Optimal Design of Shell-and-Tube Heat Exchangers Using Particle Swarm Optimization

Abstract

In this paper, the shell-and-tube heat exchangers design is formulated as an optimization problem and solved with particle swarm optimization (PSO). The objective is to minimize the global cost including area cost and pumping cost or just area minimization, depending on data availability, rigorously following the standards of the Tubular Exchanger Manufacturers Association and respecting pressure drops and fouling limits. Given fluids temperatures, flow rates, physical properties (density, heat capacity, viscosity, and thermal conductivity), pressure drop and fouling limits, and area cost data, the proposed methodology calculates the optimal mechanical and thermal-hydraulic variables. The Bell−Delaware method is used for the shell-side calculations. Some literature cases are studied and results show that in this type of problem, with a very large number of nonlinear equations, the PSO algorithm presents better results, avoiding local minima.

Optimal Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers Design

“…The tube outlet and inlet diameters and the tube pitch are fixed. Table 12 presents the heat exchanger configuration of Shenoy (1995) and the designed equipment, by using the best solution obtained with the proposed MINLP model of Ravagnani and Caballero (2007a) and the PSO algorithm proposed by Ravagnani et al (2009). In Shenoy (1995 the standards of TEMA are not taken into account.…”

“…All of the three situations were solved with the PSO algorithm proposed by Ravagnani et al (2009) and the results are presented in Table 14. It is also presented in this table the results of Mizutani et al (2003) and the result obtained by the MINLP proposition presented in Ravagnani and Caballero (2007a) for the Part A.…”

“…So, more realistic values can be obtained if these coefficients are not estimated, but calculated during the design task. A few number of papers present shell and tube heat exchanger design including overall heat transfer coefficient calculations (Polley et al, 1990, Polley and Panjeh Shah, 1991, Jegede and Polley, 1992, and Panjeh Shah, 1992, Ravagnani, 1994, Ravagnani et al (2003, Mizutani et al, 2003, Serna and Jimenez, 2004, Ravagnani and Caballero, 2007a, and Ravagnani et al, 2009. In this chapter, the work of Ravagnani (1994) will be used as a base to the design of the shell and tube heat exchangers.…”

“…A systematic procedure was developed using the Bell-Delaware method. Overall and individual heat transfer coefficients are calculated based on a TEMA (TEMA, 1998) tube counting table, as proposed in Ravagnani et al (2009), beginning with the smallest heat exchanger with the biggest number of tube passes, to use all the pressure drop www.intechopen.com Heat Analysis and Thermodynamic Effects 130 and fouling limits, fixed before the design and that must be satisfied. If pressure drops or fouling factor are not satisfied, a new heat exchanger is tested, with lower tube passes number or larger shell diameter, until the pressure drops and fouling are under the fixed limits.…”

Differences and relations of objectives, constraints, and decision parameters in the optimization of individual heat exchangers and thermal systems

“…For example, the minimum heat transfer area is the objective and the total mass flow rates of all working fluids are given a set of choices in advance and considered as constraints. For a shell-and-tube heat exchanger, Ravagnani et al [23] optimized the heat transfer area with given fluid temperatures and flow rates, and Costa and Queiroz [24] minimized the heat transfer area of another heat exchanger with prescribed fluid velocities. For a thermal system, Chen et al [25] optimized the area allocation of the evaporator and the condenser of a refrigeration system with given total heat capacity rates of all working fluids.…”