Influence of component proportion on heat transfer characteristics of ethane/propane mixture flow condensation in shell side of helically baffled shell-and-tube heat exchanger

The component proportion of ethane/propane mixture varies during the condensation process in shell side of helically baffled shell-and-tube heat exchangers of nature gas liquefaction plants, which significantly influences the heat transfer characteristics. In the present study, the heat transfer coefficients of ethane/propane mixtures with ethane mass fraction of 8-50% (covering practical conditions) were tested, and were compared with those of pure propane (0% ethane mass fraction) to analyze the influence of component proportion. The research results indicate that, the maximum heat transfer coefficient of ethane/propane mixture occurs at vapor quality around 0.8; as the ethane mass fraction increases from 0% to 15%, the heat transfer coefficient decreases dramatically by a maximum of 66.3%; as the ethane mass fraction further increases from 15% to 50%, the heat transfer coefficient keeps almost constant, and the fluctuation is within −26.4% to 29.1%. A new heat transfer correlation has been developed, and its prediction deviations are within ±25%.