Experimental and statistical analysis on the effects of fouling and effective parameters on performance of heat exchanger

Abstract

Increasing the performance of heat exchangers is one of the main objectives of researchers and engineers in the industry. In this paper an experimental work is carried out aiming at modeling the efficiency of shell and tube heat exchanger under the influence of the most contributing factors on performance as fouling resistance, the inlet temperatures and the flow rate of the fluids. An experimental design method of type 31.24 was used for the studies, requiring 48 tests with three repeats. The following factors are taken into account: the inlet temperature and flow rate of crude oil fluid and TEG fluid on two levels, and the fouling resistance on three levels. Regression analysis was produced a mathematical model for the efficiency based on the influential variables. The response surface and contour plots were allowed the selected from the optimum and predicted the behaviors of parameters. The effectiveness decreases considerably with the increase in fouling resistance and the decrease of inlet temperatures and flow rates.

Keywords

• heat exchanger
• fouling
• efficiency
• experimental design
• regression