Identification of the flow pattern of liquid streams in the shell-side of a segmental-baffled shell-and-tube heat exchanger
Abstract
Shell-and-tube heat exchangers are widely used in chemical and process engineering. Assessing hydrodynamics of fluid flow in their shell-side is a highly complex task. This stems from the complex geometry of the shell-side itself, defined by such parameters as tubesheet layout, tube diameter, baffle spacing or baffle cut. Shell-and-tube heat exchangers are the subject of many studies in which design and flow parameters are analysed. However, only a few works concentrate on issues strictly related to the identification of streams of the liquid flowing in the shell-side of apparatus on an industrial scale. In this article, the authors presented the results of an experimental visualization study, utilizing Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). The experiment used a laser sheet technique along and across a tube bundle. The main results of measurements and analyses concentrate on identifying the flow pattern of streams in the shell-side and assessing stagnation vortices and their consequences. Finally, detecting bypass streams and leakage streams flowing through design gaps between the shell and the tube bundle as well as between the baffles and the tubes in the bundle were presented.
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Author Biographies
Daniel Zając has received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Faculty of Mechanical engineering in Opole University of Technology in 2004. His specialization is experimental fluid mechanics and thermal processes. For 13 years he was working as an Assistant Professor in Opole University of Technology. Since 2016 he is the Head of Engineering and R&D Department in Kelvion Sp. z o.o. - world leader in industrial heat exchangers production.
Grzegorz Ligus Ph.D. (Eng.), graduated from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Opole University of Technology (2004) where he had been studying environmental engineering. He obtained his doctoral degree at Opole University of Technology (2008), his doctoral thesis concerning the field of machine construction and operation. Until 2010 he was working as the Head of the Environmental Engineering Department in the Institute of Ceramics and Building Materials in the Material, Process and Environmental Engineering Division in Opole. Currently he works as Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Engineering of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Opole University of Technology. Scientific interests: aero- and hydrodynamics in single- and multiphase systems, experimental fluid mechanics.
Szymon Kołodziej has received a MSc Eng. degree in 2015 after finishing his Mechnical Engineering studies (in specialization of Cars and Tractors) at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Opole University of Technology. Currently, he is employed at the Department of Environmental Engineering at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Opole University of Technology and is enrolled at PhD studies. His scientific interests are focused on IC engines, with particular emphasis on the topic of air flow in the engine intake systems. He specializes in the use of visual methods commonly employed in Environmental Engineering to study and research air flow in the engine intake systems.
Copyright (c) 2018 Daniel Zając, Grzegorz Ligus, Szymon Kołodziej
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