Modeling and prediction of shell-side fouling in shell-and-tube heat exchangers
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Published version
Author(s)
Diaz-Bejarano, E
Coletti, F
Macchietto, S
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Fouling is a challenging, longstanding, and costly problem affecting a variety of heat transfer applications in industry. Mathematical models that aim at capturing and predicting fouling trends in shell-and-tube heat exchangers typically focus on fouling inside the tubes, while fouling on the shell side has generally been neglected. However, fouling deposition on the shell side may be significant in practice, impairing heat transfer, increasing pressure drops, and modifying flow paths. In this paper, a new model formulation is presented that enables capturing fouling on the shell side of shell-and-tube heat exchangers including the effect of occlusion of the shell-side clearances. It is demonstrated by means of an industrial case study in a crude oil refinery application. The model, implemented in an advanced simulation environment, is fitted to plant data. It is shown to capture the complex thermal and hydraulic interactions between fouling growth inside and outside of the tubes, the effect of fouling on the occlusion of the shell-side construction clearances, and to unveil the impact on shell-side flow patterns, heat transfer coefficient, pressure drops, and overall exchanger performance. The model is shown to predict the fouling behavior in a seamless dynamic simulation of both deposition and cleaning operations, with excellent results.
Date Issued
2019-07-03
Date Acceptance
2018-03-05
Citation
Heat Transfer Engineering, 2019, 40 (11), pp.845-861
ISSN
0145-7632
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Start Page
845
End Page
861
Journal / Book Title
Heat Transfer Engineering
Volume
40
Issue
11
Copyright Statement
© 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.
License URL
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Technology
Thermodynamics
Engineering, Mechanical
Mechanics
Engineering
IMPACT
SIMULATION
0102 Applied Mathematics
0913 Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering & Transports
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2018-03-05