Material flow arrangement in shell and tube heat exchangers
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I would like to ask about the arrangement of the flow path of fluids in shell-and-tube heat exchangers. The textbook for the registered chemical engineering qualification exam published by Tianjin University states that fluids with a low heat transfer film coefficient should flow through the shell side, while the textbook published by the association says that those with a high heat transfer film coefficient should also flow through the shell side. Does the Tianjin University version of the textbook on chemical engineering principles suggest that fluids with a high coefficient should flow between the tubes? Does this ‘tube interval’ refer to the shell side?
It should be the side with a low heat transfer coefficient that has the tubes, as this allows for an increase in flow velocity and thus an improvement in the heat transfer coefficient. But this is not absolute; it also depends on factors such as pressure drop, viscosity, material composition, and the presence of corrosion.
The simplest approach is to input the data, then swap the positions of the two heat transfer coefficient values and compare the results. I used two sets of values; in those cases where the coefficient was lower, the heat transfer coefficient when using that value for the tube side was even lower than when using it for the shell side. :D Additionally: the heat transfer film coefficient already takes into account various properties of the medium as well as those of the equipment; only factors such as corrosion and scaling are not included in it.