Simulation of Heat Exchanger under Fouled Conditions

This dissertation reports a project on the simulation of the heat exchanger under
fouled conditions. The type of fouling studied in this project is the crude oil fouling
which has been categorized as a chemical reaction fouling, and is the main cause of
fouling in heat exchanger. Chemical reaction fouling is a combination of heat and mass
transfer, and chemical reactions. The rates of chemical reactions are difficult to predict.
Fouling conditions such as fluid velocity, thermal conductivity and the film and bulk
temperatures, were included in this simulation to study their effects on the performance
of the heat exchanger. The threshold model will be useful to determine the threshold
values for the variables in the mitigation process. The heat exchanger used in this
project was a TEMA standard type AES shell and tube heat exchanger. The overall heat
transfer coefficient, U was found to be 344.06 W /m2 K with the heat transfer rate, Q of
the value 4.3907 MW under clean condition. The parameters for the Ebert-Panchal
model were proposed based on the types of crude oil and its blend.
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