Jacketed Vessel Heat Transfer Calculator

This calculator provides an estimation of the heat transfer rate for the cylindrical section of a jacketed vessel, useful for initial design and feasibility studies. Jacketed vessels are crucial in process industries for precise temperature control during heating or cooling operations.

The calculation accounts for heat transfer through convection on both the process and jacket sides, conduction across the vessel wall, and the impact of fouling resistances that can build up on surfaces, reducing efficiency.

For complex engineering problems involving jacketed vessels, accurate design requires careful consideration of factors not fully captured by this simplified model, such as:

Complex Geometries: Heat transfer through vessel heads (e.g., torispherical, ellipsoidal) often differs significantly from cylindrical sections.
Agitation Effects: Stirrers and agitators create complex flow patterns that drastically alter heat transfer coefficients.
Specific Fluid Properties & Flow Regimes: Precise determination of convection coefficients (h) requires detailed correlations based on fluid viscosity, density, thermal conductivity, specific heat, and flow velocity/turbulence (e.g., using dimensionless numbers like Reynolds, Prandtl, Nusselt).
Non-uniform Temperature Distribution: This calculator assumes average fluid temperatures; in reality, temperatures can vary within the vessel and jacket.

For precise design, optimization, and compliance with international standards, it is crucial to consult specialized heat transfer literature, advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis, and adhere to industry-specific standards:

TEMA (Tubular Exchanger Manufacturers Association) Standards: Provides comprehensive guidelines for heat exchanger design, including widely accepted values for fouling factors (R_f) for various fluids and operating conditions.
ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code: Governs the design, fabrication, and inspection of pressure vessels, including safety and integrity requirements for jacketed vessels.
API (American Petroleum Institute) Standards: Relevant for design and operation of equipment in the oil and gas industry.
Comprehensive Textbooks: Essential resources include Kern, D. Q., 'Process Heat Transfer', Coulson & Richardson's Chemical Engineering, Vol. 6: Chemical Engineering Design, and Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook, which provide detailed correlations, design methodologies, and best practices.

Always ensure compliance with applicable industry codes and regulations for actual engineering design, as simplified calculations are for estimation and conceptualization only.

Unit System:

Vessel Inner Diameter (D_i) (m):

Vessel Wall Thickness (t_w) (m):

Jacket Inner Diameter (D_jacket,i) (m):

Jacket Outer Diameter (D_jacket,o) (m):

Vessel Straight Side Length (L) (m):

Process Fluid Inlet Temp (T_process,in) (°C):

Process Fluid Outlet Temp (T_process,out) (°C):

Jacket Fluid Inlet Temp (T_jacket,in) (°C):

Jacket Fluid Outlet Temp (T_jacket,out) (°C):

Jacket Type:

Flow Arrangement:

Process Side Convection Coefficient (h_process) (W/m²°C):

Jacket Side Convection Coefficient (h_jacket) (W/m²°C):

Vessel Wall Thermal Conductivity (k_wall) (W/mK):

Process Side Fouling Factor (R_f,process) (m²°C/W):

Jacket Side Fouling Factor (R_f,jacket) (m²°C/W):

Calculation Results

Parameter	Value