Numerical Simulation of the Heat Transfer Inside a Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Considering Different Variations in the Geometric Parameters of the Design

The present study aims to analyze the heat transfer variations in different models of shell and tube heat exchangers considering geometric variations in the baffle angles and in the tube’s profiles. Each baffle configuration and geometric variation in the profiles were tested under different mass flow rates (0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1 kg·s⁻¹) in the shell to study the heat transfer improvement. The models were simulated using a CFD simulation software ANSYS Fluent including an experimental geometry which was used to validate the simulation process. The experiment results are in good agreement with the CFD results. The analysis of the results shows that an angle of 60° in the baffles generated the highest heat flow (more than 40 kW) with an inclination to the cold flow inlet and a mixed distribution considering a mass flow rate of 1 kg·s⁻¹ in the shell. In addition, the horizontal elliptic profile achieved a heat flow higher than 29 kW with a mass flow rate of 0.5 kg·s⁻¹ in the shell.