CFD PROJECT
GROUP MEMBERS:
ID NO:
HEMALA PANNEERCHELVAM
16084
Date of Submission:
13th December 2014
CONTENT
PAGE
6.0 REFERENCES
1.0
The general function of a heat exchanger is to transfer heat from one fluid to
another. The basic component of a heat exchanger can be viewed as a tube with
one fluid running through it and another fluid flowing by on the outside. There are
thus three heat transfer operations that need to be described:
1. Convective heat transfer from fluid to the inner wall of the tube
2. Conductive heat transfer through the tube wall, and
3. Convective heat transfer from the outer tube wall to the outside fluid.
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 in a concentric tube (or double-pipe)
construction. In the parallel-flow arrangement of Figure 1 , the hot and cold fluids
enter at the same end, flow in the same direction, and leave at the same end. In the
counterflow arrangement of Figure 2, the fluids enter at opposite ends, flow in
opposite directions, and leave at opposite ends.
Figure 1: Parallel
flow
Figure 2: Counter
Flow
Figure 1: Shell and tube exchanger
The shell and tube exchanger consists of four major parts:
Front Header
This is where the fluid enters the tubeside of the exchanger. It is sometimes
referred to as the Stationary Header.
Rear Header
This is where the tubeside fluid leaves the exchanger or where it is returned
to the front header in exchangers with multiple tubeside passes.
Tube bundle
This comprises of the tubes, tube sheets, baffles and tie rods etc. to hold the
bundle together.
Shell
This contains the tube bundle.
2.0 Governing Equations
The multi-fluid model section describes the general formulation of the model
equations. The homogeneous model explained in the next section is a simplification
to this general formulation. The multi fluid model will be used to setup Euler-Euler
simulations, whereas the homogeneous model will be used to implement VOF
simulations.
2.1 Multi-Fluid Model
The general scalar advection-diffusion equation:
and
The formulas above define 4 Np+1 equations for the following 5Np unknowns:
For this system of equations to be solved, 5Np-1 more equations need to be added.
In this research, the additional equation defines that all phases share the same
pressure field:
Any additional quantities to be solved, such as tracer concentrations, take the
general form of the advection diffusion equation, without interface transfer terms.
2.2 Homogeneous Model
In the homogeneous model, all transported quantities, but volume fraction are
taken to be equal for all phases. Therefore, the general advection diffusion equation
for a given quantity can be summed over all phases to give:
With:
,
and
Now the advection diffusion equation does no longer show interphase transfer
terms. The momentum equations simplify to
with
An assumption in the equations above is that the velocity field is shared between all
phases, i.e. no slip is present between the phases. This assumption is valid if the
grid on which the equations are being solved is fine enough to ensure a single cell
mainly contains one of the phases. The velocity at this position will identify the
velocity of the phase present at this position.
2.3 Turbulence Models
In this research the general single phase model, extended for the use in multi-phase
systems, has been used. In this model, the effective viscosity in the momentum
equations is the sum of the molecular and a turbulent viscosity:
with
Here, k represents the kinetic energy and represent the rate of turbulence
dissipation. The volume fraction equation is modified in the following way:
with:
with
in which shear production P and production due to body forces G for incompressible
flows are given by:
The
model has the following model parameters:
the Prandtlnumbers for the various quantities need to be specified.
. In addition,
Drag
Drag models defines how momentum is being transferred if a difference in velocity
is present between two phases. Because in the homogeneous model all phases
share the same velocity field, no interphase momentum transfer is present in this
model.
In the multi-fluid model, interphase momentum transfer can be modelled by
specifying a value for the interphase momentum transfer coefficients
(eq 1).
Mixture Model
In the mixture model, two phases between which momentum is being tranferred are
both supposed to be continuous phases. Since the drag exerted on phase by
phase
equals the drag exerted on phase
by phase , the resulting model is
symmetrical in nature:
with:
Particle Model
The particle model models the interphase momentum transfer between a
continuous phase and a disperse phase :
In the above, the drag coefficient CD is a model parameter, and d represents the
average size of the particles or bubbles that make up phase .
2.5 Boundary Conditions
This section will describe the various boundary conditions used in this research.
Inlets
At inlets, the values for velocities and volume fractions are being explicitly
specified.
Walls
Unless mentioned otherwise, all the simulations in this research have used a no-slip
condition for each of the phases at the wall:
Since there is no flow through the wall, there is no need to specify a boundary
condition for volume fractions at walls.
Many variables will show sharp gradients near the walls. To prevent having to use a
very fine grid near the wall to handle these sharp gradients, wall functions are being
used to solve the profiles near the wall.
For turbulent kinetic energy k the wall shear stress in a small boundary layer with
thickness d is taken to be
Near the wall, two scaled variables are defined: a scaled velocity component
parallel to the wall:
with
Here,
and E are model parameters defining the thickness and steepness of the
logarithmic boundary layer.
3.0 Simulation Method
Model Wizard
In the Space, Dimension, 2D axisymmetric coordinate system was selected in the
given geometry. Next button was clicked to proceed with the next step.
In the Add Physics, Non-Isothermal >Laminar Flow was chosen. Plus button was
clicked to add followed by the next button.
In the Select Study Type, stationary study was clicked, followed by the finish button.
Geometry
Build rectangle
In Model Builder, rectangle was chosen by right clicking on the geometry tab
The dimensions of the Rectangle 1 were specified before clicking the build selected
button
Step 1 and 2 were repeated for Rectangle 2, rectangle 3 and Rectangle 4
Build Circle
Step 1 and 2 were repeated for Circle 1, Circle 2, Circle 3 and Circle 4 with
dimensions specified
Under Model Builder>Untitle.mph> Study 1 tab was right clicked and the option
compute was selected. The contour of the model was defined as displayed in the
results.
Geometry
1
Geometry
Yara 16563
X=0.18
Hemala
16084
X=
0.18
Y=
0.16
X=
0.22
Y = 0.1
Figure
As illustrated in the figures above, Figure A and B describe the differences in the
water velocity flow. In Figure A, due to a longer length in the Y dimension, the
presence of dead zones, also known as the stagnation areas, are much lesser
compared to Figure B. This is because there is less constriction in the exchanger
vessel which allows the flow of water to mix well, thus reduces the occurences of
dead zones. On the other hand, in figure B, there is an observable sudden
constriction in the exchanger vessel which constitutes to the presence of poormixing areas as shown above. Besides that, there is also a circular flow of eddy
current observed in the top right side (output region) of figure B which indicates
poor-mixing as well. As in the region of input nozzle, it is also significant that the
presence of the stagnant areas in figure B is more prominent as compared to the
one in figure A. Nevertheless, the phenomenon of Vena Contracta is very much
observed in both figures, however, more obvious in Figure B. This notion simply
defines as a point in the fluid stream where the diameter of the stream is at the
least, and fluid velocity is at its maximum and also the cross-section area is at its
minimum (sudden contraction in the flow of fluid). This enhances the formation of
stagnation areas as a result of the presence of a pocket or region which is an
indicative of poor mixing / no flow. In short, the velocity flow of water in heat
exchanger shown in figure A is proven to be more efficient as the occurrences of
dead areas is comparatively lower thus promotes in a higher mixing efficiency.
Temperature profile in revolve- 2D & 3D
X=
0.18
Y=
0.16
X=
0.22
Y = 0.1
Figure
The temperature profile in the heat exchanger exhibits almost similar pattern in
both figures as shown above. In both figures, the dark red region around the inlet
area indicates the water entrance to the heat exchanger at a lower temperature,
thus proceeds to the outlet stream of the respective heat exchanger. As it flows
towards the outlet stream, the water is heated up to raise up the temperature in
order to study the heat transfer performance. This reason is clearly evident as the
bright red colour observed throughout towards the outlet of the heat exchanger
indicates the increase in the water temperature profile. Nevertheless, the variances
in the dimensions of x and y for both the figures above distinguishes the distribution
of the heat flux along the heat exchanger. Looking at the middle section of the
exchanger in Figure D, the bright red region gives an indication that more heat are
being transferred from the coil compared to Figure C. However, due to the shorter
length in Y dimension of Figure D, less heated water is being transferred to the
outlet stream. In short, less heat is observed in the outlet stream of the heat
exchanger.
Temperature 3D
X=
0.18
Y=
0.16
X=
0.18
Y=
0.16
X=
0.22
Y = 0.1
Figure
X=
0.22
Y = 0.1
Figure
In both Iso-surface designs obtained, the distribution of the heat flux generated
from the inlet up to the outlet stream is almost similar which is illustrated by the
decreasing intensity of the blue colour. The main emphasis here, however, is by
observing at the middle section of heat exchanger again. The distribution of the
heat flux in the middle section of figure F projected to be longer and more
concentrated towards the output nozzle. For figures G and H, the description of the
contour pattern obtained is similar for both different dimensions as shown in the
figures above. In short, more heat is being distributed in figure G as compared to
the next figure
Velocity 3D
X=
0.18
Y=
0.16
X=
0.22
Y = 0.1
Figure J
X=
0.18
Y=
0.16
X=
0.22
Y = 0.1
Figure
Based on the overall figures shown, it is significant that the velocity of water
increases as it flows from the input towards the outlet stream of the heat exchanger.
This can be further explained by comparing the intensity of the colours. Figure J
describes a brighter colour intensity compared to Figure I which explains more
prominent fluid velocity profile as it passes through the narrow dimension of Y. The
bright blue region in the mid-section of Figure J unleashes the maximum velocity of
the water passing through the narrow section of the Y dimension yet results in a
lower pressure whilst passing through that particular region. In conjunction, the
darker blue region at the sides of the heat exchanger explains the no-slip condition
which conclusively states that the velocity of the water at that particular region is
equal to the velocity of the heat exchanger (results in no flow condition). In a
nutshell, smaller diameter in figure J and L will allow water to flow through at a
greater velocity compared to the preceding figures. As a conclusion, the velocity
profile in heat exchanger (figure J) will be much faster compared to other respective
designs of the heat exchanger.
Heat View from the Top Part of the Heat Exchanger & Line graph
The image above displays the outlet surface temperature of both heat exchangers.
The centre portion of this contour plot represents the outlet of the heat exchanger
from the top view. This is the portion where the water heated by the coil of the heat
exchanger passes through. It is clearly seen that the centre portion is red in colour
which indicates that the temperature is high since this portion is closer to the
heating coil. It is also observed that the the contour changes from yellow, green and
finally blue as it approaches the wall because heat tends to escape to surrounding
at the surface of the heat exchanger. Blue indicates that the temperature is low. So
it can be clearly seen that the temperature reduces as it approaches the wall and
away from the heat source. The graph also shows as the arc length of the reactor
increases the heat decreases with is acceptable as explained as above.
307
306
305
304
X=0.22 Y=0.1
303
302
301
300
140 150 160 170 180 190 200 210 220
312
311
310
309
308
307
X=0.18 Y=0.16
306
305
304
303
302
180
200
220
240
260
280
300
320
The values were plotted according to the axis and were analyzed
between
both heat exchangers with different X and Y
dimensions. As portrayed in the graph, the heat transfer
coefficient is directly proportional to the average outlet, T2,
which shows that the higher value of heat transfer coefficient,
the greater the outlet temperature that we will obtain. The heat
X=0.22 Y=0.1
1.5
1
0.5
0
140 150 160 170 180 190 200 210 220
12
10
8
6
X=0.18 Y=0.16
4
2
0
180
200
220
240
260
280
300
320
From the trial and error, we obtained the suitable heat transfer
coefficient that is required to operate both the heat exchanger
with its respective dimensions as displayed in the graph . For the
dimension (X=0.18,Y=0.16), the optimum heat transfer
coefficient is found to be 211 W/(m2K) for the heat exchanger to
The value of heat transfer coefficient is different because the x and y are
different in both cases.Heat transfer coefficient and the temperature
distribution are greatly affected by the difference of the position of the
circles and the rectangle. The heat transfer coefficient is influenced by the
thickness and thermal conductivity of the mediums through which heat is
transferred. A large heat transfer coefficient allows heat to be transferred
easily in the heat exchanger. Based on our result, heat is easier in the first
heat exchanger which holds a higher value of heat transfer coefficient.
5.0
CONCLUSION
6.0 References
Bartlett, D. (2013). The Fundamentals of Heat Exchangers. The Industrial
Physicist. Retrieved from http://www.aip.org/tip/INPHFA/vol-2/iss-4/p18.pdf
Thermopedia. (2012) Shell And Tube Heat Exchangers. A-to-Z Guide to
Thermodynamics, Heat & Mass Transfer, and Fluid Engineering. Retrieved from
http://www.thermopedia.com/
Tohline, J. E. (1998). Principal Governing Equations. The Structure, Stability,
and Dynamics of Self-Gravitating Systems. Retrieved from
http://www.phys.lsu.edu/astro/H_Book.current/Context/PGE/PGE.html