Structure Size on the Heat Transfer Performance of Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger

摘要

In this paper, based on the numerical simulation with RNG k-ε model by using commercial code of FLUENT, the effects of the structure size of the shell and tube heat exchanger, such as the baffle spacing and the gap height of baffle plate, on the pressure drop, the heat transfer coefficient and j-f Factor were investigated to obtain the relationship between the baffle spacing and the gap height of baffle plate using the same thermophysical conditions. The numerical simulation results exhibited that there was a non-monotonic relationship between the baffle spacing and the gap height of baffle plate. A better heat transfer performance could be observed under the condition of a smaller value of the baffle spacing and a higher value of the ratio of the gap height to the actual section, or under the condition of a higher value of the baffle spacing and a smaller value of the ratio of the gap height to the actual section. Moreover, under the optimum geometrical condition, the numerical simulation results showed that a smaller difference between the inlet section length and the baffle spacing could give a higher j-f Factor and a better heat transfer performance.