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Heat exchangers are used in many industries, including:

Wastewater treatment Reformer Heater Texas City Texas
Refrigeration Reformer heater Texas City Texas
Wineand beer making Reformer heater Texas City Texas
Petroleum refining Reformer heater Texas City Texas
nuclear power Reformer heater Texas City Texas

In wastewater treatment, heat exchangers play a vital role in maintaining optimal temperatures within anaerobic digesters to promote the growth of microbes that remove pollutants. Common types of heat exchangers used in this application are the double pipe heat exchanger as well as the plate and frame heat exchanger. Reformer heater Texas City Texas

In aircraft Reformer heater Texas City Texas

In commercial aircraft heat exchangers are used to take heat from the engine’s oil system to heat cold fuel. This improves fuel efficiency, as well as reduces the possibility of water entrapped in the fuel freezing in components. Reformer heater Texas City Texas

Current market and forecast Reformer heater Texas City Texas

Estimated at US$42.7 billion in 2012, the global demand of heat exchangers will experience robust growth of about 7.8% annually over the next years.

The market value is expected to reach US$57.9 billion by 2016 and to approach US$78.16 billion by 2020. Tubular heat exchangers and plate heat exchangers are still the most widely applied product types. Reformer heater Texas City Texas

A model of a simple heat exchanger Reformer heater Texas City Texas

A simple heat exchange might be thought of as two straight pipes with fluid flow, which are thermally connected. Let the pipes be of equal length L, carrying fluids with heat capacity (energy per unit mass per unit change in temperature) and let the mass flow rate of the fluids through the pipes, both in the same direction, be (mass per unit time), where the subscript applies to pipe 1 or pipe 2. Reformer heater Texas City Texas

Temperature profiles for the pipes are and where x is the distance along the pipe. Assume a steady state, so that the temperature profiles are not functions of time. Assume also that the only transfer of heat from a small volume of fluid in one pipe is to the fluid element in the other pipe at the same position, i.e., there is no transfer of heat along a pipe due to temperature differences in that pipe. By Newton’s law of cooling the rate of change in energy of a small volume of fluid is proportional to the difference in temperatures between it and the corresponding element in the other pipe:

( this is for parallel flow in the same direction and opposite temperature gradients, but for counter-flow heat exchange countercurrent exchange the sign is Reformer heater Texas City Texas opposite in the second equ(ation in front of ) Reformer heater Texas City Texas

, where is the thermal energy per unit length and γ is the thermal connection constant per unit length between the two pipes. This change in internal energy results in a change in the temperature of the fluid element. The time rate of change for the fluid element being carried along by the flow is: Reformer heater Texas City Texas

where is the “thermal mass flow rate”. The differential equations governing the heat exchanger may now be written as Reformer heater Texas City Texas

Note that, since the system is in a steady state, there are no partial derivatives of temperature with respect to time, and since there is no heat transfer along the pipe, there are no second derivatives in x as is found in the heat equation. These two coupled first-order differential equations may be solved to yield:

where , ,

(this is for parallel-flow, but for counter-flow the sign in front of is negative, so that if , for the same “thermal mass flow rate” in both opposite directions, the gradient of temperature is constant and the temperatures linear in position x with a constant difference along the exchanger, explaining why the countercurrent design countercurrent exchange is the most efficient )

and A and B are two as yet undetermined constants of integration. Let and be the temperatures at x=0 and let and be the temperatures at the end of the pipe at x=L. Define the average temperatures in each pipe as:

Using the solutions above, these temperatures are:

By the conservation of energy, the sum of the two energies is zero. Reformer heater Texas City TexasChoosing any two of the temperatures above eliminates the constants of integration, letting us find the other four temperatures. We find the total energy transferred by integrating the expressions for the time rate of change of internal energy per unit length:

Construction. Reformer heater Texas City Texas

Reformer Heater Texas City Texas

The distance between the sheets in the spiral channels is maintained by using spacer studs that were welded prior to rolling. Once the main spiral pack has been rolled, alternate top and bottom edges are welded and each end closed by a gasket flat or conical cover bolted to the body. This ensures no mixing of the two fluids occurs. Any leakage is from the periphery cover to the atmosphere, or to a passage that contains the same fluid. Reformer heater Texas City Texas

Self-cleaning [. Reformer heater Texas City Texas

Spiral heat exchangers often used in the heating of fluids that contain solids and thus tend to foul the inside of the heat exchanger. The low-pressure droplets the SHE handle fouling more easily. The SHE uses a “self-cleaning” mechanism, whereby fouled surfaces cause a localized increase in fluid velocity, thus increasing the drag (or fluid friction) on the fouled surface, thus helping to dislodge the blockage and keep the heat exchanger clean. Reformer heater Texas City Texas

Flow arrangements. Reformer heater Texas City Texas

Note that channels are contiguous if effective exchange is to occur (i.e. there can be no gap between the channels). Reformer heater Texas City Texas

There are three main types of flows in a spiral heat exchanger:

Counter-current Flow: Fluids flow in opposite directions. These used for liquid-liquid, condensing and gas cooling applications. Units usually mounted vertically when condensing vapor and mounted horizontally when handling high concentrations of solids. Reformer heater Texas City Texas

Reformer Heater Texas City Texas

Spiral Flow/Cross Flow: One fluid is in spiral flow and the other in a cross flow. Spiral flow passages welded at each side for this type of spiral heat exchanger. This type of flow is suitable for handling low-density gas, which passes through the cross flow, avoiding pressure loss.

The coolant moves in a spiral and leaves via the top. Hot gases that enter leave as condensate via the bottom outlet. Reformer heater Texas City Texas

Applications. Reformer heater Texas City Texas

The Spiral heat exchanger is good for applications such as pasteurization, digester heating, heat recovery, pre-heating (see: recuperator), and effluent cooling. For sludge treatment, SHEs are generally smaller than other types of heat exchangers. These used to transfer the heat.

Selection. Reformer heater Texas City Texas

Due to the many variables involved, selecting optimal heat exchangers is challenging.

To select an appropriate heat exchanger, the system designers (or equipment vendors) would first consider the design limitations for each heat exchanger type. Though cost is often the primary criterion, several other selection criteria are important:

High/ low-pressure limits. Reformer heater Texas City Texas

Reformer Heater Texas City Texas

Thermal performance. Reformer heater Texas City Texas

Temperature ranges. Reformer heater Texas City Texas

Product mix (liquid/liquid, particulates or high-solids liquid). Reformer heater Texas City Texas

Pressure drops across the exchanger

Fluid flow capacity

Cleanability, maintenance, and repair. Reformer heater Texas City Texas

Materials required for construction. Reformer heater Texas City Texas

Ability and ease of future expansion. Reformer heater Texas City Texas

Material selection, such as copper, aluminum, carbon steel, stainless steel, nickel alloys, ceramic, polymer, and titanium. Reformer heater Texas City Texas

Small-diameter coil technologies are becoming more popular in modern air conditioning and refrigeration systems because they have better rates of heat transfer than conventional sized condenser and evaporator coils with round copper tubes and aluminum or copper fin that have been the standard in the HVAC industry. Small diameter coils can withstand the higher pressures required by the new generation of environmentally friendlier refrigerants. Two small diameter coil technologies are currently available for air conditioning and refrigeration products: copper microgroove and brazed aluminum microchannel. Reformer heater Texas City Texas