supplied by a constant head tank of (200) liters capacity. The water is pumped by a single
stage centrifugal pump from tank through the test section and it returns back to the tank. The
water in the hot tank is heated by four electrical heaters, which have a total heating electrical
power of (12) kW. The four heaters are fixed in the same level at (150) mm from the bottom of
the hot tank and separated at (90) apart. The hot tank is opened into cold tank by gate valve
which is fixed in the pipe that linked the two tanks, as shown in figure (1). This arrangement
will assure an acceptable control of the water temperature during tests. The mixing of water
was allowed to be in the cold tank to get the set required temperature. The ice was immersed
into the cold tank to obtain a homogenous water mixture before pumping through the heat
exchanger test section.
40
ISSN 1813-7822
to avoid leakage of air to the surrounding. The air volumetric flow rate is measured by using a
Pitot-tube measuring device.
4. Numerical Method
In order to develop a numerical model with the predictive capability for various design
parameters of the heat exchanger, the marching technique (step by step) method with two
dimensions was employed in this study. Each tube row was divided into a number of
horizontal slices occupying the total length of the heat exchanger and for air side the exit of
one row is considered as inlet to the next row as shown in figure (3). The marching technique
enables the model to take into account the air temperature variation as well as the local
variations of the properties and the heat transfer coefficient. Forms of the mass and the energy
conservation equations were derived for two dimensional grid systems.
In the present study the following assumptions were assumed to be existed;
1. Homogenous temperature distribution for air all over the frontal face area of the heat
exchanger and hence for each slice.
2. Uniform mass flow distribution for both stream sides of heat exchanger.
3. The exit air condition for each row represents a mean value for all of the slices of the
considered row. This will be considered as the inlet condition for the next row.
4. The inlet air velocity for each row was assumed to be uniform represented by a mean
representative value.
5. The water temperature variations between the rows were also assumed to be negligible.
41
ISSN 1813-7822
Vw
(Nt) = [
]
N r v w Acw
.(1)
This value will be used for the estimation of the length and depth of the heat exchanger as:
L = X T ( N t + 1)
D = [ X L ( N r 1)] + Dt
..(2)
.(3)
m in m out = 0 (4)
and the mass conservation equation for the water at each slice can be written as:
.
m a (i,j) = m a(i,j+1)
..(6)
The actual temperature difference of a cross flow compact heat exchanger is obtained by
applying a correction factor (F) to the (LMTD) value as, Hewitt [8]:
Tm = F * LMTD
.(8)
where:
F=
( R 2 + 1) ln (1 S ) (1 RS )
.(8a)
R=
(Th (i, j ) Th (i + 1, j ))
.(8b)
S=
( R 1) ln[
2 S[ R + 1 ( R 2 + 1) ]
2 S [ R + 1 + ( R 2 + 1) ]
42
.(8c)
ISSN 1813-7822
.(10)
U o (i, j ) =
1
tt
1
1
1
[(
)+(
)+(
)+(
)]
ha (i, j ) o
K t ( Ain Aout )
hw (i, j ) ( Ai n Ao ut )
h fw ( Ai n Ao ut )
....(11)
Ac w = [( H t t t ) ( Dt H t )] + ( H t t t ) 2 ..(13)
also
Re =
dh =
vd h
4 Acw
....(14)
.....(15)
where the range of Reynolds 6000 Re 107 and Prandtl 0.5 Pr 120. The
coefficient (0.023) is recommended by McAdams (1954) [11] in place of (0.0243) originally
given by Dittus-Boelter. Also, n= 0.4 for heating and n= 0.3 for cooling.
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ISSN 1813-7822
developed flow, the analytical form of these relationships is based on exploiting the analogy
between momentum and heat transfer. The popular Dittus-Boelter, eq.(12), is also used for
fully developed turbulent flow for air side by using the appropriate variables.
For laminar flow, the Sieder and Tate [13] correlation can be used.
0.3
ha = 1.86(Re Pr )
0.3
k
d ha
( )
D
f
d ha
....(16)
Pf
) ( X T H t ) ...(17)
2
The hydraulic diameter for the air side:
dha =
4 Aca
..
..(18)
The number of slices (Ni) depends on the water temperature difference along the tube.
A uniform distribution for the air mass flow rate across frontal area of the heat exchanger
proportional to the size of the slice was assumed. An iterative scheme was applied to find out
the mass flow rate for each slice. The Reynolds number of air side for each slice of the heat
exchanger is represented by:
.
m (i, j )
Ga = a
... ..(19)
( Aca )
Re a (i, j ) =
(d h a Ga )
a (i, j )
... . (20)
By assuming that there is no temperature gradient between the tubes that share the fins
then the fin can be considered to be insulated at the center. Therefore fin efficiency (f) can be
calculated as that for the case with an adiabatic tip, Briggs [14]:
Lf
tanh( m ( ))
2
.. (21)
f =
Lf
m( )
2
where:
m= [
(ha (i, j )( Pf )
(k t Aca )
... (22)
44
o = 1 [(
Af
A
ISSN 1813-7822
) (1 f )] .. (23)
where:
Af
H
Aexp
H
= ( L f D f 4) (
1
) .. (24)
Pf
= [(( H t ) + (( Dt H t ) 2) (2 t f )] (
1
) ..
Pf
(25)
Af
Aexp
A
=( )+(
) ...
H
H
H
(26)
The height for each slice, H(i,j), of the heat exchanger can be calculated from the general
form of the heat duty of that slice in the following form:
H (i, j ) =
Q (i, j )
...(27)
U o (i, j ) A F LMTD (i, j )
In which the heat load of the slice is calculated form the water mass flow rate,
temperature difference of the slice and the local specific heat of water there according to the
mean temperature.
2
Df
va
)* f
2
d ha
..(28)
To calculate P, the friction factor must be known and it can be estimated from the
flow solution. The friction factors derived from the Colburn [16] flows described by eq. (29) for
the fully developed laminar flow:
64
Ra
is used, hence, turbulent flow is presented in this work.
.(29)
0.078
.
( Ra ) 0.25
.(30)
ISSN 1813-7822
Pfan =
V air p
fan
..
..(31)
where
.
V air =
m& air
..(32)
air
Thus,
Pmotor , fan =
Pfan
motor , fan
..
.(33)
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ISSN 1813-7822
The predicted and the experimental data showed almost the same trend with a good
agreement for the (50) C case with a maximum deviation of (2) % and quite higher for the
(10) C tests for the whole range of the experimental data.
ISSN 1813-7822
value of about twice that of the second row with (2.5) C and (1.25) C respectively, figure
(9.a). The same behavior was also observed for the heating mode as it is revealed from figure
(9.b), although it has different numerical exit air temperature from the heat exchanger.
6. Conclusions
The following represents the main findings of the present work:
1. A computational model for the performance prediction of the air-cooled heat
exchanger has been developed.
2. To validate the model, the heat load performance of a typical air-cooled heat
exchanger was simulated over a practical industrial ranges of the air velocity. The
specifications of the test heat exchanger given in table (1).
3. The model suggested in the present work shows a good agreement with the
experimental data with drawn from the tested heat exchanger. The maximum
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ISSN 1813-7822
discrepancy between the experimental data and those calculated by the model for
overall performance was about (3%) for the given range of the simulated conditions.
4. The different core sizes (L D H) can be evaluated from the present model of the
air-cooled heat exchanger according to the operating condition and specified geometry
for both fin and tube side.
Fin
Tube
Specification
Length (L)
Depth (D)
Height (H)
Total No. of Tubes
No. of tubes/row
No. of fins/ tube
Transverse Distance (XT)
Longitudinal Distance (XL)
Pitch (Pf)
Length (Lf)
Depth (Df)
Thickness (tf)
Height (Ht)
Depth (Dt)
Thickness (tt)
49
Dimension
550 mm
35 mm
370 mm
110
55
256
9.92 mm
20.46 mm
1.46 mm
7.52 mm
15.88 mm
0.24 mm
2.4 mm
15.88 mm
0.28 mm
ISSN 1813-7822
Heat Exchanger
Duct
Fan
By Pass
Rotameter
Rotameter
Valve
Hot Tank
Cold Tank
Heaters
Ice
Valve
Pump
Valve
ISSN 1813-7822
Pf
Lf
H
Twi
Water Flow
Tao
Lf
Slice 1
Dt
Tar2
Tar1
Slice N
Tai
Two
51
Simulation
4.5
Simulation
4.5
Experiment
3.5
Experiment
3.5
H eat L o ad (K W )
H eat L o ad (K W )
ISSN 1813-7822
2.5
2
1.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
0.5
0.5
0
0
Fig (4): Comparison between the Experimental and Present Model for the
Effect of Air Velocity on Heat Load at Water Flow Rate 2000 (l/h).
60
60
Simulation
H e a t T r a n s f e r C o e f f ic ie n t ( W /m 2 .c )
H e a t T r a n s f e r C o e f f ic ie n t ( W /m 2 .c )
Simulation
50
50
Experiment
Experiment
40
40
30
30
20
20
10
10
0
0
Fig (5): Comparison between the Experimental and Present Model for the
Effect of Air Velocity on Heat Transfer Coefficient ha, at Water Flow Rate 2000
(l/h).
52
Simulation
45
40
O v e r a ll H e a t T r a n s f e r C o e f f ic ie n t ( W /m 2 .c )
O v e r a ll H e a t T r a n s f e r C o e f f ic ie n t ( W /m 2 .c )
50
ISSN 1813-7822
Simulation
45
40
Experiment
35
Experiment
35
30
30
25
25
20
20
15
15
10
10
5
0
5
0
47.05
47.1
47.15
47.2
47.25
47.3
45.1
47.35
45.25
45.3
45.35
45.4
S lic e N u m b e r
S l i c e N u m b e r (B a r T u b e )
45.2
45.15
ROW 1
ROW 2
Fig. (7): Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient Variation a long Heat Exchanger
Height at Water Flow Rate of 2000 (l/h) and Air Flow Rate of 2000 cfm.
53
ROW 1
ROW 2
28.15
35.4
28.1
35.2
28.05
35
A ir E x it T e m p e r a tu r e (c )
A ir E x it T e m p e r a t u r e ( c )
28
27.95
27.9
27.85
Simulation
27.8
34.8
34.6
34.4
34.2
Simulation
34
27.75
Experiment
33.8
27.7
0
ISSN 1813-7822
Experiment
33.6
27
27.5
28
28.5
29
29.5
30
33
30.5
S lic e N u m b e r ( B a r T u b e )
S lic e N u m b e r ( B a r T u b e )
34
34.5
35
35.5
36
36.5
33.5
ROW 1
ROW 2
2
ROW 1
ROW 2
3
Fig (9): Variation of Exit Air Temperature along Heat Exchanger Height
at Water Flow Rate of 2000 (l/h) and Air Flow Rate of 2000 cfm.
54
ISSN 1813-7822
43
Water Inlet Temperature 10 C
40
37
34
31
28
25
22
19
16
13
10
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.1
Fig (10): The Effect of Aspect Ratio (H/L) with Different Core Sizes (L D
H) on the Pressure Drop in Air Side, Water Flow Rate of 2000 (l/h) and
Air Flow Rate of 500 cfm.
86.5
86
85.5
85
84.5
84
83.5
83
1
Row Number
55
ISSN 1813-7822
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1
RowRow
Number
No.of
Fig. (12): Variation of Exit Air Temperature a long the Heat Exchanger
Depth at Water Flow Rate of 2000 (l/h) and (10 C ) Inlet Temp., air flow
rate of 2000 cfm.
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ISSN 1813-7822
7. References
1. Ganapathy,V., "Process-Design Criteria of Air Cooled Heat Exchangers"
,Chemical Engineering, pp. 418-425, McGraw-Hill Publication Book Co., New
york,1979.
2. Hedderich, C.P., and Kellerher, M.D. "Design and Optimization of Air Cooled
Heat Exchangers", Journal of Heat Transfer, Vol. 104, pp. 683-890, Nov.
(1982).
3. Matthew, S., Layton, Joseph O'Hagan, "Comparison of Alternate Cooling
Technologies for California Power Plants", Electric Power Research Institute
(2002).
4. Dohoy, J. , Dennis, N.," Numerical Modeling of Cross Flow Compact Heat
Exchanger with Louvered Fins using Thermal Resistance Concept" SAE.
Paper , 2006-01-0726, The University of Michigan, (2006).
5. Tarrad, A. H., Khudor, D. S., and Wahed, M.A.," A Simplified Model for the
Prediction of the Thermal Performance for Cross Flow Air Cooled Heat
Exchangers with a New Air Side Thermal Correlation ", Journal of
Engineering and Development, Vol. 12, No.3, (2008).
6. Tarrad, A. H., and Mohammed, A. G., " A Mathematical Model for ThermoHydraulic Design of Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Using a Step by Step
Technique" Engineering and Development Journal, Vol. 10, No.4, December
2006.
7. Smith, E.M.," Thermal Design of Heat Exchangers, a Numerical
Approach", John Wiley and Sons, New York, (1997).
8. Hewitt, G.F., " Heat Exchanger Design Hand book", Begell House, New York,
(1998).
9. Holman, J.,P., "Heat Transfer" , 7th edition, McGraw-Hill, New York(1989).
10. Dittus, F.W., and Boelter, L.M.K., Univ. Calif. (Berkeley) Pub. Eng., Vol.2,
pp.443, (1930).
11. McAdams, W.H., "Heat Transmission", 3rd edition, McGraw-Hill, New York,
(1954).
12. Adrian, B.," Forced Convection: Internal Flows", Mechanical Engineering and
Materials Science, Chap. 5, (2000).
13. Sieder, E.N., and Tate, C.E., "Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop of Liquids in
Tubes", Ind. Eng. Chem., Vol.28, pp.1429, (1930).
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ISSN 1813-7822
14. Briggs D.E. and Young, E.H., "Convection Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop
of Air Flowing Across Triangular Pitch Banks of Finned Tubes", Chem. Eng.
Prog. Symp. Ser. Vol.59, No.41, pp1-10, (1963).
15. London, A. L.," Compact Heat Exchanger-Design Methodology", edited by
Kakac, S., Shah R. K. and Bergles, A. E., Hemisphere, New York, (1983).
16. Colburn, A. P.," A Method of Correlating Forced Convection Heat Transfer
Data and Comparison with Fluid Friction", Trans. AIChE, Vol 29, pp-174,
(1933).
17. Bhatti, M.S. and Shah, R.K.," Turbulent and Transition Flow Forced
Convective Heat Transfer in Ducts", Single Phase Convective Heat Transfer,
Wiley,(1987).
18. Abdulrasool, A.A.," The Enhancement of Two-Shaft Gas Turbine
Performance Using Improved Air Temperature" M.Sc. Thesis, ALMustansiriya University College of Engineering, (2009).
Nomenclature
Symbol
Description
A
Af
Acw
Aca
Aexp
Cpa
Cpw
dh
Hydraulic Diameter
Dt
Df
D
G
ha
hfw
hw
Ht
H
k
Lf
Tube Depth
Fin Depth
Heat Exchanger Depth
Mass Velocity
Convection Heat Transfer Coefficient of Air Side
Fouling Factor on the Water Side
Convection Heat Transfer Coefficient of Water Side
Tube Height
Heat Exchanger Height
Thermal Conductivity
Fin Length
Units
m
m
m2
m2
J/kg..k
J/kg..k
m
58
m
m
m
Kg/(m2 s)
W/m.k
W/m.k
W/m.k
m
m
W/(m K)
m
ISSN 1813-7822
m& a
Nu
Nt
Nr
P
Nusselt Number
Number of Tubes
Number of Rows
Pressure
bar
Q&
Re
T
tf
tt
Uo
Reynolds Number
Temperature
Fin Thickness
Tube Thickness
Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient
K
m
m
W/m.K
V
v
XT
XL
m
Kg/s
m3/s
Velocity
Transverse Space
Longitudinal Space
m/s
m
m
Greek Letters
= 1
Fin Efficiency
Density
(m)
Perimeter of Fin
(m)
Af
A
(kg/m)
Subscripts
Abbreviations
Air
HVAC
Fin
LMTD
Input
Output
Tube
Water
59