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Q: Saturated process steam at 1 atm is condensed in a shell-and-tube heat exchanger (one shell, two tube passes). Cooling water enters the tubes at 15°C with an average velocity of 3.5 m/s. The tubes are thin-walled and made of copper with a diameter of 14 mm and length of 0.5 m. The convective heat transfer coefficient for condensation on the outer surface of the tubes is 21,800 W/m2 · K.
(a) Find the number of tubes/pass required to condense 2.3 kg/s of steam.
(b) Find the outlet water temperature. (c) Find the maximum possible condensation rate that could be achieved with this heat exchanger using the same water flow rate and inlet temperature.
(d) Using the heat transfer surface area found in part (a), plot the water outlet temperature and steam condensation rate for water mean velocities in the range from] to 5 m/s. Assume that the shell-side convection coefficient remains unchanged.