Numerical Method and Its Application to Coupled System with Chemical Reaction, Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer: A Case Study of Shell-and-Tube Reactor

A new method of collaborative simulation of chemical reaction, fluid flow and heat transfer based on OpenFOAM is proposed. Then a case study of shell-and-tube reactor for a single shell and several reaction tubes pass reactor with a variable number of baffles and turbulent flow is performed. The results are observed to be sensitive to the turbulence model selection. The best turbulence model among the ones considered is determined by comparing the CFD results of heat transfer coefficient, outlet temperature and pressure drop with the Bell -- CDelaware method results. For two baffle cut values, the effect of the baffle spacing to shell diameter ratio on the heat exchanger performance is investigated by varying flow rate. The temperature distribution of the reaction tube is influenced by thermal environment of both shell and tube side, and optimizing the fluid flow in shell side to conform to the exothermic characteristics of the reaction tube can effectively improve the temperature uniformity of the reaction tubes.