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Review of Improvements on Shell-and-Tube Heat

Exchangers With Helical Baffles
a a a a
Qiuwang Wang , Guidong Chen , Qiuyang Chen & Min Zeng
a
School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
Published online: 12 Oct 2011.

To cite this article: Qiuwang Wang , Guidong Chen , Qiuyang Chen & Min Zeng (2010) Review of Improvements on Shell-and-
Tube Heat Exchangers With Helical Baffles, Heat Transfer Engineering, 31:10, 836-853, DOI: 10.1080/01457630903547602

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 Heat Transfer Engineering, 31(10):836853, 2010
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C Taylor and Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 0145-7632 print / 1521-0537 online
DOI: 10.1080/01457630903547602

Review of Improvements on
Shell-and-Tube Heat Exchangers With
Helical Baffles

QIUWANG WANG, GUIDONG CHEN, QIUYANG CHEN, and MIN ZENG

School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xian Jiaotong University, Xian, China
Downloaded by [East Carolina University] at 06:40 13 August 2013

Helical baffles are employed increasingly in shell-and-tube heat exchangers (helixchangers) for their significant advantages
in reducing pressure drop, vibration, and fouling while maintaining a higher heat transfer performance. In order to make
good use of helical baffles, serial improvements have been made by many researchers. In this paper, a general review is
provided of developments and improvements on helixchangers, which includes the discontinuous helical baffles, continuous
or combined helical baffles, and the combined multiple shell-pass helixchangers. Extensive results from experiments and
numerical simulations indicate that these helixchangers have better flow and heat transfer performance than the conventional
segmental baffled heat exchangers. Based on these new improvements, the conventional heat exchangers with segmental baffles
might be replaced by helixchangers in industrial applications to save energy, reduce cost, and prolong the service life and
operation time.

INTRODUCTION
Heat exchangers play an important role in many engineering
processes such as oil refining, chemical industry, environmental
protection, electric power generation, refrigeration, and so on.
Among different types of heat exchangers, the shell-and-tube
heat exchangers (STHXs) have been commonly used in indus-
tries [1]. It was reported that more than 3540% of the heat ex-
changers are of the shell-and-tube type, because of their robust
construction geometry as well as easy maintenance and possi-
ble upgrades [2, 3]. In order to meet the special requirements
of modern industries, various ways are adopted to enhance the
heat transfer performance while maintaining a reasonable pres-
sure drop for the STHXs [4]. One useful method is using baffles
to change the direction of flow in the shell side to enhance
turbulence and mixing.
This work is supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China
(grant no. 50776068) and Program for New Century Excellent Talents in Uni-
versity of China (grant no. NCET-04-0938). The authors also acknowledge
Guangdong Jirong Air-Conditioning Equipment Corporation and postdoctorate
Qiang Gao for providing the experimental results for the continuous helical
baffled shell-and-tube evaporator of an air-conditioning system.
Address correspondence to Professor Qiuwang Wang, State Key Lab-
oratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, School of Energy and
Power Engineering, Xian Jiaotong University, Xian, 710049, China. E-mail:
wangqw@mail.xjtu.edu.cn
836
For many years, various types of baffles have been designed,
for example, the conventional segmental baffles with different
arrangements, the deflecting baffles, the overlap helical baffles,
the rod baffles, and others [510]. The most commonly used
segmental baffles make the fluid flow in a tortuous, zigzag man-
ner across the tube bundle in the shell side. This improves the
heat transfer by enhancing turbulence and local mixing on the
shell side of heat exchangers. However, the traditional STHXs
with segmental baffles have many disadvantages: (1) high pres-
sure drop on the shell side due to the sudden contraction and
expansion of flow, and fluid impinging on the shell wall caused
by segmental baffles; (2) low heat transfer efficiency due to
the flow stagnation in the so-called stagnation regions, which
are located at the corners between baffles and shell wall; (3)
low shell-side mass velocity across the tube bundle due to the
leakage between baffles and shell wall caused by inaccuracy in
manufacturing tolerance and installation; and (4) short opera-
tion time due to the vibration caused by shell-side flow normal
to tube bundle. When the traditional segmental baffles are used
in STHXs, higher pumping power is often needed to offset
higher pressure drop for the same heat load. During the past
decades, deflecting baffles, rod baffles, and disk-and-doughnut
baffles have been developed to solve these shortcomings of
the traditional segmental baffles. However, none of these baffle
arrangements can solve all the principal problems mentioned
earlier. New designs are still needed to direct the flow in plug
 Q. W. WANG ET AL. 837

Figure 1 STHXs with helical baffles [16].

flow manner, to provide adequate support to the tubes, and to

have a better thermodynamic performance.
The shell-and-tube heat exchanger with helical baffles is usu-
ally called a helixchanger [1115]. It was invented in Czech
Republic and commercially produced by ABB Lummus Heat
Transfer [16] (Figure 1). Helical baffles offer a possible alterna-
Downloaded by [East Carolina University] at 06:40 13 August 2013

tive to segmental baffles by circumventing the aforementioned

problems of conventional segmental baffles; they are accepted
for their outstanding advantages, including: (1) improved shell-
side heat transfer rates/pressure drop ratio; (2) reduced bypass
effects; (3) reduced shell-side fouling; (4) prevention of flow-
induced vibration; and (5) reduced maintenance. In the past
decades, the helixchangers have been continuously developed Figure 2 Different layouts of discontinuous helical baffles [17].
and improved and have been widely accepted by engineers.
The aim of this paper is to present a critical review of the
developments and improvements conducted on helixchangers, tions was made, and the results suggested that the helical baffle
which is of importance for further improvements research in the arrangement induced a flow pattern closer to plug flow pattern
future. than segmental baffle arrangement (Figure 4).
Kral et al. [18] carried out a series of flow tests to determine
the residence time distribution, in which a standard stimulus
response technique was used to determine the relative volume
PRINCIPLE OF HEAT TRANSFER ENHANCEMENT
of the dead zones and the amount of back-mixing in the heat
OF HELIXCHANGERS
exchangers. The test results indicated that helical baffle arrange-
ments have less back-mixing occurring in the heat exchanger
As mentioned earlier, one useful method to enhance heat compared with the segmental baffle arrangement (Figure 5). It
transfer performance of STHXs is using baffles to change the had also been reported that the convective heat transfer across
flow direction to enhance turbulence and mixing, as do the
helixchangers. In the shell side of the helical baffled STHXs,
the helical baffles are located at a certain angle to the tube
bundle, creating a helix flow path for the working fluid. The
helix flow provides some characteristics to enhance heat transfer
and low pressure drop. Different arrangements of helical baffles
form different constructions of helixchangers (Figure 2)that
is, baffles touching at the perimeter, overlapping baffles, double
helical baffles, and so on [17].
Lutcha and Nemcansky [17] explained that large differences
in heat exchanger effectiveness are a result of different flow
patternsthat is, perfect mixing flow and perfect plug flow
the situation depicted in Figure 3. They indicated that the per-
fect plug flow has significant advantages in heat transfer ver-
sus perfect mixing flow, because mixing flow has a substantial
reduction of local driving force for heat transfer, i.e., the tem-
perature difference between the two fluids. Therefore, a proper
baffle arrangement should result in a flow pattern that is close
to plug flow. A comparison of the helical baffle arrangement Figure 3 Comparison of heat exchanger effectiveness for perfect mixing flow
and segmental baffle arrangement approaching plug flow condi- and plug flow [17].

heat transfer engineering vol. 31 no. 10 2010

 838 Q. W. WANG ET AL.

Figure 4 Heat exchanger effectiveness for segmental baffles and helical baf-
fles [17].
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a tube bundle decreased with the increasing velocity angle if

the free stream was homogeneous (Figure 6a), while the heat
transfer coefficient in terms of the Nusselt number of the helical
baffled heat exchanger significantly depended on the helix an-
gle. At small helix angles, the flow of working fluid resembled
Figure 6 Ratio of Nusselt numbers versus velocity angle [19].
that in a cross-flow. In the range of 25 to 40 degrees, the heat
transfer coefficient increases with larger helix angles. Beyond
IMPROVEMENTS ON BAFFLE STRUCTURE
40 degrees, the Nusselt number drops rapidly [1921] (Figure
OF HELIXCHANGERS
6b). Wang [22] carried an experimental study on the flow field of
STHXs with helical baffles by using laser Doppler anemometry.
The experimental results confirmed that increased turbulence STHXs with Discontinuous Helical Baffles
and local mixing occurred due to the induced azimuthal com-
ponent of the velocity in the shell cross section produced by the The discontinuous helical baffles (or overlap baffles) are
helical baffles. Numerical works were also carried out to study formed by overlapped fans or oval-shaped plates; each fan or
the longitudinal component of velocities on discontinuous heli- plate occupies a certain place in the heat exchanger shell cross
cal baffles [23]. section and is angled to the axis of the heat exchanger. Ad-
The principles of heat transfer enhancement on helixchangers jacent baffles (discontinuous helical baffles) may touch each
can be summarized as follows: approaching plug flow conditions other to form a continuous helix at the periphery of the outer
on the shell side resulting in higher temperature driving force; shell side (Figure 7). These discontinuous helical baffles can be
improvement of velocity gradient contributing to increased sur-
face heat transfer coefficient; and more uniform flow distribution
leading to reduced fouling [24].

Figure 5 Curves for different baffle arrangement [18]. Figure 7 Schematic of discontinuous helical baffles [25].

heat transfer engineering vol. 31 no. 10 2010

 Q. W. WANG ET AL.
manufactured and installed easily on the shell side of STHXs.
In the helical baffled STHX, the quadrant plates on the shell
side can create a close helical flow pattern, which has higher
conversion of pressure drop to heat transfer on an optimal helix
angle. Besides, this helix flow manner can achieve near plug
flow conditions, which can reduce fouling and flow-induced vi-
bration significantly and can prolong the run lengths of working
fluid in the shell side.
In the discontinuous helical baffled STHXs, triangle zones
exist in the shell side (Figure 7). Due to these triangle zones
in the shell side between two oval-shaped plates, fluid may leak
from these triangle zones. One useful method to solve this prob-
lem is inserting block plates in these triangle zones. Experiments
have been carried out to study the influences of inserting block
plates on heat transfer performance and pressure drop in the
STHXs with overlapping helical baffles [2527]. In the experi-
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ments, all of the geometrical parameters except the baffle style
and baffle distance were kept the same. The results showed that,
for the same mass flow rate, the block plates may increase the
heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop by about 15% and
100%, respectively. For the same pressure drop, the heat trans-
fer coefficients of STHX without block plates were higher than
those with block plates by about 12%. These can be explained
as follows: The block plates are set in a direction upright to
the flow direction, the flow rushes at the block plates vertically,
and it thus induces much larger pressure drop. Furthermore,
zones that were similarly like the dead zones in the segmen-
tal baffled STHXs existed in certain places and can make the
comprehensive performance of helical baffled STHXs decrease.
Zhang et al. [28] made a careful experimental study on the seg-
mental baffled STHX and discontinuous (middle-overlapped)
helical baffled STHXs with different helical angles; specifi-
cally, the material of the heat exchange tubes and the shell of
the STHXs is 0Cr18Ni9, and hot oil flows through the shell side
and cold water flows through the tube side in the experiments.
The experimental results indicated that the optimal helix an-
gle was 40 , which was consistent with the results of previous
study [17].
Master and Andrews [29, 30] used the distributed resistance
approach for the three-dimensional modeling of a helixchanger.
Pressure drops from ABB Lummus heat transfer correlation re-
sults were used to validate the simulations and agree reasonably
well with the computed results. On the one hand, the distributed
resistance approach can ease the computational burden greatly
and release the heat transfer and flow characteristics of helical
baffles; on the other hand, the distributed resistance approach
has its disadvantages, because it depends greatly on the pressure
drop and heat transfer correlations.
With the development of computers, it is possible to simulate
the flow and heat transfer process as a whole in STHXs on the
personal computers or servers. Lei et al. [31] studied the single-
helical baffles, double-helical baffles, and segmental baffles nu-
merically and experimentally. In the numerical simulations, the
commercial code FLUENT and the periodic boundary condition
were used to solve all of the controlling equations, including the
heat transfer engineering
839
Figure 8 Flow field in symmetrical interface of heat exchangers with overlap
helical baffles [32].
momentum, continuity, energy, turbulent kinetic energy, and
turbulent dissipation energy equations. The predicted results for
hydrodynamics and heat transfer were in agreement with ex-
perimental results. It can be concluded that the double-helical
baffled STHX had obviously higher heat transfer effectiveness
(10%) than that of the single helical baffled STHX.
Zhang et al. [32] have studied the flow performance in shell
side of STHXs with overlapped helical baffles using the com-
putational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. The leakages in the
triangle zones were apparent and seriously affected the helical
flow in the shell side (Figure 8). The simulations results also
suggested that the pressure drop would sharply increase when
the helical angle is below 12.5 ( < 12.5 ).
Stehlik et al. [33] carried out a study of correction factors for
STHXs with segmental baffles as compared to helical baffles.
The results of the study showed that helical baffle STHXs, when
properly designed, offered a significant improvement in heat
transfer while providing a reduced cost in pressure drop. In
designing and optimizing of helixchangers, pitch angle, baffles
arrangement, and the space between two baffles are important
parameters. Jafari Nasr and Shafeghat [34] proposed a rapid
design algorithm for helical baffled heat exchangers. The general
idea behind that design algorithm consists of creating a simple
relationship between pressure drop, heat transfer coefficient,
and heat exchanger area for each side, i.e.,
p = f (h, A). The
relations for helical baffled exchangers for turbulent regime on
the shell side are obtained as:

p = (K1 h + K2 )2.857 (K3 A + K4 ) (1)
where


K1 = do (1 + 2.443Re0.1
s (Pr0.67 1))
 

8
0.046cps 0.3
s 0.7 0.7
s D yi (2)
i=1


K2 = 8.105ks (1 + 2.443Re0.1
s (Pr0.67 1))


0.046cps 0.3 0.7 0.7
s s D (3)
vol. 31 no. 10 2010
 840 Q. W. WANG ET AL.

K3 = (2fn r s Z1 Z2 Z3 Z4 )/(nd0 Hs ) (4) 0.010

Segmental baffles

4 o
Helical baffles (=20 )
K4 = 2fn r s Zi (Z5 0.5) (5) 0.008 o
Helical baffles (=30 )
i=1

and for the laminar regime on the shell side: 0.006

p = (K1 A + K2 )(K3 + h)4 (6)

S
0.004
where

4
0.002
K1 = 2fn r s (do )3 Zi /(0.823364 nHs
i=1
0.000
1.32 2.68 0.68
4s d02 cps ks s ) (7) 200 300 400 500 600 700
Re
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4
 (a) variations of ratio of entropy generation number
K2 = 2fn r s (do )4 Zi (Z5 0.5)/ 0.823364 with shell-side Reynolds number
i=1

1.32 2.68 0.68

 150
4s d02 cps ks s (8) Segmental baffles
o
Helical baffles (=20 )
K3 = 0.372ks /(d0 ) (9) o
Helical baffles (=30 )
100
where Zi and yi are pressure drop and heat transfer correction
I ,kW

factors, respectively. These correction factors can be specified

with graphs presented by Stehlik et al. [33].
Second-Law-based thermodynamics analysis was applied to
STHXs with helical baffles by He et al. [35]. The entropy gen-
eration rate and irreversible production of entropy for a heat
exchanger can be written as follows [36]:
0
Ts,out Tt,out
S = (mcp )s ln + (mcp )t ln
Ts,in Tt,in
(b) variations of exergy loss with shell-side
ps,out pt,out
+ (mR)s ln + (mR)t ln
ps,in pt,in
I = Te S
The results indicated that both the entropy generation num-
ber and exergy losses of the STHXs with single-helical baffles
and double-helical baffles were lower than those of STHXs
with segmental baffles (Figure 9). From the Second-Law-based
thermodynamics viewpoint, it confirmed that the helixchangers
have higher efficiency than the heat exchangers with segmental
baffles.
Van Der Ploeg and Master [37] reported that large
feed/effluent exchangers were typically designed with a helix
angle up to 45 degrees in a double-helical baffle arrangement
and this had a more effective and flexible conversion of pressure
drop. Besides, the double-helical baffled tube bundle had the
lowest total installed cost and the shortest payback compared
with the other baffle arrangements, which were segmental baffle
arrangement, rod baffle arrangement, and plate heat exchanger.
The effectiveness of heat exchangers with helical baffles was
heat transfer engineering
50
5 10 15 20 25 30
3
V ,m /h
(10) volumetric flow rate
Figure 9 Second-Law performance evaluation of helical baffled heat ex-
changers [35].
(11)
also proven on test units and in industry applications such as
refinery projects [3841]. Zhang and co-workers [42, 43] ex-
perimentally studied the discontinuous helical baffled heat ex-
changers combined with two-dimensional or three-dimensional
finned tubes. Experimental results showed that for the heat ex-
changer with rib-shaped fin tubes, the shell-side Nusselt and
Euler numbers were augmented by 90130% and 10%, respec-
tively. The increase in heat transfer is significantly greater than
that in pressure drop for rib-shaped fin tubes.
The correlations for heat transfer and pressure drop of the
STHXs with discontinuous helical baffles can be seen in Table 1.
According to the available results of experiments and nu-
merical simulations mentioned earlier, the STHXs with dis-
continuous helical baffles have higher heat transfer coefficients
per pressure drop h/
p for the same shell-side pressure drop.
However, they still have their shortcomings; for example, the
vol. 31 no. 10 2010
 Q. W. WANG ET AL. 841

Table 1 Correlations for heat transfer and pressure drop of the STHXs with discontinuous helical baffles

Researchers Baffle style Fluid Correlations Range

Lei et al. [31] Single discontinuous helical baffle Oil Nus = 0.275Re0.55
s Pr
1/3 50 < Res < 1,000
fs = 20.06Res0.56 400 Res
fs = 11.34Re0.47
s 400 < Res < 1,000
Zhang et al. [28] Segmental baffle Oil Nus = 0.706Re0.474
s Pr1/3 70 < Res < 650
0.692
fs = 25.1Res 70 < Res < 650
Middle-overlapped helical baffle
= 20 Oil Nus = 0.275Re0.542
s Pr1/3 100 < Res < 800
0.751
fs = 11.0Res 100 < Res < 800
= 30 Oil Nus = 0.365Re0.516
s Pr1/3 110 < Res < 480
0.774
fs = 13.5Res 110 < Res < 480
= 4 Oil Nus = 0.455Re0.488
s Pr1/3 190 < Res < 750
0.806
fs = 34.7Res 190 < Res < 750
= 50 Oil Nus = 0.326Re0.512
s Pr1/3 150 < Res < 500
0.849
fs = 47.9Res 150 < Res < 500
Zhang and Fang [42] Discontinuous helical baffle
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Petal-shaped fin tube Oil Nus = 0.026Re0.8

Zhang et al. [43]
s Pr
1/3 Unknown
Integral low-fin tube Oil Nus = 0.029Re0.8
s Pr 1/3 Unknown
Discontinuous helical baffle
Low-fin tubes Oil Nus = 0.03(Res Pr)0.715 125,000 < Res Pr < 500,000
Eus = 19.3(Res Pr)0.058 125,000 < Res Pr < 500,000
Rib-shaped fin tube Oil Nus = 0.017(Res Pr)0.823 100,000 < Res Pr < 425,000
Eus = 54.6(Res Pr)0.132 100,000 < Res Pr < 425,000

discontinuous helical baffled STHXs usually have relatively
lower heat transfer coefficient than the conventional segmen-
tal baffled STHXs for the same baffle distance and identical
shell-side mass flow rate. This means that the shell-side mass
flow rate has to be increased to obtain the same heat transfer
rate, if the helical baffled STHX is chosen to replace the seg-
mental baffled STHX under the same free flow area; in other
words, this replacement will be not advisable unless the various
modifications in terms of number of shell passes are consid-
ered. But increasing mass flow rate is not always acceptable in
some practical situations. In addition, the leakage percentage of
discontinuous helical baffles may be relatively large in the tri-
angle zones when the mass flow rate is small, which will reduce
the comprehensive heat transfer performance. Furthermore, the
triangle zone area will become quite large when the shell diam-
eter increases in large-scale STHXs. In order to overcome these
problems, STHXs with continuous helical baffles and combined
helical baffles have been introduced.
STHXs with Continuous and Combined Helical Baffles
The STHX with continuous helical baffles (Figure 10) has
been invented by Wang et al. [44]. The continuous helical baffles
are manufactured by linking several sets of continuous helical
cycles. One continuous helical cycle is lengthened to one screw
pitch along the length (axial) direction and rotated by a 2 angle
along the circumferential direction, and several continuous he-
lical cycles are linked end to end to form continuous helicoids
(Figure 11). This method overcomes the difficulties in manufac-
turing whole continuous helicoids at one time and reduces the
manufacture cost significantly.
One major difficulty related to the manufacturing of con-
tinuous helical baffles is drilling holes on the surface of the
continuous helical baffles. If the holes on the baffles are drilled

Figure 10 Heat exchanger with continuous helical baffles [44]. Figure 11 Tube bundle of STHX with continuous helical baffles [45].

heat transfer engineering vol. 31 no. 10 2010

 842 Q. W. WANG ET AL.

Table 2 Compared results of direct expanding evaporators with continuous

helical and segmental baffles [47]

Item LS195Z LS195Z II

Compressor type SRF-3

Number of condenser tubes 90 90
Total heat transfer area of condenser /m2 10.52
Baffle style Segmental Continuous helical
Number of evaporator tubes 196 196
Figure 12 Dies for drilling tube holes [45]. Heat transfer area, m2 23.99 23.91
Refrigeration capacity, kW 185.8 195.0 (+4.9%)
Coefficient of performance (COP) 3.57 3.75 (+5.4%)
with the same size as for the tubes in initially plain plates, and
Heat flux on the outer surface, kWm2 7.74 8.23
then the pitch is varied by stretching the spiral in or out, the tube Total heat transfer coefficient, W m2 K1 1,545 1,613 (+4.4%)
will not see a round hole but rather an elliptic one. Therefore, it
is impossible to pass a round tube through an elliptic hole. To
solve this problem, a die is used to hold the helical cycle at the result suggests that the STHX with continuous helical baffles
required pitch, and then the required holes can be drilled on the has much better performance than the STHX with segmental
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baffles (Figure 12) [45].
The fluid flow in the shell side of STHX with continuous
helical baffles is a complete helix in nature. This flow pattern
can avoid abrupt turns of flow direction and maintain a constant
rush on the heat exchange tubes. It can have superior advantages
in preventing leakage, mitigating fouling, and increasing heat
transfer coefficient. Peng and co-workers [45, 46] carried out
experimental investigations on the continuous helical baffled
STHXs with two different inlet/outlet shell-side configurations,
that is, side-in/side-out and middle-in/middle-out. The results
indicated that the heat transfer coefficient of STHX with con-
tinuous helical baffles was nearly 10% higher than that with
segmental baffles for the same shell-side flow rate. For the same
pressure drop, the heat transfer coefficient of the continuous he-
lical baffled STHX was about 5% higher than for the segmental
baffled STHX. It was also suggested that the better locations
of the shell-side inlet and outlet for continuous helical baffled
STHX are with the side-in/side-out style [45].
In order to provide a further understanding of the heat transfer
performance of STHX with helical baffles, continuous helical
baffles have been applied in a shell-and-tube evaporator of an
air-conditioning system to replace the conventional segmental
baffles (Figure 13); the detailed parameters of the evaporator
are shown in Table 2. In the evaporator, water flows through
the shell side and is cooled by refrigerants flowing through the
tube side. All structure parameters and working conditions are
kept the same except the baffle style of the evaporators. The test
baffles. For the same heat transfer area, the refrigerating out-
put of the evaporator with continuous helical baffles is 4.9%
higher than that of the conventional evaporator with segmental
baffles; the coefficient of performance (COP) of the evaporator
with continuous helical baffles is 5.4% higher than that of the
conventional evaporator with segmental baffles [47].
Wang et al. [48] applied the genetic algorithm (GA) to search
correlations of STHXs with continuous helical baffles for better
fitting to experimental data. The results indicated that the pre-
dicted heat transfer rates and friction factors by GA had a closer
fit than those by regression analysis. Xie et al. [49] applied
an artificial neural network (ANN) for heat transfer analysis
of shell-and-tube heat exchangers with segmental baffles or
continuous helical baffles. The results indicated that the ANN
technique is a suitable tool for the prediction of heat transfer
performance of heat exchangers compared to the empirical
correlations. Lei et al. [50] carried out numerical simulations
to study the impacts of various baffle inclination angles on
fluid flow and heat transfer of heat exchangers with continuous
helical baffles. In the numerical simulations, the commercial
code FLUENT was used to solve the fluid flow and heat transfer

Figure 13 Heat exchangers with continuous helical baffles for direct expand- Figure 14 Heat transfer coefficient versus pressure drop for different baffle
ing evaporator [47]. inclination angles [50].

heat transfer engineering vol. 31 no. 10 2010

 Q. W. WANG ET AL. 843

petal-shape finned tubes, the shell-side Nusselt numbers were

Figure 15 Improved fin tubes used in helical baffled STHX [5153].
in the computational domains. From the results computed, it
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obviously higher than in the smooth tubes. The increase in heat
transfer is significantly greater than that in pressure drop for rib-
shaped finned tubes. Numerical simulation results agreed well
with the experimental data.
The correlations for heat transfer and pressure drop of the
STHXs with continuous helical baffles can be seen in Table 3.
Considering the special structure of continuous helical baf-
fles, the helical baffle surface becomes relatively steep at por-
tions close to the central axis when the pitch is large, especially
in the STHXs with large shell diameters. In such situations, the
continuous helical baffle surfaces are quite difficult to manu-
facture. To solve this problem, a central tube may have to be
employed to fit the helical structure inside the shell. On the
one hand, heat exchange tubes can not be arranged at the place
where the central tube is located, and thus the heat transfer area

was observed that the best integrated heat transfer and pressure
drop performance occurs at approximately = 45 (Figure 14).
It has been explained in previous studies [17, 20] that, at a
certain helix angle, the boundary layer flow pattern appears
to be fully developed, producing the maximal heat transfer
rate.
In order to further enhance heat transfer of STHXs with he-
lical baffles, improved heat exchange finned tubes were used
by researchers. Zhang et al. [5153] experimentally and nu-
merically studied the continuous helical baffled heat exchang-
ers combined with three-dimensional finned tubes (Figure 15).
Experimental results showed that for the heat exchanger with
of the heat exchanger will be decreased; on the other hand,
part of the heat exchanger volume is occupied by the central
tube and cannot be used for heat exchange, which will result
in the decreasing of STHX compactness. Therefore, the already
mentioned manufacturing and structure problems stopped the
popularization of continuous helical baffled STHXs. Due to the
preceding reasons, the SHTX with combined helical baffles has
been proposed to solve part of the problems existing in contin-
uous helical baffles by Wang et al. [54].
The combined helical baffle is a combination of discontin-
uous helical baffles and continuous helical baffles (Figure 16).
Discontinuous helical baffles are installed in the central region,

Table 3 Correlations for heat transfer and pressure drop of the STHXs with continuous helical baffles

Researchers Baffle style Fluid Correlations Range

Peng [46] Segmental baffle Oil Nus = 0.0889Re0.717

s Pr1/3 Res 752
fs = 2.79Re0.269
s 752 < Res
fs = 1.41Re0.167
s
Continuous helical baffle
Side-in/side-out Oil Nus = 0.0599Re0.669
s Pr1/3 Res 1960
fs = 3.76Re0.578
s 1,960 < Res
fs = 0.316Re0.251
s
Middle-in/middle-out Oil Nus = 0.0451Re0.699
s Pr1/3 Res 2,757
fs = 1.40Res0.437 2,757 < Res
fs = 0.226Re0.206
s
Wang et al. [48] Segmental baffle Oil Nus = 0.0743Re0.747
s Pr1/3 Unknown
0.22
fs = 2.05Res
Continuous helical baffle
Side-in/side-out Oil Nus = 0.0533Re0.688
s Pr1/3 Unknown
0.45
fs = 1.64Res
Middle-in/middle-out Oil Nus = 0.0323Re0.742
s Pr1/3 Unknown
0.33
fs = 0.63Res
Zhang et al.[51] Continuous helical baffle with Oil Nus = 0.026Re0.8
s Pr
1/3 Unknown
petal-shaped finned tubes
Zhang et al. [52,53] Continuous helical baffle Oil Nus = 0.030Re0.8
s Pr
0.4 10,000 < Res < 20,000
with smooth tube
Continuous helical baffle Oil Nus = 0.062Re0.8
s Pr
0.4 10,000 < Res < 20,000
with petal-shaped fin tube Nus = 0.063Re0.8
s Pr 0.4 10,000 < Res < 20,000
Nus = 0.058Re0.8
s Pr
0.4 10,000 < Res < 20,000
Nus = 0.059Re0.8
s Pr 0.4 10,000 < Res < 20,000
Nus = 0.060Re0.8
s Pr
0.4 10,000 < Res < 20,000

heat transfer engineering vol. 31 no. 10 2010

 844 Q. W. WANG ET AL.
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Figure 16 Schematic of combined single shell-pass heat exchangers with
helical baffles [54].
while the continuous helical baffles are used in most part of
the outer space of the shell side. The discontinuous helical baf-
fles and continuous helical baffles work together to form whole
continuous helicoids. This combined helical baffle simplifies the
manufacturing process and takes advantage of both discontin-
uous helical baffles and continuous helical baffles. In addition,
it can save more space and increase the heat exchangers com-
pactness. Most recently, Chen et al. [55] studied the STHXs
with combined helical baffle by a computational fluid dynam-
ics method. The numerical results suggested that for the same
mass flow rate and identical layout of heat exchanger tubes in
the shell side, the overall pressure drop of the combined he-
lical baffled STHX (CMH-STHX) is about 50% lower than
that of a heat exchanger with segmental baffles (SG-STHX),
and its heat transfer coefficient per pressure drop h/
p was
81.7% higher than that of the heat exchangers with segmental
baffles. Chen et al. [56] also numerically studied the heat trans-
fer and flow performance of STHXs with discontinuous helical
baffles (DCH-STHX), combined helical baffles (CMH-STHX),
and continuous helical baffles (CH-STHX) by adopting periodic
boundary conditions. In the study, experiments were carried
out to validate the numerical predictions. It can be concluded
that, for the same Reynolds number, the Nusselt numbers of
the CMH-STHX and CH-STHX are about 37.6% and 78.2%
higher than those of the DCH-STHX (Figure 17); the friction
factor of the CH-STHX is about 14.8% and 150.2% higher than
those of CMH-STHX and DCH-STHX. Reasonable velocity
ratios of CH-STHX/CMH-STHX and CH-STHX/DCH-STHX
design can make the CMH-STHX and the DCH-STHX have
higher Nusselt numbers than the CH-STHX at the same mass
flow rate in the studied range of Nusselt number. The combined
helical baffles greatly simplify the manufacturing of continu-
ous helical baffles and increase the heat transfer performance
of discontinuous helical baffles. In general, the helical baffled
STHXs have lower heat transfer coefficients than the segmental
heat transfer engineering
Figure 17 Variation of Nusselt numbers versus Reynolds number [56].
baffled STHXs under the same free flow area and tube layout
conditions, although they also have lower pressure drops. To
further enhance heat transfer performance of STHXs, multiple
shell-pass STHXs have been introduced.
Combined Multiple Shell-Pass STHXs with Helical Baffles
The combined multiple shell-pass STHX (Figure 18) have
been invented and studied by Wang et al. [57-61] to further
enhance the shell-side heat transfer performance. The main im-
provements are as follows: There are two or more shell passes
in the shell side of STHXs, where the outer shell passes are
set up with continuous helical baffles and the inner pass can be
equipped with other kinds of baffles (Figure 18c). Taking the
two shell-pass STHX with continuous helical baffles as an ex-
ample, the shell has two shell passes, the inner shell pass and the
outer shell pass, which are separated by a sleeve tube. The baf-
fles in the inner shell pass can be some traditional baffles such as
segmental baffles, discontinuous helical baffles, diskdoughnut
baffles, rod baffles, and so on, which can be manufactured and
installed easily. The outer shell pass is constructed by complete
continuous helical baffles. Due to the inner sleeve tube, the in-
ner shell-pass baffles and outer shell-pass helical baffles do not
need to be fixed on the same helical surface. The inner shell
pass and the outer shell pass are joined together at one end of
the shell side. If the working fluid flows through the inner and
outer shell pass simultaneously, the STHX is called a paral-
lel combined multiple shell-pass helical baffled STHX (Figure
18a), and if the working fluid flows through the inner and outer
shell passes sequencely, the STHX is called a series combined
multiple shell-pass STHX with helical baffles (Figure 18b).
The shell sides of the parallel combined multiple shell-pass
helical baffled STHX and the series combined multiple shell-
pass STHX with helical baffles have been separated into several
individual shell passes. For each individual shell pass, the cross-
sectional flow area is reduced, and thus the velocity of the fluid
vol. 31 no. 10 2010
 Q. W. WANG ET AL.
Downloaded by [East Carolina University] at 06:40 13 August 2013
Figure 18 Schematic of multiple shell pass STHXs with helical baffles.
could be increased for the same mass flow rate, and therefore the
heat transfer performance can be expected to have a great im-
provement. In addition, the combined multiple shell-pass STHX
with helical baffles avoids the difficulties in manufacturing con-
tinuous helical baffles with a small size inner helix and increases
its compactness.
Recently, numerical studies have been conducted on the se-
ries combined multiple shell-pass STHX with helical baffles by
Wang et al. [61, 62]. It was found that the pressure drop of
the combined double shell-pass STHX with helical baffles was
lower than that of the segmental baffled STHX by about 13%
for the same mass flow rate and same heat transfer rate (Fig-
ure 19c). For the same overall pressure drop on the shell side,
the overall heat transfer rate of the combined double shell-pass
STHX with helical baffles is nearly 5.6% higher than that of the
conventional segmental baffled STHX and the mass flow rate
in the double shell-pass STHX with helical baffles is about
6.6% higher than that in the STHX with segmental baffles
[63]. The velocity distributions and temperature distributions
of the numerical results can be seen in Figures 19a and b. Chen
et al. [64] studied the combined multiple shell-pass STHXs
heat transfer engineering
845
Figure 19 Numerical results of combined multiple shell-pass STHX with
continuous helical baffles [63].
with continuous helical baffles in the outer shell pass and dif-
ferent forms of baffles (segmental baffles, discontinuous baf-
fles and disk-and-doughnut baffles) in the inner shell pass with
a computational fluid dynamics method. The results indicated
that for the same mass flow rate and overall heat transfer rate,
the double shell-pass STHX with discontinuous helical baf-
fles in the inner shell pass has the lowest pressure drop in the
shell side.
CFD/NHT RESEARCH ON HELIXCHANGERS
Computational fluid dynamics and numerical heat transfer
(CFD/NHT) is one of the branches of fluid mechanics and heat
transfer using numerical methods and algorithms to solve and
analyze problems that involve fluid flow and heat transfer. With
vol. 31 no. 10 2010
 846 Q. W. WANG ET AL.
the development of modern computer technologies, CFD/NHT
is widely used in stages of fundamental mechanism and design
optimization of heat exchangers [6569]. In this section, the
comprehensive CFD/NTH developments on STHXs with dif-
ferent baffles, including the helical baffles mentioned earlier,
are summarized. Sunden [70] concluded that CFD research can
be applied to STHXs in three different ways, which are the en-
tire heat exchanger model, heat exchanger unit model, and heat
transfer surface model. Since there are lots of research works on
the heat transfer surface model in the open literature, we focus
on the foremost two models in the present study.
Entire heat exchanger model is the most widely used method
[7180]. In [71], the entire shell-and-tube heat exchanger with
segmental baffles was meshed, and numerical results indicated
the shell-side flow and the temperature distributions are very
sensitive to modeling choices such as mesh, order of discretiza-
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tion, and turbulence modeling. The fluid flow analysis of dis-
continuous helical baffled STHXs [32] and the heat transfer
and pressure drop characteristics studies of combined helical
baffles [55] and combined multiple shell-pass STHX with he-
lical baffles [6264] all belong to entire model simulations. In
these computational simulations, the constant wall temperature
boundary conditions were applied to the tube walls, and the
RNG or realizable k turbulence models were used to solve
the turbulent flow in the shell-side. Similar numerical investiga-
tions have been carried out to study the heat transfer and flow
characteristics of other heat exchangers. CFD simulation has
been done to predict the flow distribution in the inlet header
of plate-fin heat exchangers [72]. It was found that the flow
misdistributions in plate-fin heat exchangers were definitely se-
rious due to the improper header configuration and detrimental
to heat transfer. Numerical study for flow and thermal fields
was conducted on a countercurrent tube-in-tube helical heat ex-
changer, and both the inner coiled tube friction factor value and
the annulus-side friction factor values were in agreement with
experimental predictions [73]. Flow field and temperature dis-
tributions inside different models of exhaust gas recirculation
(EGR) cooler with helical baffles were investigated by numer-
ical simulations. The results suggested that coefficients of the
helical baffle are much lower than those of the tube wall. The
primary benefit of the helical baffle is to lengthen the water flow
path and to strengthen the swirl flow [74]. A double-pipe helical
heat exchanger was numerically modeled for laminar fluid flow
and heat transfer characteristics under different fluid flow rates
and tube sizes. It was found that Nusselt numbers for the annu-
lus were correlated with a modified Dean number, resulting in a
strong linear relationship between the Nusselt number and the
modified Dean number for the range of flow rates [75]. A newly
mathematical model describing the process of heat transfer in
plastic tubular heat exchangers had been devised by Baigaliev
and Salakhutdinov [76]. Another entire heat exchanger model
is based on a porous medium model [77] in which the shell
side is considered as a porous medium by introducing volume
porosities and surface permeability. The flow and thermal resis-
tances have to be introduced. This numerical method was used
heat transfer engineering
to study the heat transfer and flow characteristics of segmen-
tal baffled or discontinuous helical baffled heat exchangers by
Prithiviraj and Andrews [7880] and He et al. [81]. A compar-
ison was presented for a three-dimensional computational fluid
dynamics simulation, for E-type shell-and-tube heat exchang-
ers with experimental data and other existing calculation meth-
ods. The results confirmed that the new calculation method has
twofold advantages: First, the method performs consistently for
all ranges of nozzle sizes, baffle cuts, cross passes, and shell-side
Reynolds numbers; and second, the method provides detailed
information on the flow and temperature fields within the heat
exchangers, although at an increased computing cost, which the
other methods do not provide [80].
When the size of heat exchangers is very large, it will be
difficult or impossible to adopt the entire model simulation due
to the limitations of computer speed and capacity. One accessible
method to decrease the difficulties of numerical simulation is
using the heat exchanger unit model, in which the streamwise
periodic flow and heat transfer is usually introduced in the form
of periodic boundary conditions, as proposed by Patankar et al.
[82]. Numerical studies on helical angle optimization [50] and
heat transfer performance comparison between different helical
baffles [56] were conducted using periodic boundary conditions.
Dong et al. [10] used the periodic heat exchanger unit duct model
to study longitudinal flow characteristics of shell-and-tube heat
exchangers with rod baffles. The unit model can also be used to
study or optimize heat exchangers with longitudinal flow in the
shell side by different shell-side support structures. Wang et al.
[83] applied the periodic unit duct models to simulate shell-side
characteristics of heat exchangers with six kinds of supporting
structures, that is, small round hole plate, plum blossom plate,
rectangle hole plate, big round hole plate, ring baffle, and rod
baffle.
The CFD/NHT method is also applied to study vibration and
fouling problems, which are very important factors for the sta-
bility and useful lifetime of STHXs. Khushnood et al. [84] had
a review of heat exchanger tube bundle vibrations in two-phase
cross-flow. The flow-induced vibration was simulated with the
CFD program STAR-CD in combination with a coupled solver
for the differential equations of parallel vibrating tubes for two-
and three-dimensional calculations and it was concluded that the
nonlinear k- model had a better agreement with experimental
results [85]; simple correlations between equivalent velocity dis-
tribution, geometrical parameters, and variations of tube bundle
were also presented [86]. Sorokin and Terentiev [87] studied
the effects of generation and transmission of the vibro-acoustic
energy in an elastic cylindrical shell filled with water. The re-
sults of power flow analysis in the fundamental mechanical
and acoustical excitation case suggested that in an elastic water-
filled shell vibrating at a relatively low frequency (the case rele-
vant to many practical applications) the energy was transmitted
mainly through the structure. A surface vorticity method (SVM),
which is a fast and practical grid-free two-dimensional (2-D)
method, and a fluidstructure interaction model incorporating
the effects of cylinder motions and displacements were used to
vol. 31 no. 10 2010
 Q. W. WANG ET AL. 847

simulate the vortex-induced vibration of cylinder arrays. The re-
sults showed that with a decrease of cylinder natural frequency,
the maximum vibration response moves from the third row to
the first row [88]. Brahim et al. [89] used FLUENT software
to simulate the fouling process. Simulations for predicting milk
fouling behavior as a function of time and position within the
helical triple tube heat exchanger were carried out by Sahoo
et al. [90]. Nema and Datta [91] proposed an improved sim-
ulation model for the accurate estimation of fouling thickness
and milk outlet temperature. All of these numerical simulation
methods can be used to study fouling in the STHXs with helical
baffles.
The CFD/NHT studies of the STHXs with different helical
baffles are summarized in Table 4. It can be found that the
most common turbulence model for water or oil is the RNG k-
model.

Table 4 CFD/NHT studies on the STHXs with helical baffles

Researchers Baffle style Fluid Computational model Turbulence model Schematic

Andrews and Master [29, Discontinuous helical Water Entire heat exchanger with RNG k-
30] baffle porous medium model
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Lei et al. [31] Discontinuous helical Oil Heat exchanger unit model RNG k-
baffle

Zhang et al. [32] Discontinuous helical Oil Entire heat exchanger model Realizable k-
baffle

Jafari Nasr and Shafeghat Discontinuous helical Water Entire heat exchanger with RNG k-
[34] baffle porous medium model

Lei et al. [50] Continuous helical baffle Oil Heat exchanger unit model RNG k-

Zhang et al. [53] Continuous helical baffle Oil Entire heat exchanger model RNG k-

Huang et al. [74] Continuous helical baffle Air Entire heat exchanger model RNG k-

Chen et al. [55] Combined helical baffle Water Entire heat exchanger model RNG k-

Chen et al. [56] Discontinuous, combined, Oil Heat exchanger unit model RNG k-
and continuous helical
baffle

Wang et al. [62,63] Multiple shell-pass with Water Entire heat exchanger model Realizable k-
continuous helical
baffle
Chen et al. [64] Multiple shell-pass with Water Entire heat exchanger model Realizable k-
continuous helical
baffle

heat transfer engineering vol. 31 no. 10 2010

 848 Q. W. WANG ET AL.

Table 5 Comparison of design alternatives [5, 17] Table 6 Main characteristics of shell-and-tube heat exchangers for preheating
crude oil [5, 17]
Baffle style Helix angle( ) Total number of shells Total weight (kg)
Shell-and-tube heat exchangers with
Segmental 11 51,400
Helical 20 8 37,380 Segmental baffles Helical baffles (40 )
Helical 40 6 23,650
Characteristic Tube side Shell side Tube side Shell side

Process fluid Kerosene Crude oil Kerosene Crude oil

INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS OF HELICAL Mass flow rate (kg/h) 2.8 25 2.8 25
BAFLED STHXs Inlet temperature ( C) 200.7 10 200.7 10
Outlet temperature ( C) 46.5 32.1 46.5 32.1
Dynamic viscosity (Pa-s) 0.61011e-3 6.96288 e-3 0.6066e-3 6.9841 e-3
More than 600 STHXs with helical baffles are now in service Shell diameter (mm) 491 491
globally in applications ranging from crude preheat trains and Tubes
feed-effluent exchangers to quench water coolers and secondary OD (mm) 20 20
Length (mm) 3,985 4,171
transfer line exchangers. Helical baffled STHXs have obvious
Number 220 220
advantages in cost saving in pumping equipment and in reducing Number of passes 4 1 4 1
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power consumption during operation. Additional cost for initial Heat duty (kW) 1,015.8 1,006.4
manufacture cost is relatively low. An auxiliary cooling system Area ( m2 ) 55.08 57.66
in a nuclear power station has been chosen to demonstrate the HTC (W/m2 -K) 448.21 997.15 452.02 729.76
Pressure drop (kPa) 2.52 43.55 2.6 17
features of helical baffled STHXs [5, 17].
Capital cost
The design data for the cooling system are as follows: The $ 45,522 46,251
hot stream inlet and outlet temperatures are specified as 270 C $/yr 8,116 8,246
and 55 C, respectively. Since the inlet temperature of the cool- Operation cost ($/yr) 1,189 470
ing stream is specified as 55 C, it is necessary to incorporate Total cost ( $/yr) 9,305 8,716
an after-cooler into the system so that the required hot stream
outlet temperature of 55 C is met. The cooling water was set at
a temperature of 44 C. The duty of the heat exchanger system
designed is expected to reach a value of 15 MW, and the pres-
sure loss is restricted to lower than 80 kPa for the whole system. can be obtained from Table 6. It can be observed that the weight
Three different cooling systems using segmental baffles and he- of cooling system with = 40 helical baffles was only 46%
lical baffles are summarized in Table 5 and the heat exchanger of that with segmental baffles. The heat transfer coefficient of
networks are seen in Figure 20. A comparison between segmen- the helical baffled STHX with = 40 was 26.8% lower than
tal baffled heat exchangers and helical baffled heat exchanger that of the segmental baffled STHX. However, the pressure drop
and total cost of the STHX with = 40 helical baffles for the
preheating crude oil are 61% and 6.3% lower than that with
segmental baffles respectively.
Besides the discontinuous helical baffled heat exchangers,
the continuous helical baffled shell-and-tube heat exchangers,
as shown in Figure 21, have also been used in oil refining with
great success.

Figure 20 System schematic of the auxiliary cooling system (unit: K) [5,

17]. Figure 21 Continuous helical baffled heat exchangers used in oil refining.

heat transfer engineering vol. 31 no. 10 2010

 Q. W. WANG ET AL. 849

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE WORK
Shell-and-tube heat exchangers play an important role in
traditional energy process as well as the new energy techniques
and applications. Much more work is required for helixchangers.
Rigorous and generalized procedures for shell-and-tube heat
exchangers with continuous, combined helical baffles and com-
bined multiple shell-pass helical baffles in CFD simulations are
still in the early stages of development. New computational
models and numerical algorithms are needed to decrease the
computational difficulties and increase confidence in the pre-
dictive capability in entire model simulations. New turbulence
models are needed for the transitional flow region.
In order to popularize these new helixchangers and improve-
ments, experimental tests and industry application feedback are
needed to confirm the heat transfer and flow advantages com-
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still have higher heat transfer coefficients and much higher
pressure drop.
2. The single shell-pass STHX with continuous helical baffles
is superior to the heat exchanger with segmental baffles or
discontinuous helical baffles, but it is difficult to manufac-
ture, especially when a STHX with large-scale shell diameter
is needed.
3. The single shell-pass STHXs with combined helical baffles
makes good use of advantages of both discontinuous helical
baffles and continuous helical baffles, and can simplify the
manufacturing process.
4. Compared with the single shell-pass STHXs with seg-
mental baffles or helical baffles, the combined multi-
ple shell-pass STHXs with helical baffles in the outer
shell passes can enhance the comprehensive heat transfer
performance.

pared with the traditional shell-and-tube heat exchangers. In 5. Both the combined single shell-pass and combined multiple
addition, accurate heat transfer and pressure drop correlations shell-pass STHXs can simplify the manufacture and instal-
based on experimental test results and industry application feed- lation of heat exchangers. They can be used to replace the
backs are required for the heat exchanger design process. The conventional segmental baffled STHXs in industries.
design software also needs to be developed for the helixchang-
ers to make the design process more accurate and convenient
for engineers.
In order to maximize the efficiency of the helixchangers and NOMENCLATURE
improvements, multi-objective optimization design must be car-
ried out to save materials or energy as well as the capital cost and A heat transfer area, m2
operating cost. Computational intelligence (CI) techniques, such cp specific heat, J/(kgK)
as artificial neural network (ANN), genetic algorithm (GA), and COP coefficient of performance
fuzzy logic (FL), have been successfully applied in optimizing D mass diffusion coefficient, m2 /s
traditional segmental baffled heat exchangers. There is a lack of do heat exchange tube diameter, m
similar works on helixchangers. E heat exchanger effectiveness
Regarding the manufacturing and assembly processes, fur- Eus Euler number,
p /( 2 )
ther developments in manufacturing continuous helical baffles fs friction factor
and assembly methods are required to reduce the cost and en- h heat transfer coefficient, W/(m2 K)
sure the stability of shell-and-tube heat exchangers with helical Hs , Hp baffle distance and lead of helix, m
baffles. The vibration and fouling are also important and need I exergy loss, kW
to be investigated. ks shell side thermal conductivity, W/(mK)
L effective length of shell, m
m mass flow rate, kg/s
n number of heat exchange tubes
CONCLUSIONS
NTU number of transfer units, UA/(mcp )
Nus Nusselt number, hdo /ks
In this paper, a general review of the shell-and-tube heat Nu /Nuo Nusselt number ratio
exchangers with different baffles, such as discontinuous helical Pe Peclet number, uL/D
baffles and continuous and combined helical baffles, has been p total pressure, Pa
presented, in terms of heat transfer enhancement mechanism,
p overall pressure drop, Pa
improvements on baffle structure, and industrial applications. Pr Prandtl number
The conclusions can be drawn as follows: Q overall heat transfer rate, W
R gas constant, J/(Kmol)
1. For the same geometrical structure and same baffle number, Res shell side Reynolds number, Res = udo /
all single shell-pass STHXs with helical baffles (discontinu- S entropy generation, WK
ous helical baffles, continuous helical baffles and combined T temperature, K
helical baffles) have higher heat transfer coefficients per pres- u velocity, m/s
sure drop h/
p than the segmental baffled STHXs. However, U overall heat transfer coefficient,
for the same mass flow rate, the segmental baffled STHXs W/(m2 K)
heat transfer engineering vol. 31 no. 10 2010
 850 Q. W. WANG ET AL.
V volumetric flow rate, m3 /h
yi pressure drop correction factors
Zi heat transfer correction factors
Greek Symbols
helix angle, degrees
s density, kg/m3
s dynamic viscosity, kg/(ms)
kinematic viscosity, m2 /s
Subscripts
e environment
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in inlet
out outlet
s shell side
t tube side
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Qiuwang Wang is a professor at the School of Energy
and Power Engineering, Xian Jiaotong University.
He received his Ph.D. degree in engineering thermo-
Downloaded by [East Carolina University] at 06:40 13 August 2013
physics from the Xian Jiaotong University in 1996.
He then joined the faculty of the university and took
the professor post in 2001. His main research interests
include computational fluid dynamics and numeri-
cal heat transfer, heat transfer enhancement, compact
heat exchangers, building energy saving, and indoor
air quality. He has published more than 100 journal
papers, half of which are in international journals or conferences. He has also
been authorized for 11 invention patents of China.
heat transfer engineering
853
Guidong Chen is a Ph.D. student at the School of
Energy and Power Engineering, Xian Jiaotong Uni-
versity. His research interests include computational
fluid dynamics, numerical heat transfer, compact heat
exchangers, and application of computational intelli-
gence in thermal engineering.
Qiuyang Chen is a Ph.D. student at the School of En-
ergy and Power Engineering, Xian Jiaotong Univer-
sity. He received a B.Sc. degree from Southwest Uni-
versity of Science and Technology, China, in 2004.
He research interests include computational fluid dy-
namics, numerical heat transfer, solid oxide fuel cells,
and compact and high-efficiency heat exchangers. He
has been author or co-author of more than 10 inter-
national journals or conference papers.
Min Zeng is an associate professor at the School
of Energy and Power Engineering, Xian Jiaotong
University. He received his Ph.D. degree in engineer-
ing thermophysics from Xian Jiaotong University in
2004. His main research interests are numerical heat
transfer, compact heat exchangers, and transport phe-
nomena in porous media. He has published more than
20 papers in international journals or conferences.
vol. 31 no. 10 2010