Optimization of shell and tube heat exchanger using the water cycle algorithm

The shell and tube heat exchangers (STHEs) are used to transfer the thermal energy between two or more media. Due to its importance for conserving energy, numerous studies of heat exchanger design optimization have been carried out. The traditional design approaches are usually time-consuming, and may not guarantee to produce an economically optimal solution. A complete optimization procedure was conducted to find the minimum cost of the heat exchanger system. Heat exchanger design optimization was carried out using a recently proposed optimization algorithm called the water cycle algorithm (WCA). Three design variables are considered consisting of the shell inside diameter, tube outer diameter, and baffle spacing. The total annual costs which include the investment costs and the operating costs will be considered as the objective function.