Mathematical modeling and comparative analysis of baffle types in heat exchange equipment

Abstract

The development of digital technologies has significantly increased the effectiveness of production and research, especially in the oil and gas industry, where mathematical modeling plays a significant role in equipment design. This paper presents research aimed at developing digital twins of process equipment and focuses on heat exchangers with different types of baffles. The main focus is on comparing the effectiveness of segmental, helical, spiral and disk-ring type baffles as well as tube finning for heat transfer intensification. Numerical experiments using ANSYS CFX for modeling of hydrodynamics and heat transfer in shell and tube heat exchangers with different baffle designs have been carried out. The results showed that disk-ring baffles provide the highest effectiveness of heat transfer, but lead to inhomogeneous velocity and pressure distributions. Spiral baffles showed a significant improvement in heat transfer with relatively low hydraulic resistance, despite difficulties in fabrication and installation. Segmental baffles remain the most popular due to their simplicity and low cost, while rod baffles require further research due to their low effectiveness and high resistance. The paper concludes by recommending the development of digital twins and their use in equipment design, modernization and operation to select optimal mode parameters and solve structural optimization objectives, which has a positive effect on the effectiveness and reliability of equipment in operation.