Optimization of a shell-and-tube heat exchanger using the grey wolf algorithm

Most chemical processes require heat exchangers to modify the temperatures of the streams involved in the production steps. Due to their many applications, the rigorous design of such exchangers is of interest, aiming to determine the physical characteristics required to obtain the desired variation in temperature. The mathematical models representing such devices have several degrees of freedom and non-lineal equations, thus robust optimization algorithms are required to obtain the optimal solution in a short time. In this work, the use of the grey wolf algorithm is proposed for the optimization of a shell-and-tube heat exchanger, modeled by the Bell-Delaware equations. With the proposed method, a minimum total annual cost of 3,978.2 USD was obtained, in a mean time of 0.7976 seconds.