FACULTY OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

EH 220 5A

CHE522: Transport Phenomena

Assignment 2
Question 1

Name Student ID

Muhammad Shafiee Bin Khaidzir 2016250092

Muhammad Hanif Bin Mazlan 2016238976

Nurul Nadiana Binti Kamaruddin 2016249828

Prepared for:
Dr Siti Nurul’Ain Binti Yusop

Date of Submission:
10th December 2018
 Figure 1: Heat Transfer Resistances in a Coaxial Tube Heat Exchanger Setup

In heat exchangers with no fouling (a brand new heat exchanger), a snippet of the heat
exchanger may look something like the coaxial tube in figure 1. Due to the various values of
thermal conductivity and heat transfer coefficient not being infinite, there are surely some
resistances that exist whenever heat transfers from one location to another. As seen from figure
1, the resistances that exist in a simple coaxial heat exchanger are only due to the heat transfer by
convection in the inner fluid and the outer fluid represented by Ri and Ro respectively, and also
the resistance from the heat transfer by conduction in the wall, represented by R wall. So, the
calculation of the overall heat transfer coefficient of the heat exchanger is calculated based on
these three resistances, and so in a chemical plant the desired operating condition is with the
presence of only these resistances.
 Figure 2: Heat Transfer Resistances in a Coaxial Heat Exchanger Setup with Fouling

However, after a period of using the heat exchanger, fouling will occur as deposits of
unwanted materials get stuck on the inner and outer walls of the heat exchanger tube. In figure 2,
material 1 (the fouling material) which are sandwiching material 2 (the tube wall) is now present.
As seen in the resistance diagram below, it can be seen that two new resistances are now present
due to the presence of the fouling factors. Additional unwanted thermal resistance to the heat
transfer process surely leads to a decreased heat transfer rate, and therefore a deterioration in
performance of the heat exchanger.

As discussed earlier, in a chemical plant, the heat exchangers used are purchased and
selected based on their overall heat transfer coefficients that is suited for the desired process.
This is so that the desired temperatures of each stream can be achieved in a process. However,
with the presence of fouling factors, the overall heat transfer coefficient of heat exchangers will
be altered to unknown values, as there are additional resistances from the fouling factors. This
will affect the temperature of each stream and therefore, cause deviation in the optimal operating
conditions of the whole chemical process of the plant.

In conclusion, fouling of a heat exchanger causes the performance of the heat exchanger
to deteriorate. It cannot be avoided as the the chemical passing through the heat exchanger at
extreme temperatures are bound to cause fouling be it by scaling, precipitation, chemical fouling,
corrosion fouling or biological fouling. This is why it is necessary to schedule the cleaning of
heat exchangers in a chemical plant.