Shell Side Single-Phase Experimental Heat Transfer Analysis of a Vertically Oriented Single Segmental Baffle Bundle With Dimpled Tubes

Abstract

This paper presents single-phase shell side heat transfer performance of a vertically oriented shell and tube bundle. Steady-state single-phase experiments were conducted to determine the shell side Nusselt number with water and water/glycol solution as working fluids for both counter and parallel flow configurations. Experiments were carried out for Reynolds number varying from 3000 to 15,000 with Prandtl number ranging from 10 to 20. Counter flow configuration showed slightly better performance. Nusselt number correlations are presented for both configurations using a modified Wilson plot method. Comparison of results with previous studies and commercial software are presented. Thermal performance for all flow rate conditions showed close comparison to the results from a reputable commercial software. The correlation was further validated by comparing results for 30 different cases to calculations from 2 widely used commercial softwares. Comparison showed that the correlation can be used for the design of single-phase single segmental shell and tube heat exchangers.