The spiral heat exchanger does not provide good heat transfer performance
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I am using a spiral heat exchanger, with an oil flow rate of 19 T/H. The temperature of the cold oil ranges from 102 to 212 degrees, while that of the hot oil ranges from 245 to 135 degrees. The medium used is vegetable oil. The manufacturer specified a heat exchange area of 150 M2, but the temperature still doesn’t rise (the oil flow rates on both sides are the same). Another oil processing plant that used a similar design opted for a spiral heat exchanger with an area of 180 M2, and it worked well there. (Their oil flow rate was higher than mine, at 23 T/H.) I also asked the manufacturer, but they said they didn’t know the reason. Could someone please help me understand what’s going on? Thank you very much!!!!!!
Are there any issues with manufacturing? Is it streaming?
“……The flow rate for oil inlet and outlet is 19 T/H……(Their flow rate is higher than mine, at 23 T/H)……I think the reason might lie in the lower flow rate; a lower flow rate results in a reduced convective heat transfer coefficient on one side of the heat exchanger, which in turn leads to a decrease in the overall heat transfer coefficient. As a result, the heating task cannot be completed. If this is indeed the case, it is the designer’s responsibility, and you can discuss this with them and ask them to carry out calculations. This is just my personal opinion for reference only.
Thank you all for your advice; it makes a lot of sense.