Horizontal scraped surface heat exchanger — Experimental measurements and numerical analysis

Abstract

This paper deal with the overall heat transfer process and confrontation of experimental measurements and their numerical solutions on simplified model, inside the horizontal scraped surface heat exchanger. The experimental measurements were done on two horizontal scraped surface heat exchangers connected in series. As a product was thermally treated water, heated by vapor in the first stage and cooled by cold water in the second stage. Applied mass flow of the product: m=250, 500, 750, 1000 kgh−1 and rotary velocity of the shaft, scraper blades: rpm=20, 30, (45), 60, 90 min−1. For numerical analyses the simplified model was used, with taking only the area between the heat transfer tube, and the shaft with an aim to compare the result to experimental measurements and validate the obtained overall heat exchange, as justify the simplification. As a results from experimental measurements were obtained the correlations for Nusselt number in a form of Nu=f(Re,Pr,ηf/ηw). Based on the confrontation of results, it can be stated that the level of simplification used at numerical solutions, gives still an acceptable accuracy of overall heat transfer values. From numerical simulations were obtained further results as the velocity, temperature fields, which were used to make certain adaptation on proposed construction and their examination by additional numerical simulations. All these acquired results lead to better understanding the overall process inside the horizontal scraped surface heat exchangers and the proposed construction of mutators can increase the efficiency of heat transfer process for many products in a real processing.