| Shell
and tube heat exchangers are often used for cooling / heating of liquid. The design, with
tubes welded or rolled into a set tube sheet surrounded by a cylindrical shell, gives a
strong pressure vessel.
Although plate heat exchangers (designed with
packs of plates) are generally a much more efficient heat exchanger type, the shell and
tube heat exchanger is still sovereign within demanding applications e.g. high pressures,
high temperatures, operating with steam and thermal fluid, and for sanitary, food,
petrochemical applications.
Closed cycle N2 heaters |
Shell and tube heat exchangers are often pressure tested up to above 100 bar, and some units for heating some high viscosity concentrated liquid (food industry), the design pressure is above 160 bar - giving a pressure test of above 200 bar.
Even for heating process air/gas with moderate pressure the shell and tube heat exchangers are widely used, because of the partly the extreme low risk of leakages and partly because the tubes inside are 100% cleanable. There are practically no limits for the application using shell and tube heat exchangers. However each task requires its own design, and therefore the type of heat exchangers actually covers a lot of very different executions. |
