Performance And Features
Heat exchangers are used to transfer heat from one medium to another. These media may be a gas, liquid, or a combination of both. The media may be separated by a solid wall to prevent mixing or may be in direct contact. Heat exchangers can improve a system’s energy efficiency by transferring heat from systems where it is not needed to other systems where it can be usefully used.
Another common use of heat exchangers is to pre-heat a cold fluid entering a heated process system using heat from hot fluid exiting the system. This reduces the energy input necessary to heat the incoming fluid to working temperature.
Shell & Tube – The most common heat exchanger design type consists of a parallel arrangement of tubes in a shell [Figure 1]. One fluid flows through the tubes and the other fluid flows through the shell over the tubes. Tubes may be arranged in the shell to allow for parallel flow, counterflow, cross flow, or both. Heat exchangers may also be described as having tube layouts in single pass, multi-pass, or U-tube arrangements. Due to its tubular construction, this type of exchanger can handle large pressures. The exchanger may have one or two heads on the shell and multiple inlet, outlet, vent, and drain nozzles.
