Performance Enhancement of Shell–Tube Heat Exchanger by Clamping Anti-Vibration Baffles with Porous Media Involvement

The enhancement with porous media involvement is estimated and compared for three varieties of shell and tube heat exchangers (STHXs), with helical, segmental and clamping anti-vibration baffles, with two variations, viz., porosity value and dimension of this media (radius). In this study, further improvement in the thermo-hydraulic performance of the anti-vibration baffles design of STHX was investigated using simulation, with porous media inclusion. The inclusion of porous medium in the shell side is in a way that the whole tube bundle is wrapped by it; inside the tubes, porous media are located in two ways: (1) at the center of tubes and (2) fixed to the inner lining of the tubes. The findings suggest that the porous media improve the heat transfer with the expense of pressure drop; it is also noted, of all the cases, the pressure drop is minimum in anti-vibrational baffles. The analysis showed that using porous media with specific porosity and dimension can increase heat transfer rate along with less pressure drop. For the clamping anti-vibration baffles STHX, enhanced and overall effective performance was found with porous media inclusion of 0.6 porous radius ratio and porosity of 0.6.