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What is Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger – Definition

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Shell and tube heat exchangers are probably the most widespread and commonly used basic heat exchanger configuration in industry. Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger

Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger

Shell and tube heat exchanger

Steam Generator - vertical
Steam Generator – vertical

Shell and tube heat exchangers in their various construction modifications are probably the most widespread and commonly used basic heat exchanger configuration in industry. Shell-and-tube heat exchangers are further classified according to the number of shell and tube passes involved. Shell and tube heat exchangers are typically used for high-pressure applications (with pressures greater than 30 bar and temperatures greater than 260 °C). This is because the shell and tube heat exchangers can withstand high pressures due to their shape. In this type of heat exchanger, a number of small bore pipes are fitted between two tube plates and primary fluid flows through these tubes. The tube bundle is placed inside a shell and the secondary fluid flows through the shell and over the surface of the tubes. In nuclear engineering, this design of heat exchangers is widely used as in case of steam generator, which are used to convert feedwater into steam from heat produced in a nuclear reactor core. To increase the amount of heat transferred and the power generated, the heat exchange surface must be maximized. This is obtained by using tubes. Each steam generator can contain anywhere from 3,000 to 16,000 tubes, each about  19mm diameter.

Heat Exchanger – Flow Direction

Heat exchangers are typically classified according to flow arrangement and type of construction. The simplest heat exchanger is one for which the hot and cold fluids move in the same or opposite directions. This heat exchanger consists of two concentric pipes of different diameters.

  • parallel-flow arrangement. In the parallel-flow arrangement, the hot and cold fluids enter at the same end, flow in the same direction, and leave at the same end.
  • counter-flow arrangement. In the counter-flow arrangement, the fluids enter at opposite ends, flow in opposite directions, and leave at opposite ends.

Figure represents the directions of fluid flow in the parallel and counter-flow exchangers. Under comparable conditions, more heat is transferred in a counter-flow arrangement than in a parallel flow heat exchanger. The temperature profiles of the two heat exchangers indicate two major disadvantages in the parallel-flow design.

  • The large temperature difference at the ends causes large thermal stresses.
  • The temperature of the cold fluid exiting the heat exchanger never exceeds the lowest temperature of the hot fluid.

The design of a parallel flow heat exchanger is advantageous when two fluids are required to be brought to nearly the same temperature.

heat exchanger - parallel-flow

heat exchanger - counter-flow

 
References:
Heat Transfer:
  1. Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer, 7th Edition. Theodore L. Bergman, Adrienne S. Lavine, Frank P. Incropera. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2011. ISBN: 9781118137253.
  2. Heat and Mass Transfer. Yunus A. Cengel. McGraw-Hill Education, 2011. ISBN: 9780071077866.
  3. U.S. Department of Energy, Thermodynamics, Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow. DOE Fundamentals Handbook, Volume 2 of 3. May 2016.

Nuclear and Reactor Physics:

  1. J. R. Lamarsh, Introduction to Nuclear Reactor Theory, 2nd ed., Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA (1983).
  2. J. R. Lamarsh, A. J. Baratta, Introduction to Nuclear Engineering, 3d ed., Prentice-Hall, 2001, ISBN: 0-201-82498-1.
  3. W. M. Stacey, Nuclear Reactor Physics, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, ISBN: 0- 471-39127-1.
  4. Glasstone, Sesonske. Nuclear Reactor Engineering: Reactor Systems Engineering, Springer; 4th edition, 1994, ISBN: 978-0412985317
  5. W.S.C. Williams. Nuclear and Particle Physics. Clarendon Press; 1 edition, 1991, ISBN: 978-0198520467
  6. G.R.Keepin. Physics of Nuclear Kinetics. Addison-Wesley Pub. Co; 1st edition, 1965
  7. Robert Reed Burn, Introduction to Nuclear Reactor Operation, 1988.
  8. U.S. Department of Energy, Nuclear Physics and Reactor Theory. DOE Fundamentals Handbook, Volume 1 and 2. January 1993.
  9. Paul Reuss, Neutron Physics. EDP Sciences, 2008. ISBN: 978-2759800414.

Advanced Reactor Physics:

  1. K. O. Ott, W. A. Bezella, Introductory Nuclear Reactor Statics, American Nuclear Society, Revised edition (1989), 1989, ISBN: 0-894-48033-2.
  2. K. O. Ott, R. J. Neuhold, Introductory Nuclear Reactor Dynamics, American Nuclear Society, 1985, ISBN: 0-894-48029-4.
  3. D. L. Hetrick, Dynamics of Nuclear Reactors, American Nuclear Society, 1993, ISBN: 0-894-48453-2.
  4. E. E. Lewis, W. F. Miller, Computational Methods of Neutron Transport, American Nuclear Society, 1993, ISBN: 0-894-48452-4.

See also:

Heat Exchangers

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