U-Tube Heat-Exchangers: New Common Design Rules for ASME, CODAP, and EN 13445 CODES

In the year 2000, ASME Code Section VIII—Div. 1, CODAP (French Code) and EN 13445 (European Standard for Unfired Pressure Vessels) have adopted the same rules for the design of U-tube tubesheet heat exchangers. Three different rules were proposed, based on a different technical basis, to cover: —Tubesheet gasketed with shell and channel; —Tubesheet integral with shell and channel; —Tubesheet integral with shell and gasketed with channel or the reverse. At the initiative of the author, a more refined and uniform technical approach has been developed, to cover all tubesheet configurations. The paper explains the rationale for this new design method which has been incorporated recently in ASME, CODAP, and EN 13445. This is substantiated with comparisons to TEMA Standards and a benchmark of numerical comparisons