IMPROVED PERFORMANCE OF HELIXCHANGER OVER SEGMENTAL BAFFLE HEAT EXCHANGER USING KERN’S METHOD

Heat exchangers being one of the most important heat & mass transfer apparatus in industries like oil refining, chemical engineering, electric power generation etc. are designed with preciseness for optimum performance and long service life. This paper analyses the conventional segmental baffle heat exchanger using the Kern method with varied shell side flow rates. This is a proven method used in design of Heat Exchangers with a baffle cut of 25%. The paper also consists of the thermal analysis of a helixchanger (Continuous Helical baffled Heat Exchanger) using the Kern method, modified to estimate the results for different flow rates at a fixed helical angle of 25 .The results obtained in this paper show us that the desired properties from a Heat exchanger i.e High Heat Transfer Co-efficient and lower pressure drop are more effectively obtained in a Helixchanger. The shell side zigzag flow induced by the Segmental baffle arrangement is completely eliminated in a Helixchanger. The flow pattern in the shell side of the continuous helical baffle heat exchanger is rotational & helical due to the geometry of continuous helical baffles. This flow pattern, at a certain fixed helical angle, results in significant increase in the heat transfer coefficient, however at the cost of lower pressure drop.