Analytical Evaluation of Unsteady Thermal Hydraulic Characteristics in Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers

Many shell & tube heat exchangers are used in nuclear power plants. Unsteady thermal hydraulic phenomena have been studied in shell & tube heat exchangers to improve their safety and reliability and to extend their lifetime based on experience obtained from long periods of plant operation. We investigated unsteady flow in shell & tube heat exchangers by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses. The inlet flow on the shell side was separated and flow in several directions. A large part of the flow crossed over the tube bundle, and some parts of the flow took two circuitous roots (up and down) along the inner surface of the shell. Separated circuitous flows collided again where a baffle plate had been cut off. A pair of symmetric vortexes could be seen in that location. Some parts of the circuitous flow moved backwards into the tube bundle due to vortexes. These vortexes were unstable and changed their size and location. A pair of vortexes changed from symmetric to asymmetric. As a result, the direction of flow in the tube bundle near the vortexes changed continuously. Variations in vortexes simulated through CFD analyses could also be seen in tests on the actual size. Fluid temperature fluctuations around tubes were also evaluated through CFD analyses. Unsteady phenomena with changes from symmetric to asymmetric vortexes could be observed in the shell & tube heat exchanger and were simulated through CFD analyses with a detached eddy simulation (DES) turbulence model.© 2006 ASME