Effect of baffle cut and baffle spacing on pressure drop in shell and tube heat exchanger with U tubes

Abstract

A general procedure for heat exchanger design has been presented in the Heat Exchanger Design Handbook (HEDH) [1], but no precise criterion for determining baffle cut nor baffle  spacing has been offered, and the emphasis is only on heat exchanger’s permissible range of application. In this paper, an optimization program has been used to calculate pressure drop, fluid velocity, heat power, overall heat transfer coefficient and middle temperature difference for various baffle cut and baffle spacing for the same type of heat exchanger, using the procedure in HEDH. This could be considered as complementary to the HEDH recommendations and can be used by designers and, generally, engineers for determining the right baffle cut and baffle spacing for their specific cases.