Heat exchanger consisting of Coaxial Cables

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Homework Help Overview

The problem involves a heat exchanger made of two coaxial tubes with square cross-sections, where two liquids flow at different temperatures. The original poster describes the setup and attempts to understand the heat transfer between the two liquids, considering the thermal conductivity of the tube material and the flow rates of the liquids.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Mathematical reasoning, Problem interpretation

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the flow of heat from the hotter outer tube to the cooler inner tube and question how to visualize the heat transfer process. There are attempts to derive relationships involving heat transfer equations and the specific heats of the liquids. Some participants express uncertainty about the initial steps and seek clarification on the setup and assumptions.

Discussion Status

There is active engagement with various interpretations of the problem. Participants are sharing their thoughts on how to approach the calculations and are exploring different equations related to heat transfer. Some guidance has been offered regarding the relationships between temperature differences and flow rates, but no consensus has been reached on a specific method or solution.

Contextual Notes

Participants note the complexity of the problem, including the presence of differential equations and the need to consider the specific heat capacities of the liquids. There are also mentions of assumptions made in the problem statement, such as neglecting longitudinal heat conduction and the presence of temperature gradients.

  • #31
The solution to dy/dx = ky is y = Ae^kx
so your solution should by T2 - T1 = Ae^kx, k = (constant expression with k4a's on top)
Let x = 0 to see what A should be.

Missing the closing bracket on the constants (after the C1). Instead of (T2 - T1)dx, you should have just x. Missing the constant before e.

Compare with the given answer in your first post. Looks like the answer has T1 - T2 instead of T2 - T1; probably doesn't matter.
 
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  • #32
okay, so differnce is that they should be other way around...

(T_1 - T_2) = Ae^{(\frac{\kappa 4a}{s m_1 C_1} - \frac{\kappa 4a}{sm_2C_2}) (T_2 - T_1))dx}

Now this is looking similar to the required equation, except T1 - T2 is on the other side, where A is, and instead on the left is delta T. Also, there exponential is:

(4a/s)\kappa [(m_1C_1) -1 – (m_2C_2) - 1]x
 

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