3D NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF THE THERMAL PROCESSES IN THE SHELL AND TUBE HEAT EXCHANGER

Abstract

A shell and tube heat exchanger (STHE) is one of the most often used apparatuses in chemical industry. One of the main goals of the STHE manufacturers is to improve their exploitation reliability and efficiency. Two approaches to the STHE design improvement are possible: experimental investigation, which is very expensive and time-consuming because of the shell side complex geometry, and numerical investigations. Numerical simulations can be used to check the old and to develop new and more efficient STHE designs. In this paper, the results of the numerical investigations of fluid flow and heat transfer in the laboratory experimental STHE are presented. Numerical simulation has been performed by using the PHOENICS code. The tube bundle has been modeled by using the concept of porous media. Standard k-e turbulence model is used.