The heat exchanger is not performing well
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There is a shell-and-tube condenser with a heat exchange area of 10 square meters. Pure water flows through the tube side at a temperature of 20°C, while a 40% ethylene glycol solution flows through the shell side at a temperature of -15°C. The goal is to reduce the temperature of the pure water to around 4°C, but after prolonged operation, the temperature of the pure water remains at 12°C and will not drop. I would like to ask the experts here why this is happening. Thank you in advance
“What does “after long-term operation” mean? Does it mean it’s lower than 12°C at the beginning? How long is a long time? Are there any parameters such as traffic volume and PID that can be used with PROII to do some calculations?
No traffic – should Haiyou guess, or is it HaiKuoTianKong?
What is the temperature of pure water at the start of operation?
Possible reasons: (1) Insufficient flow rate of the ethylene glycol solution; (2) Insufficient heat exchange area. For more detailed information, please provide the inlet and outlet temperatures of water, the inlet and outlet temperatures of the ethylene glycol solution, the water flow rate, and the ethylene glycol solution flow rate
Determine whether the heat exchange area of the heat exchanger meets the requirements, and identify the issues by considering the operating conditions. It is difficult to make a judgment since the operation details you provided and the information on the heat exchanger are incomplete.
It seems that the ethylene glycol flow rate is insufficient~
The flow rate of the ethylene glycol solution is insufficient, and the heat exchanger area is inadequate; the problems lie in these two aspects.
This needs to be calculated based on the flow rate of your cold and hot fluids, as well as the specifications and structure of the heat exchanger; it’s not complicated
Is the flow rate of the ethylene glycol solution not sufficient?
It is assumed that the heat exchange area is sufficient, and the amount of chilled water also meets the requirements. Additionally, it is possible that 1) the heat exchange tubes are severely blocked, resulting in insufficient area for heat exchange, and the smaller tubes are prone to getting blocked. 2. The manufacturing and processing tolerances are large, resulting in reduced performance and severe leakage and bypass flow. 3. Check whether there is a problem with the valve instruments. Please refer to this.