TCE     
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The Chemical Educator
ISSN: 1430-4171 (electronic version)
Abstract Volume 6
Issue 1 (2001) pp 15-20
Assembly of a Thin-Falling-Film Exchanger for Laboratory Demonstrations: Calculation of the Individual Heat-Transfer Coefficient
Carmen Moraga, Manuel Carmona, and Antonio Durán*
Department of Chemical Engineering. ETSII. University of Castilla-La
Mancha, Avda. Camilo José Cela 3. 13071. Ciudad Real (Spain)
Received July 17, 2000. Accepted October 17 2000
Published online: 15 December 2000
Abstract. Thin-film exchangers
have a large heat-transfer area per unit liquid volume that make them
very efficient for industrial use. Unfortunately, they are usually less
applied for education purposes. In this work, a simple experimental device
with a fluid flowing as a falling film has been assembled. In addition,
an experimental guide allows students to determine the individual heat-transfer
coefficient in the exchanger.
The experimental setup consists of two pipes bundled as a shell-and-tube
heat exchanger. The cold liquid flows in the form of a thin film that
runs down inside the inner tube; the hot liquid flows down concurrently
in the external one.
In order to test the operation of the device, experimental results are
given for a simple test with water. Heat-transfer coefficients are calculated
and a theoretical correlation obtained from the literature is compared
with the experimental results. In addition, a fit of the data allows for
the formulation of a new empirical equation for the transient regime.
Key Words: Laboratories and Demonstrations; chemical engineering; physical chemistry; thin-film exchangers
(*) Corresponding author. (E-mail: aduran@inqu-cr.uclm.es)
Article in PDF format (302 KB) HTML format
Issue date: February 1, 2001
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