Comparison of aerodynamic noise and heat transfer for shell-and-tube heat exchangers with continuous helical and segmental baffles

Abstract

Flow-induced noise and vibration problems of tube bundles in heat-exchangers exist for a long time and often cause severe destruction, performance reduction and large maintenance charge. It is essential to study the flow-induced noise in tube bundles and develop high-efficiency noise elimination measures. The theoretical analysis and numerical simulation method are coupled to compare the aerodynamic noise and heat transfer in shell-and-tube heat exchangers with continuous helical and segmental baffles. The novelty of this paper is to compare the flow-induced noise of tube bundles in shell-and-tube heat-exchangers with continuous helical and segmental baffles. And as an initial trial, this study intends to investigate the aerodynamic noise based on the flow field and acoustic field matching perspective. The results show that the sound pressure, the pressure drop per unit tube length and the Nusselt number all increase with the increase of Reynolds number. And the average synergy angle of continuous helical baffles is 11％ lower than that of segmental baffles, which corresponds with 23-37％ lower sound pressure.