The centre to centre distance between two consecutive baffles in a shell and tube heat exchanger is called the baffle pitch or baffle spacing, which is more than 1/5th the I.D. of the shell. Which of the following is not a function of the baffles ?

• A. To increase the residence time of shell side fluid.
• B. To provide support to the tube bundle.
• C. To reduce the induced vibration in the tubes.
• D. To increase the tube side heat transfer co-efficient by inducing turbulence.