1. Introdução
Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Applications range throughout nearly every major process industry. From chemical processing to power generation, shell and tube exchangers transfer heat between process fluids. They allow thermal energy to pass from one fluid to another without direct contact.
One fluid travels through a tube bundle. Meanwhile the second fluid flows through the shell surrounding the bundle. By controlling flow arrangement, temperature, pressure, materials, and geometry engineers can use this basic design for heating, cooling, condensing, evaporating, or heat recovery.
Shell and tube heat exchangers keep getting used for new applications because engineers can modify shell diameter, tube material, tube layout, and even flow configuration to suit different needs. With so many options, shell and tube heat exchangers can process various fluids under many different conditions.
Here are some industries and processes where you might encounter shell and tube heat exchangers:
- Chemical Plants
- Petroleum Refining
- Petrochemical Applications
- Oil and Gas Industry
- Power Plants and Generation
- HVAC and Refrigeration
- Marine and Shipboard
- Food and Beverage Processing
- Pharmaceutical Processing
- Steel and Metal Processing
- Pulp and Paper Manufacturing
- Renewable Energy Applications
- Waste to Energy Plants
You will notice each of these industries involves heating or cooling a process fluid in some way. Despite sharing this broad objective, different applications present unique challenges to engineers.
Pressure limitations, temperature, corrosion potential, fouling characteristics, fluid properties, maintenance requirements, and other factors influence heat exchanger selection. In this article, we will cover major Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Applications and discuss how engineers choose the correct configuration for each process.
Trocador de calor de casco e tubo
2. What Is a Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger?
A shell and tube heat exchanger gets its name from its physical components. The heat exchanger includes multiple tubes attached to tube sheets inside a shell. The shell is usually cylindrical but may have different head configurations.
The fluid that passes through the tubes creates one fluid pathway. The space around the tubes creates a second fluid pathway. Heat transfers through the wall of each tube.
As a result, the two fluids can exchange thermal energy without mixing.
Key components of shell and tube heat exchangers typically include:
- Concha
- Pacote de tubos
- Folhas de tubo
- Deflectores
- Cabeças de canal
- Nozzles
- Cover
- Supports
Different tube pitches, baffle cuts, layouts, and flow passages create variations in mechanical configuration. These variations allow for use in countless applications.
Some common configurations include fixed tube sheet exchangers, Utube heat exchangers, and floating head exchangers.
Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Design
3. Why Are Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers Widely Used?
Engineers can use shell and tube heat exchangers for countless applications due to several inherent design characteristics.
Flexible Design
Tube length, shell diameter, number of tubes, baffles, and flow arrangements all represent adjustable design parameters. As a result, there are usually many ways to design a shell and tube heat exchanger to meet specific process requirements.
Material Selection
Many metals and metal alloys can fabricate into shell and tube heat exchangers. Carbon steel, stainless steel, copper alloys, nickel alloys, and more can serve possible applications.
For this reason, heat exchanger designers have options to work with many different corrosion environments.
Pressure Capability
When properly designed, shell and tube heat exchangers can withstand elevated pressures.
Keep in mind that allowable pressures depend on materials of construction, physical dimensions, design standards, and more.
Temperature Capability
Materials and design also influence temperature capability. Different industries and applications reach extremely high or low temperatures. Many materials and configurations allow engineers to hit broad temperature ranges.
Large Heat Transfer Area
Since a shell and tube heat exchanger can include hundreds if not thousands of tubes, it creates ample heat transfer surface area within a relatively compact shell.
Maintainability
Certain designs allow service personnel to perform tubeside cleaning. Other shell and tube heat exchanger designs permit removal of the entire tube bundle.
These characteristics allow engineers to use shell and tube heat exchangers for processes that need periodic maintenance.
4. Chemical Industry Applications
Chemical plants present one of the most significant markets for shell and tube heat exchangers. Throughout chemical production facilities, plants often need to heat up or cool down reaction fluids.
Typical uses can include:
- Reactor heating/cooling
- Process Fluid Cooling
- Preheating chemicals
- Condensation
- Recuperação de solventes
- Heat Recovery
Say a reaction vessel produces a hot chemical fluid as a byproduct. Instead of releasing the heat into the atmosphere, plant engineers can send that hot fluid through a heat exchanger.
The heat exchanger gives that unwanted thermal energy to a colder process fluid. This setup can allow the plant to decrease its external heating requirements.
Just keep in mind chemical chemicals can present highly corrosive environments. Stainless steel and nickel alloy shell and tube heat exchangers sometimes handle aggressive fluids.
Stainless Steel Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger
5. Petrochemical and Refinery Applications
Oil refineries represent another industry that uses shell and tube heat exchangers for countless applications. In particular, heat recovery becomes essential for refinery operations.
Refining crude oil into various petroleum products consumes massive amounts of thermal energy. Therefore, plants look for ways to reuse thermal energy within the process.
Possible duties can include:
- Feed Preheating
- Process Cooling
- Condensation
- Product Cooling
- Recuperação de calor
- Utility Heating and Cooling
Recovering heat from hot process streams can provide thermal energy to incoming colder streams. Plants can transfer heat from one process unit to another without external heating or cooling.
Engineers should pay special attention to fouling in refinery applications. Heavy hydrocarbon process fluids can leave deposits on heat transfer surfaces.
Designers should account for fouling and allow easy cleaning access to heat transfer surfaces.
6. Oil and Gas Applications
Oil recovery facilities and gas processing plants also use shell and tube heat exchangers for various duties. Here are some common applications:
Common Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Applications for Oil and Gas include:
- Heating crude oil
- Cooling process gas
- Oil cooling
- Produced water cooling
- Processing Gas
- Condensate cooling
- Recuperação de calor
Offshore platforms pose unique challenges due to natural corrosive environments. Salt water typically gets exposed to higher velocities and temperatures than the process fluids it contacts.
Design engineers should pay special attention to material selection when producing equipment for offshore platforms. Equipment dimensions may also come into play when working with offshore installations.
Companies often build customized platforms with strict space requirements. Building a custom heat exchanger can help you fit the available space.
7. Power Generation Applications
Power plants provide another common example of Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Applications. Thermal management plays a crucial role in power generation whether the plant produces coal, gas, or nuclear steam.
Power Generation Applications for Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers include:
- Feedwater Heating
- Oil Cooling
- Generator Cooling
- Condensation
- Auxiliaries Cooling
- Heat Recovery
Efficient heat transfer helps keep equipment operating at stable temperatures. Recovered thermal energy can even help plants better utilize their utilities.
Just as in refinery applications, water chemistry, temperature, and pressure come into play when selecting materials of construction.
8. HVAC and Refrigeration Applications
HVAC and refrigeration units often require heat transfer between water or other thermal fluids and refrigerants.
Therefore, HVAC applications can use shell and tube heat exchangers as:
- Chillers
- Condensadores
- Evaporadores
- Water cooling systems
- Water heating systems
- Sistemas de recuperação de calor
- Sistemas de refrigeração industrial
Essentially, a shell and tube condenser removes heat from a condensing fluid and transfers it to a cooling medium. On the other hand, a shell and tube evaporator allows heat to enter an evaporative fluid.
One heat exchanger structure can serve many different thermal duties as long as it channels fluids through the correct pathways.
Applications in HVAC and refrigeration typically can use copper alloy or stainless steel tubes. Once again, water chemistry and operating conditions matter during the material selection process.
9. Food and Beverage Applications
Food processing and manufacturing require precise temperature control during production. Engineers can get use shell and tube heat exchangers with every suitable liquid product and utility.
Heat exchanger applications can include:
- Water heating
- Product cooling
- Process water cooling
- Cleaning solution heating
- Utility heat recovery
Note that material cleanliness starts to become a critical factor in food processing. Stainless steel provides excellent corrosion resistance and cleanable surface.
Additionally, the specific configuration should allow you to clean the equipment according to your procedures.
10. Pharmaceutical Applications
In general, pharmaceutical processes often demand similar temperatures and corrosion resistance. Shell and tube heat exchangers can perform many of the same duties as food processing applications.
Possible applications can include:
- Process water heating/cooling
- Temperature Controlled Production
- Utility Systems
- Thermal fluid systems
Stainless steel allows for optimum cleanability and corrosion resistance. Specific pharmaceutical processes may demand additional hygienic design features.
Make sure the heat exchanger you choose can do the job and meet any necessary certifications.
11. Marine Applications
Ship engineers use heat exchangers to cool down many items on marine vessels.
You can use heat exchangers for common duties such as:
- Engine Cooling
- Cooling of lubricating oils
- Arrefecimento do óleo hidráulico
- Freshwater Cooling
- HVAC Cooling
- Auxiliary machinery cooling
Salt water creates incredibly corrosive conditions. Engineers must choose tube materials that can stand up to exposure.
Copper alloys work with many marine applications. Some grades of stainless steel and titanium also handle seawater environments.
Just make sure you understand the exact seawater chemistry and operating parameters before making a final material decision.
12. Industrial Heat Recovery Applications
Heat recovery gets one of the most important Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Applications. Many industrial processes produce hot waste liquids or gases as a byproduct.
Rather than waste thermal energy, companies can use heat exchangers to transfer heat energy to a different process stream.
Common examples can include:
- Preheating process water
- Feed preheating
- Waste Heat recovery
- Utility water heating
- Thermal fluid recovery
For instance, if a process liquid exits your process at a higher temperature than incoming feedwater. Use that hot process fluid to preheat feedwater entering the process.
As a result, your primary heater does not need to add as much energy to reach desired temperatures.
Heat recovery saves on utilities when a process can provide a useful temperature difference to preheat another stream.
Industrial Heat Exchanger
13. Steel and Metal Processing Applications
Metal processing plants produce large quantities of heat. As a result, cooling systems become essential to these processes.
Heat exchangers may perform many duties including:
- Arrefecimento do óleo hidráulico
- Lubrication oil cooling
- Process water cooling
- Furnace Auxiliaries
- Equipment cooling
- Recuperação de calor residual
Many fluids involve dirty water and other process fluids that can create fouling. Engineers should design these systems with fouling inmind.
Preferably larger tube diameters and allowance for easier cleaning.
14. Pulp and Paper Applications
Manufacturing pulp and paper requires massive amounts of water and thermal energy.
Heat exchangers can serve roles throughout the production process:
- Process water heating
- Water Cooling
- Solution Heating
- Heat Recovery
- Providing Utility Systems
Fouling and corrosion can affect exchanger selection. Make sure you know your fluids before deciding on materials and heat exchanger geometry.
15. Renewable Energy Applications
Engineers also place shell and tube heat exchangers throughout some renewable and lowcarbon energy systems.
Common applications can include:
- Geothermal
- Biomass Recovery Plants
- Thermal Energy Storage
- Wastetoenergy plants
- Industrial Heat Recovery
Geothermal fluids often serve as the heat source in these systems. However, they usually contain minerals and corrosive compounds.
Similar to seawater applications, engineers need to pay extra attention to material selection and fouling.
Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Design
16. Heating, Cooling, Condensing, and Evaporating Duties
Each application uses shell and tube heat exchangers to perform slightly different duties. Since the goal of the heat exchanger gets to transfer thermal energy from one fluid to another, there are a few general duties.
Heating
Here a hot utility adds thermal energy to a colder process fluid. Steam often does as heating medium in these applications.
Arrefecimento
Some form of cooling medium takes heat away from the process fluid. Cooling water serves as a common example.
Condensing
Condensing duties require a vapor to release heat and turn into a liquid. The heat exchanger must provide ample thermal transfer surface area and accommodate phase change.
Evaporating
An evaporating fluid absorbs heat and undergoes a phase change from liquid to vapor. Evaporator designs need to account for fluid distribution and phase change.
Heat Recovery
Heat recovery essentially uses a hot process stream to provide useful thermal energy to a second stream. This practice allows plants to run more efficiently.
17. How to Select a Heat Exchanger for Different Applications
Due to the many Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Applications, no single heat exchanger design works for every situation. When facing a thermal duty, engineers should account for several factors.
Serviço de aquecimento
Determine how much heat the exchanger needs to transfer. This value helps you determine how much heat transfer surface area you need.
Fluid Type
Know what fluids you need to handle. Properties like viscosity, density, thermal conductivity, and chemical resistance affect heat exchanger design.
Temperature
Know your inlet temperature and desired outlet temperature. These temperatures decide how much thermal energy your heat exchanger needs to transfer and the resulting temperature difference it can achieve.
Pressure
Operating and design pressures limit what you can specify as far as mechanical components and materials go.
Pressure Drop
The heat exchanger should not exceed allowable pressure drops in your system.
Fouling
Foulable fluids need larger flow passages and perhaps easier cleaning mechanisms.
Corrosion
Corrosion directly affects how long your equipment will last at a job site.
Manutenção
Consider how plant operators will inspect and maintain the equipment. Remember that cleaning is an essential factor here as well.
Installation Space
The layout of your plant may limit your shell diameter and tube length. Try to account for physical installation requirements when designing the exchanger.
18. Materials for Different Applications
Remember that material selection should always depend on the application.
Use the following table as general guidelines only.
- Material Typical Applications Example Applications
- Carbon steel General industrial processes
- 304/304L stainless steel When general corrosion is not severe Water and process cooling
- 316/316L stainless steel Better resistance in more environmentsChemical and process heating or cooling
- Copper alloys HVAC or cooling applications
- Nickel alloys Chemical Processing where aggressive conditions exist
- Titanium Saline or seaside installations requiring corrosion resistance
Actual fluid chemistry, temperature, pressure, and corrosion mechanisms affect material selection.
19. Finned Tubes in Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers
Some applications can benefit from increasing external surface area on the tubes. Engineers can use finned tubes to transfer heat more effectively when the situation calls for it.
Increasing the external surface area of the tube allows for higher heat transfer coefficients. Finned tubes do not help every situation. However, they do present another option for engineers to increase heat transfer.
Below are examples of fin tube technologies available from Bangwin Thermal.
Low Fin Tubes
Low fins create a rough extended surface around the tube. These fin tubes work with selected shell and tube heat exchanger applications.
Low Fin Tubes for Heat Exchanger
Extruded Fin Tubes
Extruded fins create a very robust external fin. Suitable for industrial applications requiring rugged construction.
G Fin Tubes
G fin tubes consist of fin strips embedded in a groove cut into the tube surface.
High Frequency Welded Fin Tubes
High frequency welding bonds the fin strip to the tube. Bangwin Thermal commonly uses these tubes for many industrial heat transfer applications.
Tubo com aletas soldado por alta frequência
Laser Welded Fin Tubes
The fin and tube connect through laser welding. Laser welding creates a very strong bond. This process works well with compact fin configurations.
20. Why Choose Bangwin Thermal?
Different Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Applications require unique thermal and mechanical solutions. At Bangwin Thermal we specialize in industrial heat exchangers and fin tube technology.
You can give us information about your process including:
- Fluid types
- Flow rates
- Inlet Temperature
- Desired Outlet Temperature
- Operating Pressure
- Heat duty
- Requisitos de materiais
- Fouling / Cleaning considerations
- Installation dimensions
Bangwin Thermal will use this information to help you determine an appropriate heat exchanger configuration. Since Bangwin Thermal offers related fin tube technologies, we can also provide solutions for applications that require enhanced heat transfer surfaces.
Available fin tube technologies can include low fin tubes, G fin tubes, L type finned tubes, extruded fin tubes, high frequency welded fin tubes, and laser welded fin tubes.
Contact Bangwin Thermal for custom shell and tube heat exchanger and fin tube solutions that meet your process requirements.
Learn more about Bangwin Thermal’s industrial heat transfer solutions.
Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Manufacturer
Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Supplier
Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Design
21. FAQ About Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Applications
l What are the main Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Applications?
Engineers use them for industrial heating, cooling, condensation, evaporation, and heat recovery. Common markets include chemical, petrochemical, energy production, HVAC, marine, and many other industries.
l Why are shell and tube heat exchangers so popular in industry?
Shell and tube heat exchangers offer designers flexibility in construction. Large heat transfer areas, numerous material options, and customizable geometry allow engineers to tailor heat exchangers to their applications. Many shell and tube configurations also allow for practical maintenance access.
l Are shell and tube heat exchangers used for chemical processing?
Yes. Many chemical plants use shell and tube heat exchangers for process heating, cooling, condensation, and heat recovery.
l Can a shell and tube heat exchanger handle high temperatures?
If designed properly, shell and tube heat exchangers can withstand high temperatures. Materials of construction and specific mechanical design limit maximum and minimum temperatures.
l Can a shell and tube heat exchanger handle high pressure?
Shell and tube heat exchangers can withstand elevated pressures when designed correctly. Thickness of the shell, tube sheets, tube strength, connections, and materials all play a part in determining pressure capability.
l Are shell and tube heat exchangers suitable for use with seawater?
Shell and tube heat exchangers can handle seawater with proper material selection. Just remember corrosive factors come into play when dealing with salt water.
l What are some industries that use stainless steel shell and tube heat exchangers?
Applications involving stainless steel heat exchangers exist in the chemical, food, pharmaceutical, energy production, HVAC, and general process industries.
l What is the purpose of baffles in a shell and tube heat exchanger?
Baffles support the tubes and direct shellside flow. As a result, baffles affect fluid velocity, heat transfer, and pressure drop.
l Can I use finned tubes in a shell and tube heat exchanger?
Use finned tubes when your application can benefit from increased external tube surface area. Finned tubes do not improve heat transfer in every situation. Consult with a heat transfer specialist to determine your needs.
l How do I select the correct heat exchanger for my process?
Provide as much information as possible. Include heat duty, fluid types, flow rates, temperatures, pressures, material limitations, allowable pressure drops. Also include fouling and corrosion potentials, maintenance requirements, and physical installation restrictions.
22. Conclusion
Shell and tube heat exchangers see use in nearly every major industry. Chemical plants use the heat exchangers for heating and cooling processes. Refineries use them for heat recovery and heating/cooling process fluids.
Power plants use them for cooling, heating, and condensing water. HVAC units use shell and tube exchangers for condensing and evaporating fluids. Marine vessels, pharmaceutical production, food processing, steel processing, pulp and paper manufacturing, and renewable energy industries all use shell and tube heat exchangers for certain duties.
Each of these industries and many others use shell and tube heat exchangers for many different reasons. No one shell and tube heat exchanger design works for every application.
Density, viscosity, fouling properties, and reaction to temperature change affect how well a fluid can transfer heat. Phase change, corrosion potential, maintenance requirements, and external utilities further influence what heat exchanger gets for the job.
Different materials of construction can also play a large role in heat exchanger selection.
Remember that finned tubes can help increase a heat exchanger’s external surface area. Bangwin Thermal offers custom industrial shell and tube heat exchangers and fin tubes.
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