HEAT EXCHANGER

- A heat exchanger is a device that is used to transfer thermal energy (enthalpy) 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. In heat exchangers, there
are usually no external heat and work interactions. Typical applications involve heating
or cooling of a fluid stream of concern and evaporation or condensation of single- or
multicomponent fluid streams. In other applications, the objective may be to recover or
reject heat, or sterilize, pasteurize, fractionate, distill, concentrate, crystallize, or control
a process fluid. In a few heat exchangers, the fluids exchanging heat are in direct contact.
In most heat exchangers, heat transfer between fluids takes place through a separating
wall or into and out of a wall in a transient manner. In many heat exchangers, the fluids
are separated by a heat transfer surface, and ideally they do not mix or leak. Simply, A
heat exchanger is a device used to transfer heat between two or more fluids. The fluids
can be single or two phase and, depending on the exchanger type, may be separated or
in direct contact.

 Types of Heat Exchanger:

1. Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers

- are one of the most popular types of exchanger due to the flexibility the designer has to al-
low for a wide range of pressures and temperatures.
A shell and tube exchanger consists of a number of tubes mounted inside a cylindrical
shell. Two fluids can exchange heat, one fluid flows over the outside of the tubes while the
second fluid flows through the tubes. The fluids can be single or two phase and can flow in a
parallel or a cross/counter flow arrangement.

The shell and tube exchanger consists of four major parts:

 Front Header—this is where the fluid enters the tube side of the exchanger. It is sometimes re-
ferred to as the Stationary Header.
 Rear Header—this is where the tube side fluid leaves the exchanger or where it is returned to
the front header in exchangers with multiple tube side passes.
 Tube bundle—this comprises of the tubes, tube sheets, baffles and tie rods etc. to hold the bun-
dle together.
 Shell—this contains the tube bundle.

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2. Plate heat exchangers

- Another type of heat exchanger is the plate heat exchanger. These exchangers are composed of
many thin, slightly separated plates that have very large surface areas and small fluid flow passages
for heat transfer. Advances in gasket and brazing technology have made the plate-type heat ex-
changer increasingly practical. In HVAC applications, large heat exchangers of this type are called
plate-and-frame; when used in open loops, these heat exchangers are normally of the gasket type to
allow periodic disassembly, cleaning, and inspection. There are many types of permanently bonded
plate heat exchangers, such as dip-brazed, vacuum-brazed, and welded plate varieties, and they are
often specified for closed-loop applications such as refrigeration. Plate heat exchangers also differ
in the types of plates that are used, and in the configurations of those plates. Some plates may be
stamped with “chevron”, dimpled, or other patterns, where others may have machined fins and/or
grooves.

3. Plate and shell heat exchangers

- A third type of heat exchanger is a plate and shell heat exchanger, which combines plate heat ex-
changer with shell and tube heat exchanger technologies. The heart of the heat exchanger contains
a fully welded circular plate pack made by pressing and cutting round plates and welding them to-
gether. Nozzles carry flow in and out of the plate pack. The fully welded plate pack is assembled in-
to an outer shell that creates a second flow path ( the ‘Shell side’). Plate and shell technology offers
high heat transfer, high pressure, high operating temperature and close approach temperature. In
particular, it does completely without gaskets, which provides security against leakage at high pres-
sures and temperatures.

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4. Plate fin heat exchangers

This type of heat exchanger uses “sandwiched” passages containing fins to increase the effective-
ness of the unit. The designs include cross flow and counter flow coupled with various fin configu-
rations such as straight fins, offset fins and wavy fins.
Plate and fin heat exchangers are usually made of aluminum alloys, which provide high heat trans-
fer efficiency. The material enables the system to operate at a lower temperature difference and
reduce the weight of the equipment. Plate and fin heat exchangers are mostly used for low tempera-
ture services such as natural gas, helium and oxygen liquefaction plants, air separation plants and
transport industries such as motor and aircraft engines.
Advantages of plate and fin heat exchangers:
• High heat transfer efficiency especially in gas treatment
• Larger heat transfer area
• Approximately 5 times lighter in weight than that of shell and tube heat exchanger.
• Able to withstand high pressure
Disadvantages of plate and fin heat exchangers:
• Might cause clogging as the pathways are very narrow
• Difficult to clean the pathways
• Aluminum alloys are susceptible to Mercury Liquid Embrittlement Failure

5. Pillow plate heat exchangers

- A pillow plate exchanger is commonly used in the dairy industry for cooling milk in large direct-
expansion stainless steel bulk tanks. The pillow plate allows for cooling across nearly the entire sur-
face area of the tank, without gaps that would occur between pipes welded to the exterior of the
tank.
The pillow plate is constructed using a thin sheet of metal spot-welded to the surface of another
thicker sheet of metal. The thin plate is welded in a regular pattern of dots or with a serpentine pat-
tern of weld lines. After welding the enclosed space is pressurised with sufficient force to cause the
thin metal to bulge out around the welds, providing a space for heat exchanger liquids to flow, and
creating a characteristic appearance of a swelled pillow formed out of metal.

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6. Fluid heat exchangers

-This is a heat exchanger with a gas passing upwards through a shower of fluid (often water), and
the fluid is then taken elsewhere before being cooled. This is commonly used for cooling gases
whilst also removing certain impurities, thus solving two problems at once. It is widely used in es-
presso machines as an energy-saving method of cooling super-heated water to use in the extraction
of espresso.

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  Classifications of Heat Exchanger

A. According to Transfer Process

 Indirect Contact Type
I. Fluidized Bed
II. Storage Type
III. Direct Transfer Type
i. Single Phase
ii. Multi Phase
 Direct Contact Type
I. Immiscible fluids
II. Gas -Liquid
III. Liquid -Vapor
B. According to Construction
 Tubular
I. Double-Pipe
II. Shell and Tube
i. Crossflow to tubes
ii. Parallel flow to tubes
III. Spiral Tube
IV. Pipe Coils
 Plate Type
I. PHE
II. Spiral
III. Plate Coil
IV. Printed Circuit
 Extended Surface
I. Plate-fin
II. Tube fin
 Regenerative
I. Rotary
II. Fixed Matrix
III. Rotating Hoods

C. According to Flow Arrangements

 Single Pass
I. Counter flow
II. Parallel flow
III. Cross flow
IV. Split flow
V. Divided flow
 Multi Pass
I. Extended Surface
II. Shell and tube
III. Plate

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  The importance of Heat Exchangers

A heat exchanger functions as an essential component for many of the appliances people
use every day. For example, automobiles contain a heat exchanger, which keeps the vehicle from
overheating. Air conditioners are also examples of heat exchangers. The mechanical device comes
in various sizes and shapes. Heat exchanger construction consists of plates, shells and tubes. Heat
exchangers have a very broad range of industrial applications. They are used as components of
air conditioning and cooling systems or of heating systems. Many industrial processes call for a
certain degree of heat to function; however, typically great care must be taken to keep these
processes from getting too hot. Within industrial plants and factories heat exchangers are re-
quired to keep machinery, chemicals, water, gas, and other substances within a safe operating
temperature. Heat exchangers may also be used to capture and transfer steam or heat exhaust
that is released as a byproduct of a process or operation so that the steam or heat can be put to
better use elsewhere, thereby increasing efficiency and saving the plant money. You can see heat
exchangers in all kinds of places, usually working to heat or cool buildings or helping engines and
machines to work more efficiently. Refrigerators and air-conditioners, for example, use heat ex-
changers in the opposite way from central heating systems: they remove heat from a compartment
or room where it's not wanted and pump it away in a fluid to some other place where it can be
dumped out of the way.

 References:

http://web.iitd.ac.in/~pmvs/courses/mel709/classification-hx.pdf

http://www.thermopedia.com/content/1121/

https://www.mechlectures.com/heat-exchanger-types/

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