Effect of baffle spacing on pressure drop and local heat transfer in shell-and-tube heat exchangers for staggered tube arrangement

Local heat transfer and pressure drop on the shell side of shell-and-tube heat exchangers with segmental baffles were investigated for different baffle spacings. The distributions of the local heat transfer coefficients on each tube surface within a fully developed baffle compartment were determined and visualized by means of mass transfer measurements. Per-tube, per-row and per-compartment average heat transfer coefficients were drawn from the local values. The local pressure measurements allow the determination of the shell-side flow distributions. For same Reynolds number, the pressure drop and average heat transfer are increased by an increased baffle spacing due to a reduced leakage through the baffle-shell clearance. The experimental results were compared with literature values. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.