Numerical Analysis of the Baffles Inclination on Fluid Behavior in a Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger

The thermo-hydraulic performances of the shell-and-tube heat exchangers with different baffles inclination angle alpha =10 degrees, alpha =20 degrees, and alpha = 40 degrees are investigated. The numerical analysis has been evaluated using ANSYS Fluent with the finite volume method for Reynolds number varying between 24000 and 27000. In all heat exchangers, the characteristics studied are the velocity, the temperature in the shell, the heat transfer coefficient, the pressure. The results showed small dead zones for the baffles inclination angle of 40 degrees. The results showed that the temperature increases by 3.4 K, the heat transfer coefficient decreased by 0.983 %, the pressure drop decreased by 0.992 %, the overall performance factor decreased by 0.83 % when the baffles inclination angle alpha is increased from 10 degrees to 40 degrees.