Design and Fabrication of One Shell Pass and Two Tube Pass Heat Exchanger

High-efficiency heat exchangers are essential to meet the growing industrial demand for maximizing thermal energy transfer. Shell-and-tube heat exchangers (STHEs) serve as standard components in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems due to their large heat transfer surface area, making them particularly suitable for chiller operations. This research presents the complete design, fabrication, and performance evaluation of an STHE configured with one shell pass and two tube passes. The study analyzes how system performance is affected by different hot and cold fluid mass flow rates while maintaining the inlet temperatures constant. Using a laboratory-scale, experimental analysis produced effectiveness (ε) values between 0.096 and 0.173 and log mean temperature difference (LMTD) values between 26.99 °C and 28.57 °C. Precise measurements and calculations provided critical insights into key thermal performance parameters. These includes heat transfer rates, overall heat transfer coefficients, and convective heat transfer coefficients The findings contribute to understanding of multipass STHE behavior and provide direction for the design of more effective thermal energy systems for operations.