STG-7 Performance Prediction of RODbaffle Exchangers
The RODbaffle® design method is reviewed. This method has been evaluated by field data obtained from three large RODbaffle plain tube exchangers in service in a geothermal power plant in East Mesa, California. Hot geothermal brine flows in the tube side of these exchangers and pure isobutane is the shellside fluid. There is a total of nine RODbaffle exchangers in this plant. Isobutane enters the train as a subcooled liquid and exits the train as a supercritical fluid.
The analysis has shown that the existing heat transfer correlations can predict the performance of these large exchangers within ± 30 percent. This indicates that the range of applicability of the heat transfer method can be extended to those covered by the analyzed data. On pressure drop, however, the correlations have overpredicted the data by more than 40 percent. The data have been used to update the method.