Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Performance and Fouling — online
Actual U, fouling resistance and cleanliness from plant readings — with the duty lost to fouling, its yearly cost and the best cleaning interval.
Yellow cells are inputs; orange cells are choices; blue cells choose the unit. Select or hover over an input to see its help in the box below the toolbar. The sheet is the same as the Excel tool (USD 49) — the Guide, method and references are in the Excel file.
What this shell and tube heat exchanger performance and fouling calculator does
See how dirty your exchanger really is, what it costs you, and when to clean it. Actual U, fouling resistance and cleanliness from plant readings — with the duty lost to fouling, its yearly cost and the best cleaning interval.
- Performance from plant readings. Duty from the enthalpy change of each stream (boiling and condensing included), heat balance check, LMTD, F factor, actual U, fouling resistance and cleanliness.
- Any arrangement. Counter-current, co-current, 1-2 TEMA E shell or several shells in series.
- About 165 built-in fluids. Water and steam, refrigerants, hydrocarbons, solvents, glycols, brines, heat transfer oils, petroleum fractions and gas mixtures.
- Clean re-rating. Duty and outlet temperatures if the exchanger were clean, by effectiveness-NTU — the duty you are losing now.
- Cleaning economics. Cost of fouling per year, cleaning payback and the optimum cleaning interval.
- History and trend. A 40-row log with a fouling trend chart; ranked findings and a print-ready report.
What you enter
- Fluid
- Inlet state
- Outlet state
- Mass flow
- Inlet temperature
- Outlet temperature
- Inlet pressure (absolute or gauge – pick the unit)
- Outlet pressure
- Inlet vapour fraction
- Outlet vapour fraction
- Concentration (% by mass)
- Watson characterisation factor K
- Specific heat (your value)
- Flows
What you get
- Inlet temperature used
- Outlet temperature used
- Inlet phase
- Outlet phase
- Saturation temperature at the inlet pressure
- Mass flow used
- Enthalpy change (outlet − inlet, absolute value)
- Mean specific heat over the exchanger
- Duty of the stream
- Heat balance error (hot − cold) ÷ average
- Duty as % of the design duty
- Mean temperature difference (F × LMTD)
- Overall heat transfer coefficient — actual
- UA (actual)
How it was checked
Shah & Sekulić worked examples 3.6, 3.8 and 13.2; steam and propane condensing duties within 0.1 % of reference data.
Related
- Free quick calculator — a simpler free version for a fast estimate.
- Calculation guide — the equations behind this tool, with a worked example.
- Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Performance and Fouling Excel tool — USD 49, keep the workbook and its Guide.
- All 40 online tools
Questions
Is the shell and tube heat exchanger performance and fouling calculator free?
You can enter and check all your data free. The full results, findings and printable sheet are unlocked with a 3-run pack (USD 9), a monthly subscription to all 40 online tools (USD 15) or a yearly one (USD 99).
Are the results the same as the Excel tool?
Yes. The online tool runs the formulas of the Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Performance and Fouling Excel workbook, checked cell by cell against the Excel file.
Which units can I use?
SI, US customary and British units — choose the unit next to each input.