HEAT EXCHANGERS :

CLASSIFICATION &
SELECTION

1 Ramachandra L.
Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering.
CLASSIFICATION OF HEAT
EXCHANGERS.
 Heat Exchangers ?
Heat exchanger is device used to transfer thermal
energy
between two or more fluids,
between a solid surface and a fluid, or
between solid particulates and a fluid,
at different temperatures and in thermal contact.

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Typical applications are
a) Heating or cooling of a fluid stream
b) Condensing or evaporating

 Other objectives of Heat Exchangers are

(a) to recover or reject heat
(b) sterilize,
(c) pasteurize,
(d) fractionate,
(e) distil,
(f) concentrate,
(g) crystallize, or
(h) Control a process fluid. 3
 CLASSIFICATION :
 Heat exchangers may be classified according to the
following main criteria.
 1. Recuperators and regenerators

 2. Transfer Process: direct contact and indirect contact

 3. Geometry of construction: tubes, plates and extended

surfaces
 4. Heat transfer mechanisms: single-phase and two phase

 5. Flow arrangements : parallel, counter and crossflows

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Classification according to
1. Recuperation and Regeneration:

Recuperator

Recuperator

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 Common examples of heat exchangers are
shell-and tube exchangers,
automobile radiators,
condensers,
evaporators,
air pre-heaters, and
cooling towers.

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RECUPERATORS: EXAMPLES

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REGENERATORS:
 Examples
 1. Preheating of air in coal fired power plants

 2. Gas turbine rotary regenerators

 3. Fixed matrix air pre-heaters for blast furnace stoves,

steel furnace, glass furnace.

1. Rotary regenerator
a) Disc type
b) Drum type
2. Fixed matrix regenerator

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R0TARY REGENERATOR:

a) Disc Type b) Drum type

Compact heat exchangers : 6600 m2/m3 9

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ROTARY STORAGE TYPE HEAT EXCHANGER
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ROTATING PLATE REGENERATIVE AIR PREHEATER

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RECUPERATOR

Direct contact/ Transmural

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CLASSIFICATION BASED ON
(2) TRANSFER PROCESSES  Direct contact Type &
 Indirect contact Type
Direct Contact Type: ( both heat and Mass transfer )
Examples.
1. Spray and tray condensers
2. Cooling towers.

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Spray Condenser
TRAY CONDENSER

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DIRECT CONTACT TYPE
2. COOLING TOWER

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INDIRECT CONTACT TYPE

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INDIRECT CONTACT TYPE:

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CLASSIFICATION BASED ON
3. HEAT TRANSFER MECHANISM:

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CLASSIFICATION BASED ON
4. GEOMETRY AND CONSTRUCTION:
1. Tubular Heat exchangers (ϕ, n, l, pitch, arrangement)
 Double –pipe heat exchanger
 Shell and tube heat exchangers
 Spiral tube heat exchangers

2. Plate Heat Exchanger

• Gasketed plate heat exchanger
• Spiral Plate Heat exchange,
• Lamella Heat exchangers

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 CLASSIFICATION BASED ON
4. GEOMETRY OF CONSTRUCTION:

1. Tubular Heat exchangers

examples: Shell and tube, Spiral, U- tube, double pipe
2. Plate Heat exchangers
examples: Plate Heat exchanger, Spiral Plate heat exchanger, Lamella
Heat exchangers.

3.Enhanced Surface heat exchangers

examples: Plate fin, tubular fin, and fin tube heat exchangers. 25
 TUBULAR :
A ) DOUBLE –PIPE HEAT EXCHANGER

Concentric pipes,
Series and parallel: To meet minimum pressure drop and mean temp. diff.
requirements.
Sensible heating or cooling. High pressure fluids. 26
Bulky and expensive, h is low, axially finned inner tubes are used.
ASSEMBLY OF U –TUBES

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SHELL AND TUBE HEAT EXCHANGERS
Construction,

Oil coolers, power condensers ,

preheaters in power plants,
steam generators in nuclear power plants

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 U-tube
 least expensive construction, 1 tube sheet is required.

 Tube side cannot be cleaned. (U- bend)

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 Thermal expansion is unlimited.
SHELL AND TUBE HEAT EXCHANGERS:

A U-tube, baffled single- pass shell, shell-and-tube heat exchanger.

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SHELL AND TUBE HEAT EXCHANGERS:

To accommodate thermal expansion,

To furnish ease of cleaning
Least expensive construction. 31

No access to the outside of the tube bundles for cleaning

 Shell and tube heat exchangers:

Number of shell –side and tube side flow arrangement:

heat duty, pressure drop, pressure level,
manufacturing techniques, fouling, cost ,
corrosion control, cleaning problems 32

Baffles
SPIRAL BAFFLE HEAT EXCHANGER

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SPIRAL BAFFLE HEAT EXCHANGER

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C. SPIRAL-TUBE HEAT EXCHANGERS
 Consists of spirally wound coils
placed in a shell or designed as co-
axial condensers and co-axial
evaporators

 Suitable for
thermal expansion &
clean fluids

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PLATE HEAT EXCHANGER
Gasketed plate, spiral plate , lamella

Gasketed Plate Heat Exchanger 37

< 25 bar, < 250°C. High h, highΔP , high local stress.

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SPIRAL PLATE HEAT EXCHANGERS.
 Spiral plate HE are formed by rolling two long , parallel plates into a
spiral using a mandrel and welding the edges of adjacent plates to form
channels.
 Distance pins: to maintain space.
 ( 5mm to 20 mm)

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Type -I
LAMELLA HEAT EXCHANGERS
 Lamella Type of Heat exchangers consists of a set of
parallel, welded , thin plate channels or lamellae
( flat tubes or rectangular channels) placed
longitudinally in a shell.

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LAMELLA HEAT EXCHANGER

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TUBULAR FIN HEAT EXCHANGER

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FIN TUBE AIR HEATER

Longitudinally finned tubes

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IN TUBE ENHANCEMENT
TECHNIQUES.

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CLASSIFICATION BASED ON
3. HEAT TRANSFER MECHANISM
 1. Single Phase convection on both sides
 2. Single-phase convection on one side, two phase
convection on other side
 3. Two-phase convection on both sides.

Economizer, air heaters

Condensers, evaporators, boilers,
in boilers, compressor
steam generators
intercoolers, automobile 45
radiators, oil coolers,
space heaters
CLASSIFICATION BASED ON
5. FLOW ARRANGEMENTS
 1. Parallel- flow
 2. Counter–flow

 3. Cross flow.

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Parallel- flow Counter–flow
CROSS- FLOW.

Cross-flow Unmixed Cross-flow

Both fluids unmixed. Fluid -1 mixed
Fluid-2 unmixed
Cross- counter & cross parallel flow arrangements are possible in shell and tube
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Heat exchanger by using baffles.
APPLICATIONS
 Two fluid Heat Exchangers are more common
 Three fluid HE are widely used in cryogenics

Energy can be saved by direct contact condensation: How ?

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TYPICAL CASE OF EVAPORATION, CONDENSATION,
CONCENTRATION, CHEMICAL RECOVERY,

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SELECTION OF HEAT EXCHANGER:

1. The heat exchanger must satisfy the process

specifications; it must continue to the next
scheduled shut down of the plant for maintenance.

2. The heat exchanger must withstand the service

conditions of the plant environment. It must also
resist corrosion by the process and service streams as
well as the environment. The heat exchanger should
also resist fouling.

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 SELECTION OF HEAT EXCHANGER:

3. The exchanger must be maintainable, which usually

implies choosing a configuration that permits
cleaning and the replacement of any components that
may be especially vulnerable to corrosion, erosion, or
vibration. This requirement will dictate the
positioning of the exchanger and the space
requirement around it.

4. The heat exchanger should be cost effective. The

installed operating and maintenance costs, including
the loss of production due to exchanger
unavailability, must be calculated and the exchanger
should cost as little as possible. 51
SELECTION OF HEAT EXCHANGER:

5. There may be limitations on exchanger diameter,

length, weight and tube configurations due to site
requirements, lifting and servicing capabilities or
inventory considerations.

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 Sensible heat exchanger ( No phase change)
 Internal Heat Source (electric heater & nuclear reactor)

 Combustion and chemical reaction

( boilers, fired heaters & fluidised bed exchangers )

o Mechanical devices
(scraped surface exchangers, agitated vessels and stirred tank reactors)

Mechansim of heat transfer

Recuperators: conduction
Heat Pipe: condensation, evaporation and also by conduction.
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DESCRIPTION:
 Heat Transfer Elements: core or matrix.
 Fluid distribution Elements: headers, manifolds,
tanks, inlet and outlet nozzles or pipes or seals.
 Usually no moving parts: exception are regenerative
generator and scraped surface heat exchangers.

Primary or direct surface.

Secondary or indirect surface or extended surface.: fins.

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1. RECUPERATORS AND
REGENERATORS

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