Three dimensional simulation of flow and heat transfer in an F shell heat exchanger
- Texas A and M Univ., College Station, TX (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
Shell-and-tube heat exchangers are the most commonly used design in process and petrochemical industries. Over the last four years, a three-dimensional numerical model has been developed at Texas A and M University to model flow and heat transfer within shell-and-tube heat exchangers. This model is based on the distributed resistance concept of Patankar and Spalding (1974). Sub-models used for pressure drop, heat transfer and turbulence generation are briefly described. Leakage flow through the baffle-tube and baffle-shell clearances are modeled using a Bernoulli type approach. The discretized governing equations are solved using a SIMPLE type finite volume method on a colocated grid. The numerical model was previously used to perform E shell simulations. Here the 3D model is used to analyze flow through an F shell heat exchanger. Velocity vector plots for the shellside fluid and temperature contours for the shellside and tubeside fluids are used to study the flow structure. The performance of the 3D model is compared with the Bell Method (1981) for the prediction of overall pressure drop. Good agreement is obtained between the computed overall pressure drop and the pressure drop predicted by the Bell method.
- OSTI ID:
- 357793
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-980213--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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