2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Low-Cost Hands-on Shell-and-Tube Heat Exchanger: Design, Manufacture, Test, and In-class Implementation

Presented at MECH - Technical Session 2: Enhancing Learning through Hands-On Design

Hands-on learning improves students' cognitive understanding of the subject matter, fosters teamwork, and expands social skills. To introduce hands-on learning activities in heat transfer and thermodynamics classrooms, we have developed a low-cost shell-and-tube desktop learning module to provide effective heat exchange instruction. This module allows students to experiment with shell-and-tube heat exchangers in the classroom or laboratory and learn the basic principles behind the heat exchange between two non-contacting fluids. This paper will present the design, manufacture, testing, and classroom implementation of this low-cost, reproducible, highly visual miniaturized shell-and-tube heat exchanger module. The highly visual nature of the developed desktop learning module helps students identify the key components of a shell-and-tube heat exchanger. In addition, the visualization of fluid flow assists students in understanding the different flow types occurring inside a shell-and-tube heat exchanger. A comparison of the measured overall heat transfer coefficient and associated parameters with the corresponding theory reveals its usefulness for demonstrating heat transfer in the undergraduate classroom. Pretest and posttest survey results show its effectiveness in promoting students’ conceptual understanding and engagement in the classroom. The developed module can be used in the undergraduate classroom to improve understanding of heat transfer from hot fluid to cold fluid in a shell-and-tube heat exchanger and improve the ability to apply theoretical concepts in practice.

Authors

Aminul Islam Khan Northern Arizona University [biography]

Aminul Islam Khan, PhD
Assistant Teaching Professor
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff AZ

Aminul Islam Khan has received BSc and MSc. in Mechanical Engineering from the most regarded and reputed engineering university of Bangladesh. After that he served as a faculty at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. Then he completed PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Washington State University and joined as Assistant Teaching Professor at Northern Arizona University.
Prof. Bernard J. Van Wie http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7382-9715 Washington State University [biography]

Prof. Bernard J. Van Wie received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D., and did his postdoctoral work at the University of Oklahoma where he also taught as a visiting lecturer. He has been on the Washington State University (WSU) faculty for 41 years and for the past 27 years has focused much of his effort on developing, implementing, assessing and propagating use of hands-on modules and interactive exercises that can be used in standard lecture classrooms so students do not need to wait till their senior year to see examples of process equipment. He also leads a strong program in bioreactor design for biomanufacturing of cartilage tissue and cells for immunotherapy.
Dr. Prashanta Dutta http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5082-3994 Washington State University [biography]

He joined the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering of Washington State University (WSU) in 2001, where he has been a tenured Full Professor since 2013. During his sabbatical years, he worked as a Visiting Professor at Konkuk University, Seoul, South Korea and the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany. His primary research area is Micro, Nano, and Biofluidics with a specific focus on the development of new algorithms for multiscale and multiphysics problems. Lately, he developed a suite of physics-based machine learning models for heat and mass transfer problems. He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed journal and conference articles. Prof. Dutta organized and chaired numerous sessions, fora, symposia, and tracks for several ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) and APS (American Physical Society) conferences and served as the Chair of the ASME Micro/Nano Fluid Dynamics Technical Committee. Moreover, he served as an Associate Editor for the ASME Journal of Fluids Engineering; currently, he is an Editor for Electrophoresis. Prof. Dutta is an elected Fellow of ASME, and he is a recipient of the prestigious Fulbright Professorship sponsored by the US Department of State.
David B. Thiessen http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4283-5914 Washington State University [biography]

David B.Thiessen received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Colorado in
1992 and has been at Washington State University since 1994. His research interests include fluid
physics, acoustics, and engineering education.
Jacqueline Gartner Ph.D. Campbell University [biography]

Jacqueline Gartner is an Associate Professor and Founding Faculty at Campbell University in the School of Engineering, which offers a broad BS in engineering with concentrations in chemical, mechanical and electrical engineering.
Dr. Olusola Adesope Washington State University [biography]

Dr. Olusola O. Adesope is a Professor of Educational Psychology and a Boeing Distinguished Professor of STEM Education at Washington State University, Pullman. His research is at the intersection of educational psychology, learning sciences, and instructi
MD SHARIFUL ISLAM Washington State University [biography]

Md Shariful Islam is a graduate student at Washington State University, Pullman. He is pursuing his PhD in Mechanical Engineering. His research interests involve low-cost, hands-on learning modules for educational research.
Talodabiolorun Anne Oni Washington State University

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