Using Turbulators to increase heat transfer capabilities 1

[Rpsfinest]

How much of an increase can you expect (ballpark) from inserting turbulators into an existing shell and tube heat exchanger? Existing heater is 10.92 MMBtu/hr. Tube side is feedwater shell side is natural gas.

 

[dcasto]

My experience says turbulators will increase convection when the flow rates are in laminar or transistion flows. Adding a turbulator to a fluid well over Re> 5,000,000 will not increase convection that much.

 

[Christine74]

Even if doing so significantly improved the tube-side film coefficient, it still wouldn't improve your overall heat transfer coefficient much at all since the shell-side coefficient is likely limiting.

Thermal resistances are calculated in the exact same manner that electrical resistances are calculated. The gas-side resistance here might be a couple of orders of magnitude larger that the water-side resistance.

-Christine

 

[thermmech]

Christine74's comment is right on the money... improving the heat transfer film coeficient inside the tubes will not help you as that film coeficient is already larger that the one on the outside of the tubes.

Therefore, there will be no improvement in the overall film coeficient.

Turbulators are used mainly when having viscous fluids inside the tubes.