Numerical Investigation of Internal Pressure in a shell and Tube type of Heat Exchanger by using FEA

Abstract

Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers are one of the most popular types of exchanger in heat transfer applications. Due to the flexibility, the designer has to allow for a wide range of pressures and temperatures. They are widely used in petroleum refineries, chemical plants, petrochemical plants, natural gas processing, air-conditioning, refrigeration and automotive applications. It utilizes a bundle of tubes through which one of the fluids flows. These tubes are enclosed in a shell with provisions for the other fluid to flow through the spaces between the tubes. In most designs of this type, the free fluid flows roughly perpendicular to the tubes containing the other fluid, in what is known as a cross-flow exchange. In nuclear reactors fuel rods may replace the tubes, and the cooling fluid flowing around the rods removes the heat generated by the fission process.A comprehensive Finite Element Analysis (FEA) has been performed on the critical heat exchanger components in order to validate the results of the components designed using the prescribed codes. The computational analysis helps visualize the areas of high stress concentration thereby aiding the designer to identify the failure prone regions. The regions susceptible to failure can be suitably modified to safeguard against failure. This paper aims at performing a design outputs by IBR codes of critical components of a shell and tube type heat exchanger in an attempt to show the redundancy in designing the components. Furthermore FEA shown the values of stress getting developed in the components for given operating conditions are much lesser than the allowable values of stress for those respective material. Thus the components are safe against such loading.