Assessment of current methods in determining fouling growth in heat exchangers

In this study, the fouling growth in a Naphtha heat exchanger of shell-and-tube type is determined using thermal analysis method. The thermal analysis method requires the calculations of shell and tube side heat transfer coefficients. The shell side heat transfer coefficient is determined using both Bell Delaware (BD) and Flow Stream Analyses (FSA) methods. The results are compared using the statistical t and F tests. Moreover, the results are compared with the results obtained using commercial software (HTC-STX) commonly used by industry to thermally design or evaluate the performance of shell-and-tube heat exchangers. The comparison indicates that BD method is more accurate.