I am considering using a stainless-steel shell-and-tube heat exchanger (water - water) in the place of a copper one. Do I need to make the stainless steel exchanger bigger? If so, is there a rough ratio I need to make it bigger by?
Have an insight or suggestion?
Login or register to post a comment.
-
Re: Do I need to make a stainless steel exchanger bigger?
1 February 2012 at 1:29pmIn order to determine the difference in size you must calculate the contribution of conduction through the tube wall to the overall heat transfer coefficient. If the film coefficients for the tube and shell side fluids are quite high then it is likely that changing the tubes from copper to stainless will require more area. It is also likely that the tubeside film coefficient will change due to a change in i.d. Utilize the calculation of overall heat transfer coefficient to determine the new size of the exchanger. See Perry's Chemical Engineers’ Handbook – Chapter 11.
Login or register to post a comment.

