21 Heat Transfer in a Heat Exchanger
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Published:2009
The design of a heat exchanger can be a good challenge for engineers. The design methods cover a vast variety of engineering disciplines, such as heat transfer, fluid mechanics, stress analysis, corrosion, materials, economics, etc. There are two popular heat transfer design methods covered in literature; see References [5], [6], [10] and [15].
One heat transfer design method is called the log mean temperature difference method. If the hot and cold fluid inlet and∕or outlet temperatures are specified, the heat exchanger design can be performed by using this method. On the other hand, if the hot and cold fluid inlet and∕or outlet temperatures are not specified, and a comparison between various types of heat exchangers is required, then the effectiveness method is preferred.