The University Of Nottingham

Malaysian Campus

Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering

Individual Progress Report

Module: Chemical Engineering Laboratory (H83CEL)
Experiment: Plate and Frame Heat-Exchanger
Group number: 1A
Name: Lai Kar Chiew (013319)
Group members: Tang Sern Hau, Alvin
Khoo Hooi Minn, Elena
Akhanjee Nayimur Rahman
Ng Yi Ke
Supervisor: Dr Chin Jit Kai
Module Convenor: Dr Faye Chong

Problem Statement:
Plate and Frame Heat Exchanger is widely used in food and beverage industry
since it is easy to clean. In the design of heat exchanger, economic issue is one
of the factors that draws the most attention. The overall heat transfer
coefficient, U (Wm-2K-1) of the plate heat exchanger is determined for each
parameter so that the design of heat exchanger can be optimised in the aspect
of economy.
Objectives:

To observe the effect of varying hot water flow rates on overall heat
transfer coefficient of plate heat exchanger.
To observe the effect of varying flow regimes (counter-current and
co-current) on overall heat transfer coefficient of plate heat exchanger.
To observe the effect of varying temperatures of hot water on overall
heat transfer coefficient of plate heat exchanger.

The overall heat transfer coefficient, U is related to the design of heat exchanger.
The basic design equation for heat exchanger is shown below:

Q=UA T lm
Where

is total heat transfer rate, W

is total hot side or cold side heat transfer area, m2

T lm is log mean temperature difference, K.

Therefore, it is clear that high overall heat transfer coefficient results in smaller
heat transfer area and this in turn reduce the size of the heat exchanger, and
hence capital cost.

Experiment Solution Planning:

Table 1: Gantt Chart
Timeline
N
o

Activities

Week

Equipment Familiarization
(PHE)

Group Discussion (Decide

Parameters)

Submission of HIRARC Form

Meeting with Supervisor

(Finalize Problem Statement)

1st Experiment- MV: Flowrate

of Hot Water

2nd Experiment- MV:

Temperature of Hot Water

3rd Experiment- MV: Flow

Regime

4th Experiment- MV: Number

of Plates

N
o
9

Activities

Week

Group Discussion (Finalize

Gantt Chart)

10 Writing of Individual Progress

10 11 12 13 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

10 11 12 13 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

Report
11

Submission of Individual
Progress Report

12 Literature Review
13 Extra Lab Session if any
14 Writing of Final Report
15 Submission of Final Report
For the Gantt Chart above, the green colour indicates that the task has been completed while red colour indicates that the
task will be done in the suggested time. Also, the week number follows the Academic Calendar 2015/2016 (Week 6 16/10
~ 25/10) and MV stands for manipulated variable.
The 4th experiment was planned to be carried out in week 11 at first, but due to the unavailability of the extra plates (gas
leak in the other plates), the experiment is postponed to next semester if the plates are fixed.
Common problem encountered during the experiment: Auto shut-off of heater when the temperature is too high and this
affect the heat transfer process. To avoid this, we set the temperature of hot water at temperature well below the maximum
temperature allowed in the equipment. Another problem is the failure of automatic mode in adjusting the flowrate of hot
water. To cope with this, we changed the automatic mode to manual mode.