Lowest Shell Side Thermal Resistance !!!: Design of Condensers/Condensing Zones

Design of Condensers/Condensing Zones
P M V Subbarao
Professor
Mechanical Engineering Department
I I T Delhi
Lowest Shell side

Thermal Resistance !!!
HP CFWH
HP CFWH No. 8
Thermodynamic Layout of HP Closed Feed

Water Heater
HP Turbine
Tbi, pbi, Tbsi

Condensing Shell
Drain Cooler
Desuperheater
Tfi
Tfi+1
TRAP
Bleed Steam
Feed Water in
C=Condenser
DC
DS
Feed Water out
Feedwater heater with Drain cooler and Desuperheater
Condensate
DC=Drain cooler
DS=Desuperheater
-TTD=Terminal
temperature difference
Bled steam
TTD
DC
DS
Number of Tubes
The flow rate inside the tube is a function of the density of the
fluid, the velocity of the fluid, cross-sectional flow area of the
tube, and the number of tubes.
m tube t ut Ac N t
By using above Eq. and replacing Ac by di2/4, number of tubes
can be calculated as
m tube
Nt
2
t utd i
where di is the tube inside diameter.
Tubes in Shell and Tube Hx

The number and size of tubes in an exchanger depends on the
Fluid flow rates
Available pressure drop.
The number and size of tubes is selected such that the
Tube side velocity for water and similar liquids ranges from
0.9 to 2.4 m/s.
Shell-side velocity from 0.6 to 1.5 m/s.
The lower velocity limit corresponds to limiting the fouling,
and the
upper velocity limit corresponds to limiting the rate of erosion.
When sand and silt are present, the velocity is kept high
enough to prevent settling.
Tube-Side Nusselt Number

For turbulent flow, the following equation developed by PetukhovKirillov is used:
Nutube
f
Re t Prt
2
1
f 2 23
1.07 12.7 Prt 1
2
Where f 1.58 ln Re t 3.28
Properties are evaluated at mean bulk temperature and constants

are adjusted to fit experimental data.
Validity range: 104 < Ret < 5 x 106 and 0.5 < Prt < 2000 with 10%
error.
For laminar flow, the Sieder and Tate correlation is be used.
Nutube
Re t Prt d i
1.86
is applicable for 0.48 < Prt < 16700 and (Ret Prt di/L)1/3 > 2.
The heat transfer coefficient for the tube-side is expressed as
follows:
kt
ht Nut
di
Shell-diameter
Ashell
N t Apro tube
CTP
2
DS
4
Apro tube CL PT2
HP Closed Feed Water Heater
Condensate Loading
Mass flow of condensate
Perimeter
m condensate
for vertical tubes.

d 0
m condensate
for horiontal tubes.

Ltube
General values of condensate loading for horizontal tubes:
0.01 to 0.05 kg/m.s
This can be used to calculate a Reynolds number
Re condensation
film
Flow is considered laminar if this Reynolds number is less than 1800.

The driving force for condensation is the temperature difference
between the cold wall surface and the bulk temperature of the saturated
vapor
Tdriving Tsat Twall Tvapour Tsurface

The viscosity and most other properties used in the condensing
correlations are evaluated at the film temperature, a weighted mean of
the cold surface (wall) temperature and the (hot) vapor saturation
temperature
T film
3Tdriving
3
Tsat Tsaturation Twall Tsat
4
4
Onset of Turbulence & Turbulent Film Condensation

The transition film Reynolds number for the tube bundle is
adapted from a vertical plate turbulent transition criterion of
1600 (but also values of 1200, 1800 and 2000 have been
proposed).
Thus, the film will become turbulent on the tube bundle at Re
equal to 1600 and thus when Re > 1600 the following
expression should be used.
The flow is nearly always laminar on single tube because of
the short cooling length around the perimeter
Wall Temperatures
It is often necessary to calculate the wall temperature by an
iterative approach.
The summarized procedure is:
1. Assume a film temperature, Tf
2. Evaluate the fluid properties (viscosity, density, etc.) at this
temperature
3. Use the properties to calculate a condensing heat transfer
coefficient (using the correlations to be presented)
4. Calculate the wall temperature. The relationship will
typically be something like
Twall Tsat
1
UA T T
sat
coolant
1
ho Ao
5.
6.
Use the wall temperature to calculate a film temperature

Compare the calculated film temperature to that from the
initial step. If not equal, reevaluate the properties and repeat.
Laminar Flow Outside Horizontal Tubes

When vapor condenses on the surface of horizontal tubes, the flow is
almost always laminar.
The flow path is too short for turbulence to develop. Again, there are two
forms of the same relationship:
hcond
k f f v g
1.51
3 Re
condensation
k f f v gh fg
f Tdriving d 0
3
f
hcond 0.725
3
f
The constant in the second form varies from 0.725 to 0.729.

The rippling condition (add 20%) is suggested for condensate Reynolds
Numbers greater than 40.
Condenser tubes are typically arranged in banks, so that the

condensate which falls off one tube will typically fall onto a tube
below.
The bottom tubes in a stack thus have thicker liquid films and
consequently poorer heat transfer.
The correlation is adjusted by a factor for the number of tubes,
becoming for the Nth tube in the stack
hcond
k f f v gh fg
0.725
N f Tdriving d 0
3
f
htop
4
The heat transfer coefficient on the Nth tube row

The heat transfer coefficient on the Nth tube row in the bundle
h(N) is
3
3
h( N )
4
N N 1 4
h(1)
Kern (1958) concluded from his practice experience in

designing condensers that the Jakob tube row expression was
too conservative and that this resulted in condensers that were
consistently over-surfaced.
To improve his thermal designs, he replaced the exponent of (1/4) in the Nusselt expression with a value of (-1/6) so that
corresponding equations become
Condensation on Horizontal Bundles: Prediction of

Heat Transfer Coefficient in Nth Tube Row
h( N )
h(1)
Falling Film Condensation on Horizontal Tubes

Falling-film heat exchangers are attractive because they
provide good heat transfer performance and low working-fluid
inventories.
The design of falling-film heat exchangers has been largely
based on empirical data.
A thorough understanding of the falling-film flow and heat
transfer interactions is important.
An ability to predict the falling film mode would allow better
data correlation and improve the modeling and analysis of heat
transfer and fluid flow.
Modes of Condensation on Tube Bundle
The droplet
mode
The jet mode
The sheet mode
Flow Rate Vs Mode of Falling Film
Condensation on Horizontal Tube Bundles : Flow Map

Hu and Jacobi (1996) proposed flow mode transition equations
with Re versus Ga+ (film Reynolds number vs. the Galileo
number) for the following principal flow modes: sheet flow,
column flow and droplet flow.
The mixed mode transition zones of column-sheet and dropletcolumn were also considered as regimes, bringing the total to five.
Hence, they presented four flow transition expressions (valid for
passing through the transitions in either direction and hence the
symbol ):
Range of Validity of Model
Flow Transition Map
Identification Condensation Mode
Final Correlation
Onset of Turbulence & Turbulent Film Condensation

The transition film Reynolds number for the tube bundle is
adapted from a vertical plate turbulent transition criterion of
1600 (but also values of 1200, 1800 and 2000 have been
proposed).
Thus, the film will become turbulent on the tube bundle at Re
equal to 1600 and thus when Re > 1600 the following
expression should be used.
Condensation on Horizontal Tube Bundles :

Turbulent Flow
Turbulent flow of the condensate film may be reached in a
condenser, which significantly increases heat transfer.
Comparatively little has been published on turbulent film
condensation on tube bundles compared to the information
available for laminar films.
Butterworth (1983) recommends adapting the Labuntsov
expression for turbulent film condensation on a horizontal
tubes for predicting local turbulent film condensation on the
Nth tube row in horizontal tube bundles
Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient for the

Heat Exchanger
The overall heat transfer coefficient for clean surface
(Uc) is given by
Considering the total fouling resistance, the heat

transfer coefficient for fouled surface (Uf) can be
calculated from the following expression:
Outlet Temperature Calculation and

Length of the Heat Exchanger
The outlet temperature for the fluid flowing through
the tube is
The surface area of the heat exchanger for the fouled con
and for the clean condition
where the LMTD is always for the counter flow.

The over surface design (OS) can be calculated from :
The length of the heat exchanger is calculated

by
Wall Temperatures
It is often necessary to calculate the wall temperature by an
iterative approach.
The summarized procedure is:
1. Assume a film temperature, Tf
2. Evaluate the fluid properties (viscosity, density, etc.) at this
temperature
3. Use the properties to calculate a condensing heat transfer
coefficient (using the correlations to be presented)
4. Calculate the wall temperature. The relationship will
typically be something like
Twall Tsat
1
UA T T
sat
coolant
1
ho Ao
5.
6.
Use the wall temperature to calculate a film temperature

Compare the calculated film temperature to that from the
initial step. If not equal, reevaluate the properties and repeat.
The heat transfer coefficient on the Nth tube row

The heat transfer coefficient on the Nth tube row in the bundle
h(N) is
3
3
h( N )
4
N N 1 4
h(1)
Kern (1958) concluded from his practice experience in

designing condensers that the Jakob tube row expression was
too conservative and that this resulted in condensers that were
consistently over-surfaced.
To improve his thermal designs, he replaced the exponent of (1/4) in the Nusselt expression with a value of (-1/6) so that
corresponding equations become
Condensation on Horizontal Bundles: Prediction of

Heat Transfer Coefficient in Nth Tube Row
h( N )
h(1)

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Design of Condensers/Condensing Zones

Lowest Shell side

Thermodynamic Layout of HP Closed Feed

Tbi, pbi, Tbsi

Feed Water out

Feedwater heater with Drain cooler and Desuperheater

where di is the tube inside diameter.

Tubes in Shell and Tube Hx

Tube-Side Nusselt Number

Where f 1.58 ln Re t 3.28

Properties are evaluated at mean bulk temperature and constants

For laminar flow, the Sieder and Tate correlation is be used.

Apro tube CL PT2

HP Closed Feed Water Heater

Mass flow of condensate

for vertical tubes.

for horiontal tubes.

Flow is considered laminar if this Reynolds number is less than 1800.

Tdriving Tsat Twall Tvapour Tsurface

Onset of Turbulence & Turbulent Film Condensation

Use the wall temperature to calculate a film temperature

Laminar Flow Outside Horizontal Tubes

The constant in the second form varies from 0.725 to 0.729.

Condenser tubes are typically arranged in banks, so that the

The heat transfer coefficient on the Nth tube row

Kern (1958) concluded from his practice experience in

Condensation on Horizontal Bundles: Prediction of

Falling Film Condensation on Horizontal Tubes

Modes of Condensation on Tube Bundle

The jet mode

The sheet mode

Flow Rate Vs Mode of Falling Film

Condensation on Horizontal Tube Bundles : Flow Map

Range of Validity of Model

Flow Transition Map

Identification Condensation Mode

Onset of Turbulence & Turbulent Film Condensation

Condensation on Horizontal Tube Bundles :

Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient for the

Considering the total fouling resistance, the heat

Outlet Temperature Calculation and

and for the clean condition

where the LMTD is always for the counter flow.

The length of the heat exchanger is calculated

Use the wall temperature to calculate a film temperature

The heat transfer coefficient on the Nth tube row

Kern (1958) concluded from his practice experience in

Condensation on Horizontal Bundles: Prediction of

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