Minimum shell thickness heat exchangers

Industry sets limits that bound our degrees of freedom and thus tend to shorten our design case study load. We are all aw are of such limits and this last category is included primarily for completeness. Examples include minimum industrial thickness for carbon steel plate, and maximum baffle cut for shell and tube heat exchangers. 

Design procedures for tube-plates are given in BS PD 5500, and in the TEMA heat exchanger standards (see Chapter 12). The tube-plate must be thick enough to resist the bending and shear stresses caused by the pressure load and any differential expansion of the shell and tubes. The minimum plate thickness to resist bending can be estimated using an equation of similar form to that for plate end closures (Section 13.5.3). 

The baffle cut determines the fluid velocity between the baffle and the shell wall, and the baffle spacing determines the parallel and cross-flow velocities that affect heat transfer and pressure drop. Often the shell side of an exchanger is subject to low-pressure drop limitations, and the baffle patterns must be arranged to meet these specified conditions and at the same time provide maximum effectiveness for heat transfer. The plate material used for these supports and baffles should not be too thin and is usually minimum thick-... 

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