Choosing The Right Heat Exchanger
The shell and tube heat exchanger is made up of a bundle of parallel heat exchanger tubes held in place with tube sheets and placed into a shell. The heat exchange always takes place between two fluids through the heat exchanger tube wall. There are numerous design variations that are utilized to accomplish heat transfer within heat exchangers. In all these type of heat exchangers the mechanism of heat transfer is the same, one fluid flowing through the tubes exchanges heat with another fluid that flows through the shell. The particular design that is utilized determines the heat transfer coefficient and the rate at which heat exchange occurs. We will attempt to give you a brief synopsis of typical shell and tube heat exchangers that are commonly utilized.
Heat is exchanged between to fluids, these fluids are called the shell side fluid and the tube side fluid.
Other components that are important in this type of heat exchange system are the inlet and outlet nozzles for the tube and shell fluid, as well as tube sheets and baffles that are used to accelerate the heat exchange process. The purpose of the tube sheets is to keep the tubes in place and increase the efficiency of heat exchange by creating turbulence. End channels are designed to either direct the fluid back to the opposite end of the heat exchanger or funnel it to the outlet nozzle.
Continue reading full article here.
