Case - tube sheet consultancy

A shell and tube heat exchanger experiences during normal operation high thermal shock due to regular start and stop of the system. The tube sheet gasket due to the bending of the tube sheet and rotation at the ends, started to leak after a period of time. Various regular code calculations have been executed including ASME VIII div.1 and EN 1591-1 giving not enough evidence to change the design. Finally the Red-Bag partner Wentzel Dynamics performed the Finite Element Analysis in which also the fluid flow was included. The fluid flow and the heat transfer modelling provided a better insight in the thermal behavior of the system. It was found that due to the extreme rotation of the tube sheet the gasket was damaged. Suggestion for a new design have been presented to the customer. (Petrogas)