Designing a helical-coil heat exchanger An HCHE offers advantages over a double-pipe heat exchanger in some situations. Here are a few cases where you might want to consider using one, and a simple procedure for designing it. Ramachandra K. Patil, Rathi Industrial Equipment Co.; B.W. Shende, Palych Lid. and Prasanta K. Ghosh, Hindustan Antibiotics Lid O) The double-pipe heat exchanger would normally be Used for many continuous systems having small to me- dium heat duties. However, the helical-coil heat ex- changer (HGHE) might be a better choice in some cases ‘© Where space is limited, so that not enough straight, pipe can be laid, ‘© Under conditions of laminar flow or low flowrates, where a shelland-tube heat exchanger would become ‘uneconomical because of the resulting low heat-transfer coefficients, Where the pressure drop of one fluid is limited (for ‘example, because of flow through other process equip- ment), By setting the velocity of the annulus fluid in an’ HGHE at about 1 m/s, the pressure drop will be low. ‘An HCHE consists of a helical col fabricated out of a ‘metal pipe that is fitted in the annular portion of two) concentric cylinders, as shown in Fig. 1. ‘The fluids flow inside the coil and the annulus, with heat transfer tak- ing place across the coil wall. ‘The dimensions of both ~ cylinders are determined by the velocity of the fluid in hhe annulus needed to meet heat-transfer requirements. Fig. 2 isa schematic cutaway view of the HCHE. The ‘minimum clearances between the annulus walls and the coil and between two consecutive turns of the eoil must bbe equal. In this ease, both clearances are taken as d,/2 ‘The pitch, p, which is the spacing between consecutive coil turns (measured from center to center) is 15d, As suming that the average fluid velocity is uniform, the ‘mass velocity of the fluid, G,, is computed based on the ‘minimum clearance between the helix and the eylinder wall Design procedure Here isa simple procedure for designing an HCHE: Determine the healctransfer coxficiens, To calculate the heattransfercocficents inthe col and the annulus, the following parameters must be known: 1. The length of col, L, needed to make N turns Veer} + o 2. The volume occupied by the coil, 7: Ve = (2/443 @ 3. The volume of the annulus, V: Vy = (@/AXC? — BN @ 4. The volume available for the flow of fuid in the annulus, V7 Wan-h “ 5. The shell-side equivalent diameter ofthe coiled tube, De D, = AV; fad © ‘The heat-transfer coefficient in the annulus, Ay, can A holical-coil heat exchanger Fig. 1 AT RENRINE DECANE 85‘Schematic cutaway view of an HCHE Fig.2 now be calculated using one of the following two equa- tions. For Reynolds numbers, Ng, in the range of 50- 10,000, Eq. (6) [3] is recommended: Del = O.ONge°N pf © For Np, over 10,000, Eq. (7) [4] should be used: AyD fk = 0.36Np.°Nopu/tg)4 (1) ‘The heat-transfer coefficient of the fluid flowing in- side the coil, hy, can be determined using conventional ‘methods, such as described in Ref. [4]. The heat-trans- fer coefficient based on the inside coil diameter, ’, is ‘obtained using a method for a straight tube—either one of the Sieder-Tate relationships, or a plot of the Colburn factor, jy vs. Ng, such as Fig. 3. That must then be corrected for a coiled tube by multiplying A, by [1+ 3.5(D/Dy)] to get hye. The coefficient based on the out- side diameter of the coil, hy. is then obtained by: yg = hue(D/ dy) 8) ‘The overall heat-transfer coefficient, U, is given by’ 1/0 = Why + Wig +/+ Ri +R, Physical properties and other data forthe example Ligeid A Liquid 8 as owcate , xa 1350 2 Inet temperature," 27 30 Outlet temperature, 100 ” Hoot capacity. ep 00 1.00 reallighC) ‘Thermal conductivity, k omg 0407s Kearnimit*e) icon, kal) 199 270 Density, p, kg/m? 870.0 935.0 86 a eES Nomenclature ‘Area for heat transfer, mn? ‘Area for fuid flow in annulus, («/4)[(C# ~ BY) = Dy? — Dy?) 2 ional area of coil, =D/4, m? of inner cylinder, m Inside dia. of outer eylinder,m Fluid heat capacity, keal/(k)(°C) Inside dia of el, m Shellide equivalent di, of cil, m “Average dia of helix, m Inside dia. of helix, m Outside dia. of eli, m Outside dia. of col m Mass velocity of uid, M/[(=/4)(C? — 88) — uz? ~ Dy), ko/(?V06) Height of eylinder, m Heat-iransier coefficient inside straight tube, based on inside dia, keal/(h)(m®\"C) Heat-transfer coefficient inside coiled tube (A ot rected for coil), based on inside dia, cal /(ayen?)°©) Hreat-irtaercocfcient inside coil, bated on out- side dia of coll, keal/(nym®)°C) Heatransfer coelicieat outside cil, eal/(h}om?)(°0) Colburn factor for heat transfer, (4,D/8)(Np,)-/? (Win), dimensionless ‘Thermal conductivity of fui, keal/(h)(m)("C) ‘Thermal conductivity of coil wall, eal hyn °C) Length of helical coil needed to form N turns, m Mass flowrate of fd, kg/h “Theoretical number of tars of helical coll | Actual number of turns of coil needed for given process heat duty (N rounded tothe next highest, Integer) Prandtl number, e/h, dimensionless Reynolds number, Dup/t oF DG/n, dimensionless Heat load, keal/b Volumetric flowrate of Bui, °/ Average radius of helical col, taken from the ‘centerline of the helix to the centerine ofthe cil, Shellid fouling factor, (h}(m2)"C)/keal “Tubeside fouling factor, (hXn2\*C) heal Corrected log-mean-temperature-dference, °C [Log-mean-temperatue-diference, °C Fluid velocity, mm/h Overall heat-ranafercofcknt, kel /(h)¢m?(*C) Volume of annulus, m? Volume occupied by N turns of coil, m? ‘Volume available for Bid flow in the annulus, x? Thickness of coil wall, m Fluid visosty at mean bulkluid temperature, yeni) Fluid viscosity e/a) Fluid density, kg/m at pipewall temperature,002” 008 at 02 35 40) Teas Way @ 810 20 #0 60 100 T T T 2 = Flow aes ous tbe, 1 = Soci at of nd, 0D 1 = nie ames of tbe, G Moe velety, My, mt) y= lm contr, Bul W yma fw of, {1 = Veco the cere tropertre, fh) f= Macs a he tbe wal ect) B eseees ts 8 8 ses88 Determine the required area, The arca needed for heat transfer is determined by: A= UM, (10) ‘The log-mean-temperature-difference, Afjg, must be corrected to take into acoount the fact that the fluids are flowing perpendicular to each other, which is done by applying the standard correction factor for perpendicu- lar flow [4] Determine the number of turns of cil. Since A = adyL., and Lisexpressed in terms of N, the number of turns of coil needed can be calculated by: N= A/(xd(L/N)) ay The actual number of coil turns needed, n, is simply N rounded to the next highest integer. ‘An example Liquid A fiows inside a 316 stainless-steel pipe coil; quid B, in the annulus. The flowrates, the inlet and yeratures, and the physical properties of the Colburn factor vs, Reynolds number for tube-side heat transfer fluids are given in the table. The geometry of the HCHE is that shown in Fig. 2, where B= 0.340 m; C=0460 m; D=002 m; Dy=0400 m; 4, = 0.03 m; and p = 0.045 m. A. Galeulate the shellside’heat-transfer coefficient, A “From Eq, (1), the length of coil needed is: L =NV@r02) + OOF 1.257N Using Eq, (2-4), the volume available for fluid flow in the annulus, Vp is V, = (7/4046? — 0.342X0.045)N] — [(7/4)(0.03)2(1.257N)] 2.504 x 10-9 ‘The shellside equivalent diameter is: Dz = (42.504 x 10°8N)/(@(0.03)(1.257.V) = 0.0845 m 87‘The mass velocity of the fluid i G, = (2 141)/[(#/4\(0.46? — 0,342) — (043? - 0374) 36,792 kg/(m?Xh) ‘The Reynolds number is: (0.0845)36,792)/(6.76) 833 Using Eq. (6), we get ‘= (0.6,0.4075/0.0845 (833) ((6.76y/(0.4075) 81 = 190 Nee B. Compute yy the heat-transfer coefficient inside the coi ‘The fluid velocity is: u=4/Ay where 4; = 2D8/4 = 4.909 x 10 = 1.552'm¥/h, so that: 1.592/(4.909 x 10-4) $1615 m/h ‘The Reynolds number (tube-side) is then: Nae = (0.025)3,161.5)(870)/(1.89) 36,383 From Fig. 8, jy (for Npy = 36,383) is 110, and: ny = inl DYXNp)¥? 046 keal/(h)(m2)("C) Corrected for a coiled tube, this becomes: ‘ug = (B,046)|1 + 85(0.025/0.400)) \712 keal/(hYim?)\"C) and q = M/p ‘The heat-transfer coefficient based on the outside diam- ter of the coil is: 3,712(0.025 /0.03) = 3,093 keal/(hyim®)(°C) ©. Calculate the overall heat-transfer coefficient, U; ‘The coil-wall thickness, x, is: (d, — Dy/2 0.0025 m. ‘The fouling factors, R, and R,, depend on the nature of the liquids, the presence of sispended matter in the liquids, the operating temperatures, and the velocities of the fluids. In this ease, both R, and R, are 8.2 x 10~+ (h)(m?\(°C)/keal. The thermal conductivity of stainless stel is & = 14 keal/(h)(m)°C). Using Eq. (9) 1/U = 1/190 + 1/3093 + 0.0025 /14 + 0.00082 + 0.00082 = 135 keal/(hy(m2\(°C) D. Determine the required area. 88 The log-mean-temperature-difference ((127 — 30) ~ (100 — 47) In(@27 = 307100 = 47)) = 728°C My ‘To account for perpendicular flow, the correction factor [6] is 0.99, so that: A, = (0.99728) ‘The heat load is: Q = (1,350)(1.0,127 — 100) = 36,450 keal/h Using Eq, (10), the required area is: A = (86,450)/(195)72.1) = 3.745 m? 21°C E, Galeulate the number of turns of coil required. From Eq. (11): = (8.745)/(2}(0.03\1.257) = 316 and: n= 32 ‘The height of the cylinder needed to accommodate 32 tums of coil is: = (320.045) + (0.03) = 1470 m thie L Fabian, Edin References 1 Dipl, WP ie gt fet Chon Bag, Os 25,174 2: Edvard Mtn He Tena Pr Dp Gla Erie lay hh py torsos. : Gaara tT Ning Pts on 4 Ker. D Q. "Proc Hen Tarr" pp. 103, 15,549, 721,034, Mia iy Now Vork 180 ‘The authors RK Paul B, W, Shende PK. Ghosh ‘Ramachandra K. Pasi i Superintendent, Pos Eaginering at Rath Incase Equipment C- ‘soe ot, ta Hee tied nh ted bachlrs degen chica eginring 1970 rom Bombay sien ELI Rio ada aso wi aed PD. dpe ‘Aasibanies Lidy Pimp, Bane 411 O18, facia Te previa worked for fname ft el wa ele he ein d tecinclogydesree in chemical engineering in 1063 and PhD. chemical tees 1908 beh om Caleta Unie