Brief Insight about The Different Kind Of Heat Exchangers

Posted by mk on April 10th, 2018

A heat exchanger is a device built for efficient heat transfer from one medium to another, whether the media are separated by a solid wall so that they never mix, or the media are in direct contact. Heat exchangers are widely used in refrigeration, space heating, air conditioning, power plants, chemical plants, petrochemical plants, petroleum refineries, and natural gas processing.

A common example of a heat exchanger is the radiator in a car, in which the heat source, being a hot engine-cooling fluid, water, transfers heat to air flowing through the radiator. In the industry, specifically in process or manufacturing plants, there are other types of heat exchangers such as plate exchangers, spiral exchangers and shell and Dong-I gearbox. All of these are especially unique and have their dedicated purpose or function when being employed.

Heat exchangers must be properly maintained in order for it to be working efficiently and effectively. Energy is being transferred from one side to the other, thus it acts like an energy saver. When the equipment is no longer efficiently transferring heat, it is time for cleaning. Hence, it will be stopped and cleaned from scale sticking on the surface of the wall. Failing to clean the Bowman heat exchanger will result to tremendous loss of energy.

The higher heat transfer efficiency exhibited by a plate fin exchanger can be credited to the aluminum alloy which it is made of. This particular mixture enables the plate fin to work at a much lower temperature all while reducing the weight of the equipment it was installed to. This type can be usually found on machines that are used for the processes of natural gas plants, liquefaction plants, air separation plants and many more. It can also be found inside motor engines.

There are several types of heat exchanger. In addition to the shell and tube, here are three more types of common exchangers typically used in many of today's devices. These types has several plates that are usually thin and slightly separated when placed in the machines. They are usually large in surface area which enables it to process heat transfers between mediums easily. Compared to the shell and tube, the plate heat exchanger is said to be more effective because it features a stacked-plate arrangement. This type of heat exchanger makes use of intermediate fluid and solid during its heat transfer processes.