HEAT EXCHANGERS

TESTING OF PARALLEL AND

COUNTERFLOW HEAT
EXCHANGERS

WHAT IS HEAT EXCHANGER?

Heat exchangers are equipment that
transfers heat from one medium to
another.
1. from hot to cold water.
2. from hot steam to cold water
3. from hot gas to cold water.
4. from hot water or unsaturated steam to cool
air.

HOW HEAT IS
TRANSFERED?
Heat can transfer between the surface of a
solid conductor and the surrounding
medium whenever temperature gradient
exists.
Conduction
Convection
1.Natural convection
2.Forced Convection

 A heat exchanger is a component that

allows the transfer of heat from one fluid
(liquid or gas) to another fluid. Reasons for
heat transfer include the following:
1. To heat a cooler fluid by means of a
hotter fluid
2. To reduce the temperature of a hot fluid
by means of a cooler fluid
3. To boil a liquid by means of a hotter
fluid

4. To condense a gaseous fluid by means

of a cooler fluid
5. To boil a liquid while condensing a
hotter gaseous fluid
Regardless of the function the heat
exchanger fulfils, in order to transfer heat
the fluids involved must be at different
temperatures and they must come into
thermal contact.

 Note:
HEAT CAN ONLY FLOW FROM THE
HOTTER TO THE COOLER FLUID.

APPLICATIONS OF HEAT
EXCHANGERS

Heat Exchangers prevent car engine overheating and

increase efficiency

Heat exchangers are used in Industry for heat transfer

Heat exchangers are used in AC and furnaces

PARALLEL AND COUNTERFLOW

HX

PARALLEL AND
COUNTERFLOW HX
In counter-flow heat exchangers the fluids enter
the exchanger from opposite ends. The counter
current design is most efficient, in that it can
transfer the most heat.
In parallel-flow heat exchangers, the two fluids
enter the exchanger at the same end, and travel
in parallel to one another to the other side.

TESTING PARALLEL AND

COUNTERFLOW HX
*LMTD
The log mean temperature difference (LMTD) is
used to determine the temperature driving force
for heat transfer in flow systems (most notably in
heat exchangers).
The LMTD is a logarithmic average of the
temperature difference between the hot and cold
streams at each end of the exchanger

 For Counter current flow (i.e. where the hot stream, liquid or gas,
goes from say left to right, and the cold stream, again liquid or gas
goes from right to left), is given by the following equation:

And for Parallel flow (i.e. where the hot stream, liquid or gas, goes
from say left to right, and so does the cold stream), is given by the
following equation:

t2 = Cold Stream Outlet Temp. t1 = Cold Stream Inlet Temp. T2 =

Hot Stream Outlet Temp. T1 = Hot Stream Inlet Temp.

*NTU METHOD
-The Number of Transfer Units (NTU) Method is used to calculate
the rate of heat transfer in heat exchangers (especially counter
current exchangers) when there is insufficient information to
calculate the Log-Mean Temperature Difference (LMTD).
- The method proceeds by calculating the heat capacity rates (i.e.
flow rate multiplied by specific heat) Ch and Cc for the hot and cold
fluids respectively, and denoting the smaller one as Cmin.

- value of qmax is the maximum heat which could be transferred

between the fluids

 EFFECTIVENESS OF HX
E is then defined in terms of that maximum:

E can be calculated using correlations in terms of the

'heat capacity ratio

and the number of transfer units, NTU

PURPOSE OF THE
PERFORMANCE TEST
To determine the overall heat transfer
coefficient for assessing the performance
of the heat exchanger
Any deviation from the design heat
transfer coefficient will indicate occurrence
of fouling.

CALCULATIONS
Step A - monitoring and reading the steady state
parameters like temperature and pressure
(inlet , outlet, hot and cold)
Step B with monitored data the physical
properties of stream is determined like
1. Density
2. Viscosity
3. Specific heat etc.

 Step C - The thermal parameters are

calculated and tabulated like the
temperature and pressure range.

 Step D finally all the thermal parameters

are evaluated like,
1. Capacity
2. Effectiveness
3. NTU
4. LMTD
5. U = overall heat transfer by the use of
various heat transfer formulaes

ACTUAL HX

PRESENTED BY GROUP 6
ME 422(ME LAB 2)
GROUP PRESENTATION