Derivation of The LMTD and E-NTU
Derivation of The LMTD and E-NTU
Derivation of The LMTD and E-NTU
L. Schaefer
September 12, 2005
1
Q̇ = ṁh (hh,i − hh,o )
So with the specific heat assumption that we made (and treating the fluids as incompressible), we can
write
Q̇ = ṁcp ∆T
We’ll also define Ci = ṁi cp,i as the heat capacity rate. We want to relate the inlet and outlet temperatures,
the U, and the A, to the rate of heat transferred, and we can do this as:
Q̇ = U A∆Tmean
.
We now need to find what this mean temperature is. To do this, we’ll look at a differential area of the
heat exchanger where a differential amount of heat is transferred.
Using this equation to examine the hot and cold streams separately yields:
δ Q̇ = U (Th − Tc ) dA , or (3)
δ Q̇
T h − Tc = (4)
U dA
Rearranging equations 1 and 2 yields:
δ Q̇ δ Q̇
dTh = − and dTc = ± ; so
Ch Cc
1 1
dTh − dTc = d(Th − Tc ) = δ Q̇ (− ∓ ) (5)
Ch Cc
Dividing the above equation by equation 4 results in:
d(Th − Tc ) 1 1
= U (− ∓ ) dA (6)
Th − Tc Ch Cc
Equation 6 can then be integrated over the heat exchanger:
Parallel-flow:
Th − Tc2 1 1
ln[ 2 ] = U A (− − )
Th1 − Tc1 Ch Cc
Counterflow:
Th2 − Tc1 1 1
ln[ ] = U A (− + ) (7)
Th1 − Tc2 Ch Cc
Replacing the specific heats of equation 7 with those found before yields
Parallel-flow:
Th − Tc2 UA
ln[ 2 ]= [(Th2 − Th1 ) + (Tc1 − Tc2 )]
Th1 − Tc1 Q̇
Counterflow:
Th2 − Tc1 UA
ln[ ]= [(Th2 − Th1 ) + (Tc2 − Tc1 )]
Th1 − Tc2 Q̇
2
∆T1 − ∆T2
Q̇ = U A
ln[ ∆T
∆T2 ]
1
∆T1 − ∆T2
∆TLogM ean = (8)
ln[ ∆T
∆T2 ]
1
This equation is valid only if Cc 6= Ch ; otherwise, ∆T1 = ∆T2 and a denominator of zero results.
Example 11.1 from Incrop. and DeW. is a good example that incorporates the convection coefficient and
the LMTD.
Effectiveness-NTU method
If only the inlet temperatures (and not the outlet temperatures) are known, the LMTD method requires
iteration. In these cases (and in some others), the effectiveness-NTU method should be used instead ( ε −
N T U ). REMEMBER: Q̇ = q.
Cmin
We want to show that ε = ε(N T U, C max
) We’ll first show that this is true for parallel-flow, where
Ch = Cmin .
So, what is q equal to, in terms of the temperatures and heat capacity rate of the hot fluid?
q = Ch (Thi − Tho )