Counter Flow Heat Exchanger Example

The simplest heat exchanger is one for which the hot and cold fluids move in the same or opposite directions in a concentric tube or double pipe construction.

Counter flow heat exchanger example.

Consider a parallel flow or counterflow heat exchanger consisting of fluid 1 fluid 2 and the wall separating these two fluids. One starts off hot at 60 c the second cold at 20 c. The direction in which the two fluids travel through the heat exchanger can be either parallel flow or counter flow. We combine these two types together with an index n to indicate the flow direction of fluid 2.

Crossflow parallel flow and counterflow heat exchanger configurations are three examples. A cocurrent heat exchanger is an example of a cocurrent flow exchange mechanism. The counter current design is the most efficient in that it can transfer. For a parallel flow heat exchanger n 0 and for a counterflow heat exchanger n 1.

Two tubes have a liquid flowing in the same direction. There are three primary classifications of heat exchangers according to their flow arrangement. In the parallel flow arrangement of figure 18 8 a the hot and cold fluids enter at the same end flow in the same direction and leave at the same end. In parallel flow heat exchangers the two fluids enter the exchanger at the same end and travel in parallel to one another to the other side.

In counter flow heat exchangers the fluids enter the exchanger from opposite ends. A counterflow heat exchanger will require less heat exchange surface area than a parallel flow heat exchanger for the same heat transfer rate and the same inlet and outlet temperatures for the fluids.