SHELL_CLEARANCE

This function looks up recommended clearance between exchanger shell and tube bundle from TEMA tabulated guidance using either bundle diameter or shell diameter. It supports mechanical fit checks in preliminary design.

The clearance is obtained from a standards lookup c = f(D_{bundle}\ \text{or}\ D_{shell}).

Excel Usage

=SHELL_CLEARANCE(DBundle, DShell)

• DBundle (float, optional, default: null): Outer diameter of tube bundle (m).
• DShell (float, optional, default: null): Shell inner diameter (m).

Returns (float): Shell-to-bundle clearance (m).

Example 1: Clearance from bundle diameter

Inputs:

DBundle
1.245

Excel formula:

=SHELL_CLEARANCE(1.245)

Expected output:

0.0064

Example 2: Clearance from shell diameter

Inputs:

DShell
1.3

Excel formula:

=SHELL_CLEARANCE(1.3)

Expected output:

0.0064

Example 3: Clearance for smaller bundle

Inputs:

DBundle
0.6

Excel formula:

=SHELL_CLEARANCE(0.6)

Expected output:

0.0048

Example 4: Clearance for medium shell

Inputs:

DShell
0.9

Excel formula:

=SHELL_CLEARANCE(0.9)

Expected output:

0.0048

Python Code

Show Code

from ht.hx import shell_clearance as hx_shell_clearance

def shell_clearance(DBundle=None, DShell=None):
    """
    Look up shell-to-bundle clearance from TEMA guidance.

    See: https://ht.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ht.hx.html

    This example function is provided as-is without any representation of accuracy.

    Args:
        DBundle (float, optional): Outer diameter of tube bundle (m). Default is None.
        DShell (float, optional): Shell inner diameter (m). Default is None.

    Returns:
        float: Shell-to-bundle clearance (m).
    """
    try:
        result = hx_shell_clearance(DBundle=DBundle, DShell=DShell)
        return result
    except Exception as e:
        return f"Error: {str(e)}"

Online Calculator

DBundle

Outer diameter of tube bundle (m).

DShell

Shell inner diameter (m).