Performance and Optimum Design Analysis of an Unbaffled Shell-and-Tube Heat Exchanger Consisting of Longitudinal Finned Tubes: A Comparative Study

ABSTRACT

In this study, a parametric variation followed with Kern’s method of design of extended surface heat exchanger has been made for an unbaffled shell-and-tube heat exchanger problem. For this analysis, the rectangular and trapezoidal fin shapes longitudinally attached to the fin tubes are adopted. In comparison, with the attachment of trapezoidal fins, it is found that the heat transfer rate was lesser than the rectangular cross section by keeping a constant outer diameter of the shell along with all other constraints of a heat exchanger design, namely, number of passes, tube outer diameter, tube pitch layout, etc. But when the total volume of the fin over a tube was kept constrain, using trapezoidal fins the heat transfer rate in the heat exchanger is found to increase and consequently the pressure drop decreases much more than in the case of fins with rectangular cross section. This optimization has shown beneficial results in all the cases of different constraints of heat exchanger analysis.

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