Abstract
Mathematical models for steam condensate cooler were developed. The models were deduced by applying the principle of conservation of energy and yielded an ordinary differential equation, which were solved by using MatLab ODE45 solver and validated using industrial data of a fertilizer company. The result gives minimum percentage absolute error or deviation between model predictions and industrial plant of 0.09% and 0.10% respectively for hot and cold fluid outlet temperature. These shows that the developed model predicted the fluid outlet temperature of the steam condensate cooler closely and the models were used to study the effects of process parameters such as fluid inlet flow rate and heat transfer coefficient on the performance of the steam condensate cooler.
Highlights
A heat exchanger is a device built for efficient heat transfer from one fluid to another, whether the fluids are separated by a wall to prevent mixing, or fluids are directly contacted
Material and methods In describing the operation of the steam condensate cooler, models of the cooler were developed by applying the principle of conservation of energy based on the following assumptions: the cooler operates at steady state, flow into the cooler equals out flow from the cooler, heat is provided by condensing steam and all steam condenses, no reaction taking place in the cooler
The maximum percentage absolute error known as deviation between the developed model and output from industrial fertilizer plant data for hot and cold fluid outlet temperatures are 0.09 and 0.10 respectively
Summary
A heat exchanger is a device built for efficient heat transfer from one fluid to another, whether the fluids are separated by a wall to prevent mixing, or fluids are directly contacted They are widely used in petroleum refineries, chemical plants, petrochemical plants, natural gas processing, refrigeration, power plants, air conditioning and space heating. The heat exchanger was introduced in the early 1900s to execute the needs in power plants for large heat exchanger surfaces as condensers and feed water heaters capable of operating under relatively high pressures Both of these original applications of shell and tube heat exchangers continued to be used, but the design have become highly sophisticated and specialized subject to various specific codes and practices. The steadily increasing use of shell and tube heat exchangers and greater demands on accuracy of performance prediction for a growing variety of process conditions resulted in the explosion of research activities [2]
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