An analysis of tube thickness effect on shell and tube heat exchanger

Abstract

Heat exchangers are important equipment for the process of placing heat. The most widely used type of heat exchanger is shell and tube. This type is widely used because of its simple and easy design. Design of shell and tube heat exchangers is done by the side or shell variations to get the desired performance. Therefore, research is conducted to study the effect of tube thickness on heat transfer, pressure drop, and stress that occurs in the shell and tube heat exchanger so that the optimal tube thickness is obtained. In this research, the activities carried out are the design of heat exchangers for the production of oxygen with a capacity of 30 tons/day. The standard used in this study is the 9th edition heat exchanger design guidance document compiled by the Tubular Exchanger Manufacturer Association (TEMA). Analysis of the tube thickness effect on heat transfer, pressure drop, and stress was carried out using the SimScale platform. The effect of variations in tube thickness on heat transfer is that the thicker the tube, the lower the heat transfer effectiveness. The highest value of the heat exchanger effectiveness is 0.969 at the tube thickness variation of 0.5 mm. The lowest value of the heat exchanger effectiveness is 0.931 at the tube thickness variation of 1.5 mm. The effect of variations in tube thickness on pressure drop is that the thicker the tube, the higher the pressure drop. The highest value of pressure drop is in the variation in tube thickness of 1.5 mm, 321 Pa. The lowest value of drop pressure is in the variation of 0.5 mm tube thickness, which is 203 Pa. The thickness of the tube also increases the maximum stress on the components of the shell, head, tubesheet, baffle, and saddle, but the value is fluctuating