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Types of Heat Exchangers

March 4, 2013

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Exchangingheat
between one fluid to another is one of the most important
unit operations encountered on chemical plants. This article presents the
main types.

Shell and Tube Exchangers

Shell and tube exchangers are probably the most common type of heat

exchanger used in the process industries. They consist of a number

of tubes
held within a shell. Heat transfer takes place between one fluid flowing through
the tubes whilst another fluid flows over the tubes in the shell.

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Shell and tube exchangers are the industry standard. Their design is based on
well established design codes and there are many suppliers. They can be
constructed from a variety of materials and
can be designed for almost any duty
including high temperature and pressure applications. However, they are
bulky items of equipment and not always the cheapest option.

http://www.mycheme.com/types-of-heat-exchangers/[08-04-2015 23:28:19]

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myChemE Types of Heat Exchangers

Figure 1: Cut through diagram of a Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger

Plate Heat Exchangers

Plate heat exchangers consist of a frame and a series of plates. The plates are
hung vertically in the frame. They are compressed together using bolts and are
sealed using rubber gaskets.
The plates are corrugated to improve heat transfer
and to give them mechanical strength. Holes at the top and bottom corners of

the plate allow hot and cold fluid to flow through alternate plates.
Plate heat exchangers are compact. In comparison to shell and tube
exchangers, they provide a much greater heat transfer area for a given footprint.
As they allow for high fluid velocities, they promote high heat transfer rates and
reduced fouling. They can be easily opened for cleaning and inspection
particularly important
for hygienic service.
Their greatest weakness is the lack of mechanical strength of the gasket. This
makes them unsuitable for use at high temperatures and pressures or where
leaks must be avoided at all costs (e.g. processing of toxic fluids). In addition,
the narrow gap between the plates makes them unsuitable for high viscosity
liquids or slurries.

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Figure 2: Exploded view of a plate heat exchanger

A description of
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Spiral Heat Exchangers

Calculating
Liquid
Pressure Drops
across Control

Spiral heat exchangers are made of two plates wound around each other,
forming two spiral passages. The hot fluid flows through one of these passages
and the cold fluid passes through the other.

Valves
Spiral heat exchangers have many of the same advantages and disadvantages
of plate heat exchangers. They give high heat transfer in a compact unit. Like
plate heat exchangers, they
are only suitable for use at low temperatures and

pressures. As they are more expensive than plate heat exchangers, their main
use is for handling high viscosity liquids and slurries (the single flow channel
reduces the risk of blockages).

http://www.mycheme.com/types-of-heat-exchangers/[08-04-2015 23:28:19]

Control valves are used to

regulate flow. The control
valve can be adjusted
manually or automatically.
This article gives guidance on
how to calculate the pressure
drop across a control valve for

myChemE Types of Heat Exchangers

liquids.

Liquid Pressure
Drop
Spreadsheet
FREE Download
- Spreadsheet to calculate
pressure drops (line losses) in
liquid pipelines.

Environmental
Impacts of
Waste
Incineration

Figure 3: Cut through view of a spiral heat exchanger

Lamella Heat Exchanger

Lamella heat
exchanger are
made of metal
strips welded
together to form
narrow flow
channels
(lamellas). The
sheets are

indented in a
pattern to
maximise heat
transfer area.
Figure 4: Lamella Heat Exchanger
The bundle is
enclosed in a
shell. The hot
and cold fluids flow through the exchanger counter-currently.
Lamella heat exchangers avoid the need for a gasket, the main weakness of the
plate heat exchanger design. This means that they can be
used at higher
temperatures and pressures. However, this improvement makes them more
expensive. Lamella heat exchangers are also less easy to clean.

Incineration of municipal waste

can cause a number of
environmental problems, as
this article discusses

Types of
Flowmeters
An article
describing many
of the most common types of
flowmeter used in industry.

Pump Sizing
Datasheet
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- This
spreadsheet can be used to
design pump circuits including calculation of NPSH.

Electric Motors
on Chemical
Plants
Electric motors
are common drive units on
process plant. This article
gives an introduction to
electric motors for process
engineers

Double Pipe Exchanger

This type of design usually consists of two concentric pipes. One fluid flows
through the inner pipe while another fluid flows in the annulus. The main
advantage of double pipe exchangers is that they
provide true counter-current
flow. This provides an effective method of achieving a close temperature
approach.

Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger

http://www.mycheme.com/types-of-heat-exchangers/[08-04-2015 23:28:19]

Latest myChemE
Designing Tanks and
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myChemE Types of Heat Exchangers

Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger are made up of flat plates with the flow passages
etched into them. Their process of manufacture is similar to electronic printed
circuit boards (hence the name).
Printed Circuit Heat Exchangers are highly compact designs and can be
made
out of corrosion resistant exotic materials. They are suitable for a wide
temperature and pressure range.

Graphite Exchangers
Graphite exchangers are manufactured out of an impervious graphite block. The
high thermal conductivity of graphite compensates for its poor mechanical
strength. Graphite exchangers are normally limited to acid applications which
would otherwise need to be manufactured out of expensive exotic materials.

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2 Responses to Types of Heat Exchangers

ali says:
hello

can you help me about designing of lamella heat exchanger ?

August 21, 2013

Reply

mycheme says:
Thanks for your query. Yes we do offer advice on heat exchanger
design what help do you want?
August 23, 2013

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Olefins (Alkenes) Latent

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myChemE Types of Heat Exchangers

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