CFD Investigation of Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger: Impact of Various Tube Bundle Combinations on Heat Transfer Coefficient and Pressure Drop

Shell and tube heat exchangers play a crucial role in various industries, including chemical processing, oil and gas, power generation, and HVAC systems. These exchangers are widely used for transferring heat between two fluids while maintaining their separation. The design of a shell and tube heat exchanger consists of a bundle of tubes enclosed within a larger shell. The hot fluid flows through the tubes, while the cold fluid circulates around them in the shell, facilitating efficient heat transfer and pressure drop of the system. The performance of a shell and tube heat exchanger is influenced by various factors, including the configuration of the tube bundle. The choice of different tube bundle combinations can significantly impact the overall performance of the heat exchanger. In this paper, a numerical study is conducted to examine the effects of two combination of circular and square tube bundle with the simple arrangement: i) circular, ii) square, on a shell and tube heat exchanger. COMSOL Multiphysics is employed to model and simulate this heat exchanger under various mass flow rates. The result shown that the combined geometry heat exchanger exhibits the highest overall heat transfer coefficient compared to heat exchangers with single arrangements. The pressure drop on the tube and shell side was also studied for all cases of heat exchangers. The placement of circular tubes in the center and near the shell has a significant effect on heat transfer and pressure losses. It has been demonstrated that the tubes located at the ends of the shell have a much greater impact on heat transfer compared to the tubes positioned in the center.