FINAL REPORT SKF 3731

SEPARATION PROCESS I
2012/2013-SEM 01

EXPERIMENT 5
Parallel Flow-Plate Heat Exchanger

DATE OF EXPERIMENT
25th September 2012

LAB INSTRUCTOR
Dr. Goh Pei Sean

SECTION 03
GROUP 04
NO.
TEAM MEMBERS
1. NOORSHAHEEDA BINTI RAMLAN
2. RABIATUL ADAWIAH BINTI SAMRI
3. OSAMAH SHAIEA

MATRIC NO
AK100154
AK100156
AC093001

1.0 Title : Experiment 5 - Parallel-Flow Plate Heat Exchanger

2.0 Abstract :
A plate heat exchanger is a type of heat exchanger that uses metal plates to transfer
heat between two fluids. This has a major advantage over a conventional heat exchanger in
that the fluids are exposed to a much larger surface area because the fluids spread out over the
plates. This device can be classified according to their flow arrangements which are counter
flow and parallel flow.
The aim of this experiment is to determine the heat transfer coefficient (U) for a
parallel-flow plate heat exchanger. The concept of plate heat exchanger is the use of pipes or
other containment vessels to heat or cool one fluid by transferring heat between it and another
fluid. On the other words, it is transferring heat from hot stream to cold stream.
A parallel-flow plate heat exchanger with 15 pieces of total number of plates was used
during this experiment. The total rate of heat transfer between the hot and cold fluids passing
through a plate heat exchanger may be expressed as: Q = UATm where U is the overall heat
transfer coefficient, A is the total plate area, and Tm is the temperature difference. U is
dependent upon the heat transfer coefficients in the hot and cold streams.
3.0 Introduction :
A heat exchanger is a device built for efficient heat transfer from one medium to
another, whether the media are separated by a solid wall so that they never mix, or the media
are in direct contact. They are widely used in space heating, refrigeration, air conditioning,
power plants, chemical plants, petrochemical plants, petroleum refineries, and natural gas
processing. One common example of a heat exchanger is the radiator in a car, in which a hot
engine-cooling fluid, like antifreeze, transfers heat to air flowing through the radiator.
Heat exchangers may be classified according to their flow arrangement. In parallelflow heat exchangers, the two fluids enter the exchanger at the same end, and travel in
parallel to one another to the other side. In counter-flow heat exchangers the fluids enter the
exchanger from opposite ends. For this experiment it was conducted by using parallel-flow
plate heat exchanger.
The objective of this experiment is to determine the heat transfer coefficient (U) for a
parallel-flow plate heat exchanger. The scopes of experiment are to identify the relationship
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of temperature with time of the heat transfer from hot stream to cold stream in parallel-flow
plate heat exchanger. Other than that, it also to investigate the effect of material use for plate
heat exchanger which is the length, width, thickness and number of the plate used.
The problem statement of this experiment is to find out the overall heat transfer
coefficient for this plate heat exchanger and calculate the differences from standard value.
The significance of this experiment will be give some ideas to develop more efficient heat
exchanger and will improve our industry.
The applications in industries as follow. Although the principle of heat transfer is the
same irrespective of the medium used, we must differentiate the applications from each other.
Most duties fall into three main applications which are water/water, water/oil and
water/glycol.
The largest part of production of heat exchangers is used for water/water duties, for the
example water are heated or cooled with water. This can be achieved by different methods.
Firstly, water must be cooled. Here water with a lower temperature is used, for example from
a cooling tower, lake, river or sea. Next, water must be heated. Here, water with a higher
temperature is used, for example district heating, boiler or hot process water.
In some industries, oil has to be cooled using water. This water can then be connected to a
heat recovery system recovering the heat from the oil to various usages, such as tap water
heating, cooling of motor oil in engine test beds and also quench oil cooling.
4.0 Theory :
The energy flow between hot and cold streams, with hot stream in the bigger diameter
tube, is as shown in Figure 7.1. Heat transfer mode is by convection on the inside as well as
outside of the inner tube and by conduction across the tube. Since the heat transfer occurs
across the smaller tube, it is this internal surface which controls the heat transfer process. By
convention, it is the outer surface, termed Ao, of this central tube which is referred to in
describing heat exchanger area. Applying the principles of thermal resistance,

Figure 7.1: End view of a tubular heat exchanger

If we define overall the heat transfer coefficient, Uc, as:

Substituting the value of the thermal resistance R yields:

Standard convective correlations are available in text books and handbooks for the
convective coefficients, ho and hi. The thermal conductivity, k, corresponds to that for the
material of the internal tube. To evaluate the thermal resistances, geometrical quantities (areas
and radii) are determined from the internal tube dimensions available.

There are two basic flow arrangements in heat exchangers which are parallel and
counter flow provides alternative arrangements for certain specialized applications. In
parallel flow both the hot and cold streams enter the heat exchanger at the same end and
travel to the opposite end in parallel streams. Energy is transferred along the length from the
hot to the cold fluid so the outlet temperatures asymptotically approach each other. In a
counter flow arrangement, the two streams enter at opposite ends of the heat exchanger and
flow in parallel but opposite directions. Temperatures within the two streams tend to
approach one another in a nearly linearly fashion resulting in a much more uniform heating
pattern.. Parallel flow results in rapid initial rates of heat exchange near the entrance, but heat
transfer rates rapidly decrease as the temperatures of the two streams approach one another.
This leads to higher energy loss during heat exchange.
Heat flows between the hot and cold streams due to the temperature difference
across the tube acting as a driving force. As seen in the Figure 7.3, the temperature difference
will vary along the length of the HX, and this must be taken into account in the analysis.

From the heat exchanger equations shown earlier, it can be shown that the integrated
average temperature difference for either parallel or counter flow may be written as:

The effective temperature difference calculated from this equation is known as the log
mean temperature difference, frequently abbreviated as LMTD, based on the type of
mathematical average that it describes.
The application of parallel-flow plate heat exchanger when the parallel flows are
desirable (a) where the high initial heating rate may be used to advantage and (b) where it is
required the temperatures developed at the tube walls are moderate. In heating very viscous
fluids, parallel flow provides for rapid initial heating and consequent decrease in fluid
viscosity and reduction in pumping requirement. In applications where moderation of tube
wall temperatures is required, parallel flow results in cooler walls. This is especially
beneficial in cases where the tubes are sensitive to fouling effects which are aggravated by
high temperature for hot stream and cold stream.

5.0 Experimental :
5.1 Apparatus/Equipment:
Parallel-flow plate heat exchangers, 10 L capacity plastic container, stop watch, water
pump, and water.
5.2 Experimental plan:

The heater and

stirrer is switched
on.

The stopwatch is
started and the
temperature is
recorded.

The stop watch is

stopped when
time up.

The hot stream

pump is turned
on to recycle hot
water in the tank.

The water flow

until the
temperature
reached 60 C.

The cold stream

is opened slowly.

The inlet and

outlet
temperature is
recorded for hot
stream and cold
stream.

The cold stream

is closed.

The step is
repeated for three
times and the
average reading is
recorded.

6.0 Results :
Experimental data:
Experimental information for parallel-flow plate heat exchanger
Length of the plate
420 mm
Width of the plate
125 mm
Thickness of the plate
46 mm
Total number of plate
15 pieces

Exp.
Temp.

Average

Initial

Final

Initial

Final

Initial

Final

Initial

Final

(C)

readin

readin

readin

readin

readin

readin

readin

readin
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TH1
TH2
TC1
TC2
Volume

g
48
49
32
47

(L/m)
Time

g
49
47
31
41

g
48
50
31
46

g
48
46
35
42

g
48
51
33
45

g
47
45
32
43

g
48
51
34
44

g
48
45
33
44

48.00
45.75
32.75
42.50
7

10

15

20

12.5

(min)

Temperature

Average

Set 1

Set 2

Set 3

Set 4

TH1

48.00

49

48

47

48

TH2

45.75

47

46

45

45

TC1

32.75

31

35

32

33

TC2

42.50

41

42

43

44

(C)

Table 1: Final reading and Average Tem

Temp. vs Time
50
40
Temperature (C)

30

TH2

20

TC2

10
0
4

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

Time (min)

Graph 1: Temperature vs Time for hot stream and cold stream.

Calculations
TH1 = 47.75 oC

TH2 = 45.75oC

TC1 = 32.75 oC TC2 = 42.50oC

Calculating the Tb:
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Tb = 32.75 oC + 42.50 oC = 37.6 oC

2
Using the value given:

Density of water,

= 994.8 kg/m3

Heat capacity of water, Cp

= 4183 J/kg.K

Calculating the mass flow rate of water,

L
min

m 7

min 1m 3 994.8kg

60s 1000 L 1m 3

= 0.116 kg/s
Equating the heat balance for the cold stream:
.

q1 =

Cp (TC2 TC1)

= (0.116) (4183) (41 31)

= 4852.3 W
Equating the heat balance for the hot stream:
m
q2 = Cp (TH2 TH1)
= (0.116) (4183) (47-49)
= -970.5 W
Experiment
q1 (W)
q2 (W)

Average
Set 1
Set 2
Set 3
5220.7
4852.3
3396.6
5337.5
-1092.7
-970.5
-970.5
-970.5
Table 2: The value of heat transfer for hot stream and cold stream.

Set 4
5337.5
-1455.7

Equating the area, A:

Area,A

= 15 x[(0.42 x 0.125) + (0.42 x 0.046) + (0.125x0.046) ]

= 1.1636m2

Equating Log Mean Temperature Difference (LMTD):

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(TH 2 TC 2 ) (TH 1 TC1 )

ln (TH 2 TC 2 ) /(TH 1 TC! )
Tlm =
= (45.75-42.5) (48.00-32.75)
ln (45.75-42.5) / (48.00-32.75)
=

7.76 C

Equating the overall heat transfer coefficient, U:

q = UATlm
U = q/ ATlm
= 5220.7 / (1.1636) (7.76)
= 578.2 W/m2.K
7.0 Discussion :
In this experiment, we need to determine the heat transfer coefficient (U) for a
parallel-flow plate heat exchanger. In order to achieve that, we need to take the readings of
cold stream and hot stream during the experiment. After we take several readings and do
some evaluation, we come out with one graph as clearly shown in graph 1. Graph 1 show that
the temperature versus time for hot stream and cold stream. . From the results above, we can
clearly stated that the temperature of hot water is decrease with time but different for cold
water. The temperature for cold water is increasing with time. At the certain point, the cold
stream and hot stream in same temperature, this is because hot water and cold water has reach
thermal equilibrium. This is because spontaneous heat transfer occurs from a region of high
temperature to another region of lower temperature.
For the temperature profile versus plate thickness for parallel-flow plate heat
exchanger is describe as below

HOT

T1

COLD
T2

x
Figure 1: Heat transfer in a flat wall
Knowing that:

q
k
T1 T2

A x
q

kA

T2 T1 x

We assume that: T1, q, k, and A is constant.

Thus, T2 is inversely proportional with x with the slope is (

kA

) and y intercept is T1

Temperature (C)

T1

m= -

kA

T2

Plate thickness, x (mm)

Figure 2: Temperature profile versus plate thickness for parallel-flow heat exchanger
The overall heat transfer coefficient for this heat exchanger is 578.2 W/m2.K which is
in the range of the value of standard heat transfer coefficient for this experiment that is
between 500 700 W/m2.K. The result obtained can be accepted because in the range of
standard value but there is error while during this experiment that make the value slightly
different.
The error that can be detected in this experiment is parallax error while taking the
reading of temperature C1. This is because the reading is in the analogue condition that makes
us difficult to take the readings. This happened when the eye of the observer is not

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perpendicular with the scale given. To overcome this common error, we take the several
readings which are four readings and we take the average readings from that all four readings.
Moreover the surface of heat transfer which is in the wall of pipe that is used for this
experiment maybe in the dirty condition which is soot, rust and many more. This error
influences the heat transfer from hot stream to cold stream. In order to reduce this error, we
need to check the equipment used before handle the experiment to get a better result.
Finally, one of the errors is the error from the equipments used which is friction losses
within the water tubes when the flow rate is measured. To overcome this error, we suggest
that the heat exchanger to have a layer of insulation and moving the flow meter to the
entrance to overcome the friction loss.
The advantages of plate heat exchanger is firstly it have a high heat transfer rate due
to the large surface area that allows plate heat exchangers to transfer heat very efficiently
compared to other type of heat exchangers. Then, the compactness occupy less floor space
and floor loading by having a large surface area that is formed from a small volume. This in
turn produces a high overall heat transfer coefficient due to the heat transfer.
Besides that, the plate heat exchanger can operate with relatively
small temperature differences. This is useful when high temperature is
undesirable. Local overheating and possibility of stagnant zones can also
be reduced by the form of the flow passage.
The flexibility also is the advantages of the plate heat exchanger. They
can be operated a wide range of fluids and need not a lot of modifications.
They are also easy to install and dismantle when inspection process is
required. It also provides more resistance to corrosion and chemical reactions. Finally, they
can be easily uninstalled when inspection and cleaning needed and can be replicable as well
in other words it easy to be maintained.

8.0 Conclusion :

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In this experiment, we need to determine the heat transfer coefficient (U) for a
parallel-flow plate heat exchanger. When the overall coefficient is determined, we compared
the value with the standard value given. The value of heat transfer coefficients in this
experiment is 578.2 W/m2.K which is in the range of the value of standard heat transfer
coefficient for this experiment that is between 500 700 W/m2.K.
9.0 References :

Christi J. Geankoplis, Transport Process and Unit Operation 3 rd edition, Prentice-Hall

International, Inc., 1993.

Incropera, Dewitt and DP, Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer, 6th edition, John
Wiley and Sons, New York.

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