Shell and tube heat exchangers are special type of unit operation which is needed for high-pressure applications; they are durable products, which can withstand the demands of many working environments. Their design plays a large part in ashell and tube exchanger’s ability to endure exceedingly-challenging situations. The gaskets are normally spiral wound gaskets made of stainless steel.

Shell and tube heat exchangers are made from a series of tubes, which can be made of durable material such as fluoropolymers. Fluoropolymers are highly-durable plastics such as PTFE, FEP, and PFA. Fluoropolymers, like heat exchangers, have a place in a variety of industries such as the automotive, medical, and aeronautical.

In a heat exchanger’s shell, one set of tubes contains fluid, which is either heated or cooled. Another set of tubes also contains liquid, which facilitates the heating or cooling of the primary set of tubes. A tube set is referred to as the tube bundle and can take on a variety of shapes depending on what is most conducive for the intended job.

Engineers of shell and tube heat exchangers need to consider several components of construction, among them are:

• A smaller tube diameter enables the shell and tube exchanger to be economical and compact, yet a tiny diameter can facilitate malfunction and difficulty of cleaning. Larger tubing can be instituted to eradicate potential flow and cleaning problems. Engineers must factor cost, space, and the propensity of liquids to foul when constructing a heat exchanger.
• Tube thickness is important to make sure there is room for corrosion; vibration existing in the product has resistance; and, the shell and tube exchanger can withstand pressure coming from both in and outside of its internal tubes.
• Folding or wrinkling the inner tubes increases the flow of the liquid, which facilitates the transfer of heat, producing better performance from the exchanger.
• Designers also consider the layout of the inner tubes. Tubes can be fashioned in a triangular, square, rotated square, or rotated triangular fashion. Particular, internal designs are conducive to specific jobs and the elimination of potential problems such as fouling of the liquid.
• Shell and tube heat exchangers also host baffle components. Baffles serve several purposes such as holding the tube bundles in place; making sure tubes do not sag or vibrate; and, facilitating fluid flow.

PHex is an easy to use tool which domonstrates the thermal calculations of Gasketed Plate Heat Exchangers, The plate dimensions and materials can be entered, this includes the size of plate heat exchanger and chevron angle (25 to 65 degrees).

List of main features:

1- User friendly and easy to use with ability to save/load data.

2- Estimate the Physical properties of more than 1450 components; the database has the ability to estimate Thermal Conductivity, Density, Heat Capacity and Viscosity. The database also included critical properties, boiling and melting points.

3- Estimate mixture properties.

4- Create you own database of Plates and Components. You can add your fluid physical properties and load the data to your project with a click of a button and more…

5- Chose between S.I. or English U.S. units of measurements.

6- Temperature and Flow rate estimation in the event of insufficient data.

7- Heat load required (clean or fouled) calculations.

8- Duty clean / dirty calculations.

9- Total effective area calculation.

10- Surface area calculation.

11- Number of plates calculations.

12- Overall Coefficient (clean / dirty) calculations.

13- Pressure drop Channel/Port/Total for Hot side and Cold side Calculations.

14- Plate heat exchanger dimension calculations.

15- Velocity through ports, Mass velocity through channel/ports calculations.

16- Reynolds and Nusselt numbers calculations.

17- Heat transfer coefficient calculations.

18- Summary of results with image to help in understanding.

This is without doubt a must have software for heat exchanger designers. This superb software cost only $69.99 per computer (1 license). You can also add on additional license with some extra cost if you are interested. For more information, click the following link:

>>> Get PHex Gasketed Plate Heat Exchanger Design Software

SGS Korea (www.kr.sgs.com/home_kr_v2.htm?selen=1) was awarded a contract to provide Leak Testing of a heat exchanger tube and tube-tube sheet in a refinery in Ulsan, Korea on March 16, 2010. This Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) method was used for the very first time on a heat exchanger.

The SGS team of four experts successfully performed Leak Testing (link to: www.kr.sgs.com/srs/special_leak_test_srs/helium_leak_test_srs.ht ..) of a heatexchanger tube and tube-tube sheet using helium gas during the two days of testing. The gas was introduced into the internal space of the heat exchanger and over pressurized. Consequently, the gas flew through welding flaws, cracks or pin holes and was sucked into a sniper attached to a helium mass spectrometer. Following the ionization of the gas in the ion chamber by an electronic beam, the helium ion collector gathered the helium ions and sent an amplified signal to the indicator. The leakage could be measured by the signal strength.

Due to SGS’s extensive experience in Non-Destructive Testing (www.ndt.sgs.com/) the leakage in the welding area of the heat exchanger was successfully identified and reported to the client. The successful completion of the project resulted in SGS receiving further contracts for NDT services from this client.

For the very first time, SGS applied Leak Testing, which had been limited to LNG carriers until now, to a completely new field. As Leak Testing of a heat exchanger tube and tube-tube sheet proved to be successful, SGS will expand its NDT technologies to new industrial fields.

In addition to Leak Testing of heat exchangers, SGS provides Heat Exchanger Life Assessment System (HELAS) (www.sgs.com/ndt-heat-exchanger-life-assessment-system?serviceId= ..), which is based on the measurement of ultrasonic immersion length, converted into the corrosion depth inside cooling water or air fin type tubes.

About SGS Industrial Services

As the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company, SGS offers a complete package of inspection in and around heat exchangers, in order to create a full set of data which is easy accessible and ready for follow-up. Several inspection and testing technologies and tools can be applied depending on your preferences and technical requirements.

The SGS Group is the global leader and innovator in inspection, verification, testing and certification services. Founded in 1878, SGS is recognized as the global benchmark in quality and integrity. With more than 56,000 employees, SGS operates a network of over 1,000 offices and laboratories around the world.

The article is taken from the following press release:

Leak testing of heat exchanger provided by SGS.

Press Release.

The engineer should first either choose which type of specification he want to refer to. It can be either Welded ASTM or Seamless ASTM.

Regardless of the industries, when an engineer needs a heat exchanger tube parts, he should search for a full service manufacturer and distributor that offers highest quality heat exchanger tubing and the one that has the largest inventories. The heat exchanger tubing company should have unique blend of manufacturing and distribution capabilities and is able to meet critical lead times. The heat exchanger company should also be very capable to offer all testing and added value services to the heat exchanger tubing specifications.

Anderson Tube is an example of a stocking distributor of high quality pressure tubing certified to SA-178 Grade A and SA-214. The company specialized in boiler tubes, condenser tubes, heat exchanger tubes, ferrules, and boiler tube plugs. The entire Anderson Tube products are made in the USA. Their customers include mechanical contractors, original equipment manufacturers, fabricators, end users, exporters, tourist railroads, utility power plants and other distributors located throughout the U.S., Canada and overseas.

Photo credited to ameritube.net 4MG7TD5JDG7K

Read more

There are different home-heating systems that can save you more money on fuel costs. Those of you that are using wood stoves can get even better use of your burn time by the following methods.

Before every heating season, have chimney stacks adequately cleaned to aid drafting and prevent stack fires. Green and unseasoned wood causes greater creosote buildup, which results in other problems. It reduces combustion and increases the hazard of a fire.  Layers of soot inside the stove reduce heat transfer to your home. Cleaning out the inside of your wood stove improves heat transfer. Chimney brushing can take from 20 minutes to several hours depending on stack length and complexity.

Install a “wetback” or water-jacket system to your wood stove. Heating household water through your woodstove is a good money saver. Some stoves come with accessories to attach water pipes. Installation time depends on distance between the stove and hot water heater.

Fuel-efficient heating systems are another way to save. Small forced air space heaters such as Monitors are excellent for smaller homes. They use minimal amounts of fuel to heat spaces. Remember to always use with surge protectors to protect electronic components. For hot water heating, Toyotomis, solar hot water heating and boilers with at least a three-pass heat exchanger will bring the greatest fuel economy. Toyotomis are on-demand water heaters. They are very durable because of simpler components and also have very low fuel consumption.  Solar hot water heating can reduce fuel consumption 65 percent and even higher.  New technologies make solar more usable even with minimal light levels.Viessmann has new solar technology available to connect with existing hot water systems.

•Lastly, boilers are the most multi-purpose. They can be used in large homes and complex floor plans. They are useful for in-floor heating, baseboard heating and solar heating. They can be 90 percent efficient if installing a three-pass boiler. Single pass boilers tend to block up more readily.

Jennie Grimwood has been married to a plumbing and heating contractor for 20 years.  Chris Grimwood has more than 30 years experience in plumbing and heating in New Zealand, the Lower 48 and Alaska and operates Kiwi Mechanical Plumbing and Heating.

The above article is adopted from www.thecordovatimes.com. Please refer to their site for other good information on various other subjects.

This news article is adopted from stockreads.com.