HEAT EXCHANGERS

I. Introduction
A heat exchanger is a device that is used for transfer of thermal energy (enthalpy)
between two or more fluids, between a solid surface and a fluid, or between solid
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particulates and a fluid, at differing temperatures and in thermal contact, usually without
external heat and work interactions. The fluids may be single compounds or mixtures.
Typical applications involve heating or cooling of a fluid stream of concern, evaporation
or condensation of a single or multicomponent fluid stream, and heat recovery or heat

re!ection from a system. "n other applications, the ob!ective may be to sterili#e,
pasteuri#e, fractionate, distill, concentrate, crystalli#e, or control process fluid. "n some
heat exchangers, the fluids exchanging heat are in direct contact. "n other heat
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exchangers, heat transfer between fluids takes place through a separating wall or into and
out of a wall in a transient manner.
II. History
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"n most heat exchangers, the fluids are separated by a heat transfer surface, and
ideally they do not mix. &uch exchangers are referred to as the direct transfer type, or
simply recuperators. "n contrast, exchangers in which there is an intermittent heat
exchange between the hot and cold fluids via thermal energy storage and re!ection
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through the exchanger surface or matrix(are referred to as the indirect transfer type or
storage type, or simply regenerators. &uch exchangers usually have leakage and fluid
carryover from one stream to the other. )eat exchangers may be classified according to
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transfer process, construction, flow arrangement, surface compactness, number of fluids
and heat transfer mechanisms or according to process functions.
III. Types and Application
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&hell and Tube )eat ,xchangers . &hell-and-tube heat exchangers are fabricated
with round tubes mounted in cylindrical shells with their axes coaxial with the shell axis.
The differences between the many variations of this basic type of heat exchanger lie
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mainly in their construction features and the provisions made for handling differential
thermal expansion between tubes and shell.
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1arts of &hell and Tube )eat ,xchangers2
1. &hell
. 3loating )ead 3lange
$. &hell 4hannel
%. &hell 4over ,nd
3lange
'. &hell 5o##le
*. 3loating Tube &heet
+. 3loating )ead
.. 3loating )ead 3lange
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/. 4hannel 1artition
10. &tationary Tube
&heet
11. 4hannel
1. 4hannel 4over
1$. 4hannel 5o##les
1%. Tie 6ods and &pacer
1'. Transverse 7affles
1*. "mpingement 7affle
1+. 8ent 4onnection
1.. 9rain 4onnection
1/. Test 4onnection
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0. &upport &addles 1. :ifting 6ing
They are extensively used as process heat exchangers in the petroleum-refining
and chemical industries; as steam generators, condensers, boiler feed water heaters and
oil coolers in power plants; as condensers and evaporators in some air-conditioning and
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refrigeration applications; in waste heat recovery applications with heat recovery from
li<uids and condensing fluids; and in environmental control.
9ouble 1ipe )eat ,xchangers. A typical double-pipe heat exchanger is shown in
3igure %. ,ssentially, it consists of one pipe placed concentrically inside another one of
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larger diameter, with appropriate end fittings on each pipe to guide the fluids from one
section to the next. The inner pipe may have external longitudinal fins welded to it either
internally or externally to increase the heat transfer area for the fluid with the lower heat
transfer coefficient. The double-pipe sections can be connected in various series or
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parallel arrangements for either fluid to meet pressure-drop limitations and :=T9
re<uirements >$?.
The ma!or use of double-pipe exchangers is for sensible heating or cooling of the
process fluid where small heat transfer areas (typically up to '0 m.) are re<uired. They
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may also be used for small amounts of boiling or condensation on the process fluid side.
The advantages of the double-pipe exchanger are largely in the flexibility of application
and piping arrangement, plus the fact that they can be erected <uickly from standard
components by maintenance crews >$?.
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4ompact )eat ,xchangers. @ne variation of the fundamental compact exchanger
element, the core, is shown. The core consists of a pair of parallel plates with connecting
metal members that are bonded to the plates. The arrangement of plates and bonded
members provides both a fluid-flow channel and prime and extended surface. "t is
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observed that if a plane were drawn midway between the two plates, each half of the
connecting metal members could be considered as longitudinal fins >1?. 4ompact heat
exchangers may be classified by the kinds of compact elements that they employ. The
compact elements usually fall into five classes2
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a. 4ircular and flattened circular tubes.
b. Tubular surfaces.
c. 3inned-tube surfaces.
d. &urfaces with flow normal to banks of
smooth tubes.
e. 1late fin surfaces.

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4ompact or plate-fin heat exchangers have a wide range of applications that
include:
A 5atural gas li<uefaction
A4ryogenic air separation
Ammonia production
A@ffshore processing
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A5uclear engineering A &yngas production
1late and 3rame )eat ,xchanger. These exchangers are usually built of thin plates
(all prime surfaces). The plates are either smooth or have some form of corrugations, and
they are either flat or wound in an exchanger. Benerally, these exchangers cannot
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accommodate very high pressures, temperatures, and pressure and temperature
differentials. These exchangers may be further classified as plate, spiral plate, lamella,
and plate coil exchangers, as shown in 3igure / the plate heat exchanger, being the most
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important of these, is described next. "n 3igure ., actual footage of a cut-section in a
compact heat exchanger.
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These exchangers are relatively compact and lightweight heat transfer surfaces,
making them attractive for use in confined or weight-sensitive locations such as on board
ships and oil production platforms. 1ressures and temperatures are limited to
comparatively low values because of the gasket materials and the construction. They are
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typically used for exchanging heat between two li<uid streams in turbulent flow. They are
occasionally used as condensers for fairly dense vapors (e.g., ammonia) or as vapori#ers
in reheating. They are used in the food processing industry because they can be
disassembled for cleaning and sterili#ation.
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&piral )eat ,xchangers. &everal different versions of the spiral plate exchanger
are available. This exchanger is formed by rolling two long, parallel plates into a spiral
using a mandrel and then suitably welding the alternate edges of ad!acent plates to form
the channels. The plates are held apart by raised bosses on one of the plates. The open
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sides of the channels are sealed off against bypassing by cover plates (with gaskets) held
in place by the bolted clamps around the periphery >$?. 4onnections are made at the
center of the coil to each channel to act as inlet in one case and outlet in the other. &imilar
connections are made at the outer end of each channel. The spiral exchanger can be
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enclosed in a pressure vessel, or the outer panel can be incorporated to form the outside
of the unit. The exchanger is closed top and bottom with covers bolted to the outer shell
of the exchanger.
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7y virtue of the removable top and bottom covers, this exchanger is easily
cleaned and is therefore ideal for applications involving a high degree of fouling. "ndeed,
it is widely used for the heating and cooling of.
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6egenerative )eat ,xchanger. The regenerator represents stored and removed
from a surface. This heat transfer surface is usually referred to as the matrix of the
regenerator. 3or continuous operation, the out of the fixed hot and cold fluid streams. "n
this case, the regenerator is called a regenerator. "f, on the other hand, the hot and cold
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fluid streams are switched into and out of the matrix, the regenerator is refer regenerator
suffers from leakage and fluid entrainment problems, which must be considered during
the design process.
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A class of heat exchangers in which heat is alternately matrix must be moved into
and referred to as a fixed matrix regenerator.
6otary regenerators are used extensively in electrical power generating stations
for air preheating. They are also used in vehicular gas turbine power plants, in cryogenic
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refrigeration units, and in the food dehydration industry. 3ixed bed or fixed matrix
regenerators are used extensively in the metallurgical, glassmaking, and chemical
processing industries.
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&crapped &urface )eat ,xchangers. "n cases where a process fluid is likely to
crystalli#e on cooling or the degree of fouling is very high or indeed the fluid is of very
high viscosity, use is often made of scraped surface heat exchangers in which a rotating
element has spring-loaded scraper blades which wipe the inside surface of a tube which
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may typically be 0.1' m in diameter. 9ouble pipe construction is often employed with a
!acket; say 0.0 m in diameter, and one common arrangement is to connect several
sections in series or to install several pipes within a common shell. &craped- surface units
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of this type are used in paraffin- wax plants and for evaporating viscous or heat-sensitive
materials under high vacuum.
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The range of applications covers a number of industries, including food, chemical,
petrochemical and pharmaceutical. The 9&&),s are appropriate whenever products are
prone to fouling, very viscous, particulate, heat sensitive or crystalli#ing.
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Transverse )igh-3inned ,xchangers. 1ipes, tubes, and cast tubular sections with
external transverse high fins have been used extensively for heating, cooling, and
dehumidifying air and other gases. The fins are preferably called transverse rather than
radial because they need not be circular, as the latter term implies, and are often helical.
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The air-fin cooler is a device in which hot-process fluids, usually li<uids, flow inside
extended surface tubes and atmospheric air is circulated outside the tubes by forced or
induced draft over the extended surface. )igh-fin tubes can also be extruded directly
from the tube-wall metal, as in the case of integral low-fin tubing. )owever, it becomes
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increasingly difficult to extrude a high fin from ferrous alloys as hard as those re<uired
for high-temperature services, which are often amenable to work hardening while the fin
is being formed. Chether fins are attached by arc welding or resistance welding, the fin-
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to-tube attachment for all practical design considerations introduces a neglible bond or
contact resistance.
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The large ma!ority of applications are for transferring heat to atmospheric air.
3inned tubes may be used in2 water cooling of product, and air cooling of product, oil D
air exchangers and oil, industrial and residential air heaters using burned gas heat, steam,
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hot water or resistance heating elements rolled inside finned tube, cooling and food
processing industry and automotive industry.
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IV. Conclusion
)eat ,xchangers have numerous different types and applications as discussed in
the report. ,ach type selection can only be determined by the application the device will
be used for. The general design process can be summari#ed in the calculation of the
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re<uired area to transfer heat from one fluid to another by that the designer can determine
the actual mechanical design parameters knowing the physical and chemical behavior of
the fluids to be used.
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The report discussed the most famous types of industrially used heat exchangers
such as &hell-and-Tube heat exchangers, which are the most commonly used ones, that
can withstand high pressures with moderate area to volume ratio and 9ouble-1ipe heat
exchangers which are the simplest type in design and maintenance but they have
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relatively low area of heat transfer. Beneral design considerations are routing of fluids
and the suitability of the calculated area of heat transfer according to fouling factor and
other important parameters like baffles arrangement to meet with the maximum pressure
loss re<uirement in shell-antube heat exchanger.
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