Computational Analysis of Conventional and Helical Finned Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Using ANSYS-CFD

The summary of the proposed work is to compare the rate of heat transfer, logarithmic mean temperature difference (LMTD) and effectiveness (ε) for a conventional shell and tube heat exchanger with and without helical finned surfaces on tube side of heat exchanger. It is shown that the inlet velocity of cold fluid at the tube side varies, while the inlet velocity of hot fluid at the shell side remains constant. The percentage variations of heat transfer rates with theoretical and simulation methods are compared. The geometry is modelled in ANSYS design modeler and analysis have been carried out in ANSYS-CFD. The inlet velocity of shell side hot fluid is varied in both types of heat exchangers. The proposed work is tested for two configurations of counter flow heat exchanger (conventional and helical finned surfaces) under different shell side inlet velocities of fluids. Helical finned tube heat exchanger with counter flow has a higher LMTD than a conventional counter flow heat exchanger. Variation in heat transfer rates and heat transfer coefficients were observed in heat exchanger influenced by shell side hot fluid velocity. The study shows that helical finned tube surfaces have improved heat transfer rates, LMTD, effectiveness (ε) and overall heat transfer coefficients compared to the conventional heat exchangers.