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Objective

The objective of this experiment was to familiarize students with heat

exchange between fluids in a plate heat exchanger, and how varying the cold water

supply affects the heat exchange. In particular, students learned how to apply heat

transfer theory to a real world heat exchanger in order to calculate the

characteristics of the device. Based on experience with the tubular heat exchanger,

the group expected the heat exchange to decrease along with the cold water flow,

and this hypothesis will be tested in this report.

Plate heat exchangers are characterized by their compactness - that is, their

amount of heat exchange per unit area. This corresponds to the overall heat

transfer coefficient, U, which is very important measure of the heat exchanger

performance. It is useful in determining the required surface area of the heat

exchanger for a given application. There are two possible flow configurations for

plate heat exchangers; parallel and counter current operation. The latter was used

in this experiment, and figure 1 shows the resulting theoretical temperature

gradient. Two advantages of counter current operation are a greater overall heat

transfer coefficient, along with decreased thermal stresses.


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Under ideal circumstances, the cold water will absorb all the heat emitted by

the hot water, and such a condition corresponds to an overall efficiency of 100%.

However, in a real system there will always be losses due to imperfections like the

temperature gradient between the system and the ambient atmosphere. The setup

used is shown in figure 2, and the following equations all correspond to it.

The following equations are used to determine the heat transfer. Heat

emitted from the hot source can be calculated using equation 1:


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Qe=mhcp,h ΔThot (1)

Where Qe is the heat emitted, mh is the mass flow rate of hot water, cp is the specific

heat at constant pressure, and ΔThot is the temperature difference of the hot fluid

between the inlet and outlet. Similarly, the heat absorbed by the cold fluid is found

using equation 3.

Qa=mccp,c ΔTcold (2)

Where Qa is the heat absorbed by the cold water, mc is the mass flow rate of the

cold water, cp is the same as above, and ΔTcold is the temperature difference of the

cold fluid between inlet and outlet.

To determine the overall efficiency of the system use the equation:

ηoverall=QaQe×100 (3)

Which is the heat absorbed by the cold fluid divided by the heat emitted from the

hot fluid and then multiplied by 100%.

Next, the log mean temperature difference must be determined using equation 5:

ΔT1- ΔT2lnΔT1ΔT2 (4)

Where ΔT1 equals (T1- T4) and ΔT2 is (T2- T3).

To determine the overall heat transfer coefficient use equation 6:

U=QeA∙ΔTlm×100 (5)

Where A is equal to 0.04 m2.

Equipment Description

HT30XC Heat Base unit for HT32 heat exchanger unit. The HT30XC sends

Exchanger information from the experiment to the data logging software via
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Unit USB.

HT32 Plate Consists of two concentric tubes one of which carries the hot fluid

Heat and the other carries the cold fluid. Any temperature difference

Exchanger across the inner tube wall results in the heat transfer between the

two water flows.

Cold water Flow rate is controlled digitally using % valve passage settings of

supply 100%, 75% and 50%

Computer Desktop computer links to Armfield HT31 Tubular heat exchanger,

Data Logger and using special software from the menu it will log the

thermocouple and flow rate readings into an excel chart.

Water Used as a hot water reservoir before water passes through heat

Cylinder exchanger.

Hot Water Hot water temperature is measured on thermocouple T1

Inlet

Hot Water Hot water temperature is measured on thermocouple T2

Return

Cold Water Cold water temperature is measured on thermocouple T3

Inlet

Cold Water Cold water temperature is measured on thermocouple T4

Outlet

Temperature Four miniature thermocouple plugs record temperatures in real

Sensors time and send the information to the computer via USB

connection.

Experimental Procedure
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Before beginning this experiment several thing had to be primed according to

Dr. Kassegne’s experiment manual. The HT32 plate heat exchanger had to be

secured on top of the HT30X heat exchanger. Once this was done, the cold water

supply was plugged in and turned on. The main switch of the HT30X was switched

on, and then focus was centered on main display. The main display shows the

temperature, flow, and has temperature controls. The water circuits had to be

primed to ensure that there were no air bubbles, and then the hot and cold water

inlets were connected. The hot water outlet was to be connected to the drain at the

bottom of the HT30X heat exchanger unit. The hot water bypass valve was closed,

and the cold water control valve was opened all the way in order to fill the priming

vessel with water. The priming vessel had to be filled in order for the thermocouple

to take readings. Then the cold water outlet was placed in the center drain of the

HT30X. The hot water pump and heater were then turned on by using the switches

next to the main display unit. Finally the hot water control valve was be opened

and closed, to conclude the priming process.

To begin the experiment, the thermocouple plugs were inserted into the correct

sockets on the HT30X console. The temperature was set to 50 degrees Celsius,

using the main display. The cold water flow rate was set 100% valve opening, and

the hot water flow rate was adjusted to 2.5 l/min. After the hot water reached it

temperature, the pump was turned on, and when the system reached steady state

the data was recorded. Then the run was repeated with 75%, then 50% cold water

valve settings.

Experimental Results
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Calculations/Data Reduction

1. Temperatures

Table 1 – Temperatures

Valve Setting T1 T2 T3 T4

100% 32.24 26.90 20.92 24.74

75% 34.49 28.32 20.93 25.99

50% 38.29 31.11 21.19 28.56

2 (a) Hot fluid volume (HFV)

HFV=2.498lmin∙1 min60 s∙1

m31000l

Table 2 – Hot fluid volume

Valve Setting HFV (m3s ×105)

100% 4.164

75% 4.165

50% 4.196
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2 (b) Cold fluid volume (CFV)

CFV=3.560lmin∙1 min60 s∙1

m31000l

Table 3 – Cold fluid volume

Valve Setting CFV (m3s ×105)

100% 4.606

75% 4.098

50% 3.189

2 (c+d) ΔT of hot and cold fluids

ΔTH=T1-T2

ΔTC=T4-T3

Table 3 - ΔT of hot and cold fluids

Valve Setting ΔTH (°C) ΔTC (°C)

100% 5.341 3.825

75% 6.168 5.065

50% 7.176 7.371

2 (e) Heat emitted from the hot fluid:

Using equation 1,

Qe,100%=0.04146kgs∙4.178 kJkg∙°C ∙5.341°C


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Table 4 - Heat emitted from the hot fluid

Valve Setting Qe (kJ/s)

100% 0.9252

75% 1.068

50% 1.251

2 (f) Heat absorbed by the cold fluid:

Using equation 2,

Qa,100%=0.04595kgs∙4.178 kJkg∙°C∙3.825°C

Table 5 - Heat absorbed by the cold fluid

Valve Setting Qa (kJ/s)

100% 0.7347

75% 0.8656

50% 0.9798

g. Overall efficiency of the system

Using equation 3,

ηoverall,100%=0.7347kJs

0.9252kJs×100

Table 6 - Overall efficiency of the system


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Valve Setting ηoverall (%)

100% 79.41

75% 81.04

50% 78.35

h. The heat lost from the system

Qloss=Qe-Qa

Table 7 - The heat lost from the system

Valve Setting Qloss (kJ/s)

100% 0.1905

75% 0.2026

50% 0.2708

i. The heat transfer coefficient

Plugging into equation 6,

U100%=3.4487 kJs0.04m2∙6.7072 K×1000 WkW

Table 8 - The heat transfer coefficient

Valve Setting U (W/ m2 K)

100% 3448.7

75% 3364.4

50% 3183.2

Discussion of Results

The temperature was recorded at various points, which allowed us to observe

the energy transfer. The readings showed clearly that as the volumetric flow rate of

the cold water increased, while holding that of the hot water steady, the rate of
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energy transfer from the hot water to the cold water decreased. While this may

seem counterintuitive, the explanation is most likely that the hot water heater was

unable to keep the hot water temperature constant throughout the experiment.

With a high flow rate of cold water, the hot water inlet temperature was about 32°C.

At the lowest flow rate of cold water, the hot water inlet temperature rose to about

38°C. This greater temperature differential led to an increase in heat transfer,

despite the lower cold water flow rate. However, the overall heat transfer coefficient

(U) increased with cold water flow rate as expected.

After performing data only U proved to agree with our hypothesis, although

the expected values might have been obtained given a steady hot water inlet

temperature. There were two systematic errors that may have been present in this

experiment. One would be if the readings from the thermocouples were inaccurate,

as recorded in the session data. In that case the heat flux values, Qe and Qa would

be affected. Another possible error could have arisen from a lack of equilibrium

being reached before recording data, however we believe this effect to be very

limited, because the system should have had ample time to reach steady state

between each run.

Lab Guide Questions

1. Did the heat exchanger remove more or less heat from the hot stream as the

flow rate of the cold water increased?

Interestingly, the heat exchanger removed less heat from the hot stream

when the flow rate was high. The reason is most likely that the heater could not

keep up with the heat transfer, which led to a drop in the hot fluid temperature, and

therefore a lower temperature differential between the two fluids. Had the hot water
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inlet temperature remained constant, the heat transfer would most likely have

increased with increasing cold water flow rate. This theory is supported by the

observation of U increasing with increasing cold water flow rate.

2. Did the system efficiency increase or decrease as the cold water flow rate

increased?

The trend of efficiency vs. cold water flow rate cannot be determined from

the available data, as seen from figure 5. However, it is assumed that the overall

efficiency would increase with increasing cold water flow rate, because the

temperature differential between the hot and the cold fluid would increase. Note

that this is only valid for a constant hot water inlet temperature. The varying hot

water temperature of this experiment was most likely the reason why there was no

observed trend for η vs. mc

3. Were there any systematic or random errors that affected your measurements

in this experiment? Discuss in detail and suggest innovative ways to minimize such

errors.

As mentioned in the Discussion of Results, there are only two systematic

errors that may have been present in this experiment. One would be if our readings

from the thermocouples were inaccurate, as recorded in our session data. Another

possible error could have arisen from a lack of equilibrium being reached before the

data recording starts. The first error would be related to the program and/or the

device used in the experiment. The only way to avoid such an error would be to

debug the program and make sure all of the thermometers in the device are
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working properly. The second error can easily be avoided by allowing the system to

have enough time to reach equilibrium before beginning the experiment.

Conclusion
The thermal sciences and heat transfer is a very important field within

mechanical engineering. This experiment allows working with heat transfer through

the use of a heat exchanger, and is very helpful in demonstrating how the heat from

hot water is transferred cold water. An understanding of heat transfer is needed to

explain certain processes occurring. For example, when the flow rate of the cold

water increased, the temperature of each state decreased. The flow rate affected

the temperature of each state as well as the efficiencies and the heat emitted and

absorbed by the system. This shows the major importance of the flow rates when

working with a system that involves heat transfer, such as in cars, houses, or power

plants. Also, the somewhat surprising results emphasize the importance of empirical

testing in addition to theoretical calculations.

References

1. ME- 495 Laboratory Exercise – Number 5 – Plate Heat Exchanger - ME Dept,

SDSU - Kassegne

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