Industrial heat exchangers are key devices used to transfer heat between hot and cold fluids, widely used in chemical, petroleum, power, pharmaceutical, HVAC, and new energy industries. Their core functions include heating, cooling, condensation, and evaporation, improving industrial efficiency by optimizing energy utilization.

Main Types of Industrial Heat Exchangers

1. Shell-and-Tube Heat Exchangers

Robust structure, resistant to high temperatures and pressures (-200℃ to 500℃), suitable for applications such as crude oil refining, but relatively large in size.

2. Plate Heat Exchangers

Using parallel stacked metal plates, with a heat transfer coefficient as high as 8000W/(m²·℃), and a volume only 1/3 that of shell-and-tube heat exchangers, suitable for space-constrained applications such as food sterilization.

3. Spiral Plate Heat Exchanger

Made with a spiral flow channel formed by rolling metal plates, it reduces pressure drop by 40% and increases heat transfer efficiency by 30%, suitable for high-viscosity fluids (such as asphalt).

4. Finned Tube Heat Exchanger

By expanding the heat transfer area with fins, it significantly enhances gas-side heat transfer efficiency, widely used in drying and heating applications.

Industrial heat exchangers achieve enhanced heat transfer by adding fins to ordinary base tubes.

Fin Tube Heat Exchanger,High-Efficiency Industrial Heat Exchangers

Industrial Heat Exchanger Selection Steps

1. Define Requirements

Thermal Parameters: Flow rate, inlet and outlet temperatures, heat exchange capacity (Q=m·Cp·ΔT)
Fluid Characteristics: Corrosivity (e.g., titanium is required for sulfur-containing flue gas), viscosity, cleanliness
Operating Conditions: Working pressure (typically 0.6-2.5MPa), ambient temperature

2. Type Matching

Shell-and-tube type: High pressure resistant (-269~900℃), suitable for chemical and petroleum industries

Plate type: High efficiency and compact (90% heat recovery rate), used for food sterilization (requires stainless steel)

Finned tube type: Large heat exchange area (120㎡) Suitable for metallurgy and drying.

3. Material Selection

Carbon steel: General purpose, low cost
Stainless steel: Food grade (e.g., 304/316L)
Titanium alloy: Highly corrosive environments (e.g., chlor-alkali industry)

4. Verification and Optimization

Calculate heat transfer coefficient (K-value) and pressure drop (single-sided ≤100kPa). Reserve 10%-20% area margin to handle fouling.

Industrial Heat Exchanger Precautions:

1. Keep the piping network clean. Clean the piping network before and after operation to prevent heat exchanger blockage. Also, clean the dirt separator and filter regularly to ensure smooth operation.

2. Strictly control the quality of softened water. This is crucial for any type of water. Before treating softened water, carefully check the water quality in the system and softening tank. If it is deemed acceptable, injection can proceed.

3. New system testing: For some new systems, they cannot be used interchangeably with heat exchangers immediately. First, the new system needs to be run for a specified period of time to establish an operating mode before the heat exchanger can be integrated into the system. This is done to prevent impurities in the pipeline network from damaging the heat exchanger equipment.