College of Engineering and Computer Science

Mechanical Engineering Department

Mechanical Engineering 375
Heat Transfer
Spring 2007 Number 17629
Instructor: Larry Caretto

Exercise Ten Solutions Heat Exchangers

1. A shell-and-tube heat exchanger with 2-shell passes and 8-tube passes is used to heat
ethyl alcohol (cp = 2670 J/kg oC) in
the tubes from 25oC to 70oC at a
rate of 2.1 kg/s. The heating is to be
done by water (cp = 4190
J/kg oC) that enters the shell side at
95oC and leaves at 45oC. If the
overall heat transfer coefficient is
950 W/m2 oC, determine the heat
transfer and surface area of the
heat exchanger. (Problem and
figure P9.63 from engel, Heat
and Mass Transfer.)
We can solve this problem by
finding the heat transfer from the
first law energy balance on ethyl alcohol. We have sufficient data to do so; we cannot do this for
water because we do not have the mass flow rate for water. If we wanted to, we could find it from
the heat transfer. We will then use the other given data to compute the log-mean temperature
difference and the correction factor for the 2-shell-pass-8-tube-pass heat exchanger. Once we
have these items we can compute the surface area from the equation Q UAFT .
lm

For the ethyl alcohol, the cold fluid, our energy balance gives.

c c p , c Tc , out Tc , in
m
Q
2.1 kg 2650 J
s o
kg C

70o C 25o C
J

0.001 kW s
= 252.3 kW

We compute the log-mean temperature difference for a counter-flow heat exchanger (the basis
for the correction factor method) as follows.

Tln
Th,out Tc,in Th,in Tc,out

45 C 25 C 95 C 70 C 22.4
o o o o
o
C
Th,out Tc,in 45o C 25o C
ln ln o
T 95 C 70 o C
h,in Tc ,out
We have to compute the ratios R and P to determine the correction factor.

Ttube,out Ttube,in t 2 t1 70 o F 25 o F
P 0.64
Tshell,in Ttube,in T1 t1 95 o F 25 o F
Tshell,in Ttube,in T T2 95 o F 45 o F
R 1 o 1.1
Ttube,out Ttube,in t 2 t1 70 F 25 o F
From Figure 11.18(8) for two shell passes and any multiple of 4 tube passes we find F = 0.82 for
these values of R and P. Solving Q UAFT for the area and substituting the given data
lm
and intermediate results gives the desired area.

Jacaranda (Engineering) 3333 Mail Code Phone: 818.677.6448

E-mail: lcaretto@csun.edu 8348 Fax: 818.677.7062
 1000 W

Q
252.3 kW
A kW 14.5 m2
UFTlm 950 W
m 2 o C
0.8 22.4 C
o

2. Water (cp = 4180 J/kg oC) is to be heated by solar-heated hot air (cp =1010 J/kg oC) in a
double-pipe counterflow heat exchanger. Air enters the heat exchanger at 90 oC at a rate of
0.3 kg/s, while water enters at 22oC at a rate of 0.1 kg/s. The overall heat transfer
coefficient based on the inner side of the tube is given to be 80 W/m 2 oC. The length of the
tube is 12 m and the internal diameter of the tube is 1.2 cm. Determine the outlet
temperatures of the water and the air.
Since we only know the inlet temperatures here, we have to apply the effectiveness-NTU method.
We start by computing the mass-flow-times-heat-capacity products and determine which of the
two is smaller.
0.3 kg 1010 kJ 1 kW s 303 W
Ch m
h c p ,h o
s kg o C kJ C
0.1 kg 4180 kJ 1 kW s 418 W
Cc m
c c p ,c o
s kg o C kJ C
So Cmin = Cc = 303 W/oC. We use this to compute the maximum heat transfer.

Q max C min Th,in Tc ,in o

303 W
C

90 o C 22 o C 2.060 x10 4 W

In order to find the heat transfer we have to find the heat exchanger effectiveness. We do this by
computing the NTU and using the charts that give the effectiveness as a function of NTU and the
ratio of Cmin/Cmax. The surface area is required to compute the NTU. For this simple, counter-flow
heat exchanger, the total heat transfer surface area is found as follows.

As DL 12 0.012 m 12 m 0.45 m 2

UAs
80 W
2 o

0.45 m 2 C min
303 W
o
NTU m C 0.119 c C 0.725
C min 303 W C max 418 W
o o
C C
For these values of NTU and c = Cmin./Cmax, we can use the equation for effectiveness of
counterflow heat exchangers to find .

1 e NTU 1c 1 e 0.119 10.725

0.108
1 ce NTU 1c 1 0.119 e 0.119 10.725
The actual heat transfer is the product of the maximum heat transfer and the heat exchanger
effectiveness.
Q
Q
max 0.108 2.060 x10 W = 2225 W
4

We find the outlet temperatures from the first law mass balances.
Q
Q C c Tc ,out Tc ,in
2225 W
Tc ,out Tc ,in 22 o C
Cc 418 W = 27.3oC
o
C

Jacaranda (Engineering) 3333 Mail Code Phone: 818.677.6448

E-mail: lcaretto@csun.edu 8348 Fax: 818.677.7062
 Q
Q C h Th,in Th,out Th,out Th,in
2225 W
90 o C
Cc 303 W = 82.7oC
o
C

Jacaranda (Engineering) 3333 Mail Code Phone: 818.677.6448

E-mail: lcaretto@csun.edu 8348 Fax: 818.677.7062