Numerical Simulation of the Shell-and-Tube Heat Exchanger: Influence of the Lower Flows and the Baffles on a Fluid Dynamics

Abstract

This project proposes the numerical reproduction development of the water flow in a shell-and-tube heat exchanger 2:1 according to the CLASS C TEMA standard (for moderate operation conditions, with commercial application). With baffles in aluminum and copper tube for the cold fluid flow, the shell is in acrylic, and with thermal analysis efficiencies with regard to the presence or not of the baffles, that is to analyze the efficiency with only, the tubes and the shell and soon after the analysis with tubes and baffles. Heat exchangers are widely used equipment on an industrial and commercial scale, the application of these equipments on an industrial scale represents innovative processing solutions reflecting the processes efficiency, producing significant savings and lower cost, supporting the business success, and consequently offering opportunities, social responsibility, which are the pillars of sustainability. For the development of this work the methodology was used to calculate effectiveness, following the design parameters and contour conditions, it was analyzed the fluids behavior in the shell and the tube, through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) using the software ANSYS CFX 15.0. The results were compared with Excel generated worksheets calculated using the existing equations and correlations.