Numerical Investigation of heat transfer and pressure drop in shell and tube heat exchangers with segmental and helical baffles

A numerical study focusing on the performance of shell and tube heat exchanger for the different fluid combinations was carried out and the predictions were compared with available experimental data in the literature. The thermal performance of a shell and tube heat exchanger (STHX) was found to be influenced not only by inlet temperature, velocity, baffle size, spacing and count, but also by the direction of flow, nature of fluids in shell/tube, turbulence and the flow induced vibration during the operation. In this work, the influence of fluid properties on the heat transfer rate and the induced pressure drop were predicted for a STHX with baffle and baffle-less configurations. This will enable manufactures to suitably select heat exchangers for different fluid combinations and configurations for obtaining better performance. The work also identifies the configuration of STHX that is effective in transferring heat for fluid combinations such as water, seawater and oil in shell and tube sides