Comparison of Analytical and Numerical Methods for Predicting the Shell-Side Heat Transfer Coefficient in Heat Exchanger with Segmental Baffles

This study reports the calculated values results of the shell-side heat transfer coefficient for a shell-and-tube heat exchanger with an inner shell diameter of 200 mm and a length of 518 mm, containing 85 tubes arranged in a staggered layout. Shell-side cross-flow was generated by nine standard segmental baffles with a 25% baffle cut and a baffle pitch of 48 mm. In particular, the effect of 13 combinations of shell-to-baffle and baffle-to-tube gaps on the heat transfer coefficient was investigated. Moreover, the influence of sealing strips and tube bundle diameter on the heat transfer coefficient was also examined. The calculations were carried out using three different approaches, namely the Gaddis-Gnielinski method, the extended Bell-Delaware method, and Aspen EDR code. Numerical simulations for an idealized heat exchanger were also conducted using Ansys Fluent and OpenFOAM. As far as the authors are aware, this is the first study to compare two computational methods widely regarded as reference approaches for shell-and-tube heat exchangers, namely the Bell-Delaware and the Gaddis-Gnielinski approaches. The results obtained using the Aspen EDR code, a widely recognized software tool for modeling and design of heat exchangers, were evaluated against the forecast of the Bell-Delaware and Gaddis-Gnielinski approaches.