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Heat exchangers

Contents
Some common heat-exchanger terms
Heat exchangers – purpose, operation and types
Designing a heat exchanger
Maintenance requirements

The heat exchanger (HE) is one of the most important components in the various process industries, and a very
significant product for Sandvik Materials Technology .

Some common heat-exchanger terms


Some HE terms you will meet in this section are explained here.

Tube side Inside the tubes.


Shell side Outside the tubes, between the tubes and the shell.
Tube sheet A thick plate provided with holes (one per tube) in which the tubes are fixed.
Tube bundle Consists of tubes, tube sheet and baffle plates.
Shell A cylinder of plate in which the tube bundle is placed.
Channel A type of front end where the tube side liquid goes in and comes out. It has a partition wall,
separating the inlet and outlet flow. The channel has a removable cover.
Bonnet Like a channel, but with an integral cover. When the HE has straight tubes (like the BEM type), there
is one bonnet without partition wall at each end of the HE.
Baffle plate Baffles can be shaped in different ways, but the basic shape is segmental. The baffles have two
functions: they support the tubes and they direct the flow of the shell-side liquid, making the heat
transfer more effective.
Tie rods Bars that are mounted between the tube sheets to support the baffles. The tie rods reduce vibrations.

Heat exchangers – purpose, operation and types


A heat exchanger is a device, which continuously transfers heat from one medium to another without adding
energy to the process. A very familiar heat exchanger is the car radiator, used to cool the engine. Driving the car
into the wind forces cool air over the radiator, which then cools the water circulating through it. This cool water is
recirculated around the engine making sure that it does not reach dangerously high temperatures.

On a larger scale in industry, HEs are employed in processes to carry out the same cooling or heating operations
that we see every day in our vehicles and homes. Heat-transfer equipment is found in all types of industry.

All HEs have three key things in common:


• A warm medium – a process solution or a gas
• A cool medium – water or air, or a cooler process solution/gas
• A contact interface between the two media.

There are different basic designs of HEs, some with a very wide range of applications, some specialised on certain
types of industry or application – all with their advantages and disadvantages. The most common types are:
• Tubular HEs: shell-and-tube, air coolers (without shell), coil tube (single tube) or double tube, i.e. a tube
within another tube
• Plate HEs: with press-formed loose plates, compact brazed type or spiral
• Solid-block HEs – made from a stack of diffusion bonded, etched sheets or a drilled block of solid material
such as graphite.

Shell-and-tube HE
For Sandvik the shell-and-tube HE is the most important type. It is used in almost every type of industry. In the
section on Heat exchanger tubing we have shown an example of how a shell-and-tube HE works and we have
made a brief description of important types of HE, such as coolers, condensers and evaporators. Another important
example is the steam generator in nuclear power plants.

The major advantage of shell-and-tube HEs over their nearest rival, the plate HE, is the ease with which they
handle high heat loads and their relatively simple construction, which makes them easy to clean and maintain. The
maintenance aspect is important particularly in oil and gas processing since these environments contain pollutants
and with fouling being a major problem.

The shell-and-tube HE is divided into three sections: the front-end stationary head, the shell and the rear- end
head. There are several variants of each part, and a letter indicates each variant, e.g.:
A = Channel and removable cover
B = Bonnet (integral cover)
E = One pass shell
K = Kettle-type reboiler
M = Fixed tube sheet
S = Floating head (with backing device)
U = U-tube bundle – in this case there is no rear end head, but the bonnet is integral part of the shell.

The predominating designs are:


• HEs with fixed tube sheets (BEM)
• HEs with U-bent tubes (BEU)
• HEs with floating tube sheet (AES)
• HEs of kettle type with U-bent tubes (AKU).

Examples of shell-and-tube heat exchangers.


1. Inlet (or outlet) tube side 12. U tubes13. Channel with partition wall
2. Outlet (or inlet) tube side 14. Channel cover
3. Inlet (or outlet) shell side 15. Floating-head tube sheet
4. Outlet (or inlet) shell side 16. Floating-head backing device
5. Bonnet without partition wall 17. Floating-head cover
6. Fixed tube sheet 18. Shell cover
7. Shell 19. Shell nozzle
8. Straight tubes 20. Liquid level connection
9. Baffle plate 21. Liquid level connection
10. Bonnet with partition wall 22. Weir
11. Tube sheet

The BEM type


This is the most common type used e.g. in condensers, coolers and heaters. It provides a low investment cost. It is
very suitable for high pressures on the tube side. The thermal expansion has to be taken into account. Several HEs
may easily be stacked on top of each other. The BEM is easy to clean and individual tubes can be replaced. The
shell side requires chemical cleaning, and the risk for deposit formation should therefore be regarded for the
medium on the shell side.

The tube sheets are fixed to the shell by welding and the outer part of the tube sheet then forms a flange. This
flange, which is machined and has a gasketed sealing face, is provided with holes and then bolted to the front- and
rear-end covers.

The BEU type


This type may very well be used when the pressure on the tube side is extremely high. The BEU is a very
advantageous construction from an economic point of view, since it has only one tube sheet and less tube to tube-
sheet joining. The shell side may be cleaned mechanically thanks to the removable tube bundle. The tube side is,
however, difficult to clean and the risk of deposit formation should therefore be regarded for the medium on the
tube side. The tube side requires chemical cleaning because of the bends, whereas the shell side may be
mechanically cleaned. Individual tubes cannot be replaced other than those farthest out. The BEU type is used for
e.g. reboilers and steam generators. The front-end cover is bolted to the shell, which is provided with a flange.

The AES type


A floating head is used to absorb differences in thermal expansion between the tubes and the shell and where
there is a danger of fouling. This type is also used when the medium on the shell side is dangerous and when
national standards require that it is possible to inspect the shell side. The tubes and the shell may be cleaned
mechanically or chemically.

This type is largely the equipment of choice in oil refineries owing to the ease of dismantling, inspection and
cleaning.

The AKU type


The AKU type can be used as an evaporator or as a reboiler in distillation towers. This type is also often used in
the generation of process additives, such as caustic soda for use in oil refining or amines for use in gas-cleaning
applications. Steam is generally passed through the tubing to provide the heating, and the boiler is used as a still to
boil off undesirable media in the additives, which can then be treated and re-used.

See BEU for cleaning and retubing.

Tubular HE without shell


One important example of a tubular HE without shell is the recuperator used in high-temperature service. Another
example is the waste-heat boiler.

A type for wet-corrosive applications is the fin fan air cooler. It uses huge fans to blow air over the outside of the
tubes, thus cooling the process fluid flowing through the tubes. The tubes are provided with fins (most often in
aluminium) on the outside in order to increase the heat-transfer surface area, since air is a less effective cooling
medium than water. This type is gaining increased interest, because the use of air makes it environmentally
friendly.

The fin fan air cooler is suitable where cooling water cannot be supplied, but it cannot be used where the process
medium need to be cooled to room temperature. One advantage is the simple design, but on the other hand it
needs more space. The noise from the cooling fan is also a disadvantage.

Fin fan air cooler (forced draft). The fan can also be placed to suck air (induced draft) over the tubes.

Coiled type HE
This is a type of HE with a simple design. It is being used e.g. for the heating of acid baths and in oil refineries as
process-liquid coolers, but also for simple applications like domestic water heaters, etc. There are different designs:
heating coil, box cooler, trombone cooler and tank cooler.

Double tube HE
This is a simpler and cheaper variant of the shell-and-tube HE. It consists of a number of double tubes, one inside
the other. It is suitable for small HEs (less than 20 m2 heat-transfer surface). It can take very high pressures.
Sometimes the tube walls are deformed or dimpled to create turbulent flow for better heat transfer. In some cases
welded tube seams can crack during forming, hence seamless tubes are a better option.

Plate HE
The plate HE is above all used in dairies and the food-processing industry, but is also installed in the process
industry for less demanding applications. It consists of two end covers between which the required number of
plates (pressed in such a way that channels form when assembled) are placed. Between the plates there are
gaskets. The whole package is closed with the aid of compression bolts.

There are several advantages, e.g. compact with low weight, very good heat transfer per surface area, easy to
clean and maintain, flexible in size and relatively easy to manufacture in exotic materials.

The limitations are: maximum pressure is normally approx. 10 bar, max. temperature is 80 – 250°C (depending on
gasket type), unsuitable for gas, leakage is liable to occur, especially at temperature variations. At each of the bolts
there is a crevice that is susceptible to corrosion attack. Every time this type of heat exchanger is dismantled for
cleaning the unit must be resealed with numerous and usually expensive gaskets and O-rings.

Solid-block HE
The solid-block HE made of graphite is a very special type of HE, which is mainly used in concentrated mineral
acids. Graphite has good thermal conductivity, thus this type of HE is very efficient owing to the excellent heat
transfer. However, the mechanical and fabrication properties of graphite are extremely poor. Consequently the
heat-transfer interfaces in these HEs have to be machined from a solid block. Adhesives must be used for complex
shapes and therefore reliability is poor.

Designing a heat exchanger


There are two main steps in the design of heat exchangers: the thermal and the mechanical design.

Thermal design
During thermal design the aim is to calculate a necessary heat-transfer surface area that will enable the equipment
to achieve its required heating or cooling function.

In a tubular HE the tubes provide the heat-transfer interface between the hot and the cold medium. Advanced
computer software, used in the thermal calculation, determines the necessary number of tubing.

There are a number of important factors to be considered during thermal design:


• Fluid characteristics – film-forming properties, phase, density, viscosity, etc.
• Fluid temperatures and pressures
• Fluid flow rates
• Pressure drop.

Mechanical design
The aim of the mechanical design is to create a piece of equipment that will fulfil the functions calculated during the
thermal design. In the mechanical design the heat exchanger is dimensioned so that it can cope also with the
process-pressure parameters. This may also dictate the use of specific types of heat exchangers (see above) that
are better able to handle certain pressure scenarios.

In mechanical design HE size, tube dimension, tube arrangement (pitch), baffle placement and many other things
are considered.

The most utilised basis for mechanical design of tubular heat exchangers is TEMA (Standards of Tubular
Exchanger Manufacturers Association, USA). The pressure calculations are often made in conjunction with national
rules such as ASME section VIII, BS 5500 and AD-Merkblätter to name a few.

Maintenance requirements
One of the major costs incurred by the process industries is for unscheduled shut downs. If a piece of processing
equipment is shut down and production is lost, the costs can be enormous – and far greater than during planned
shut downs. Two things are therefore very important to plant managers:
• Reliability
• Ease of maintenance.
Since many process conditions and cooling-water circuits are corrosive, heat exchangers are particularly
susceptible to breakdown because of the large surface areas that are exposed. In certain critical cases heat
exchangers are mounted in tandem with a reserve unit, constantly on standby. Flow can be redirected
instantaneously through the reserve exchanger and the other removed for maintenance without incurring
downtime. Of course this strategy is not practical in all cases. An average oil refinery contains between 250 and
500 shell-and-tube HEs, so doubling up on each unit would indeed be a costly strategy.

Oil & gas production, refinery and petrochemical processes are often subject to fouling and HEs require regular
cleaning in order to retain good heat transfer. Shell-and-tube HEs with a removable tube bundle are well suited to
this, also making inspection a simpler process. Plate HEs on the other hand must be entirely dismantled, plate by
plate, to facilitate cleaning and inspection.

Heat exchangers are often designed with a little thermal overcapacity in case problems occur during operation.
This means that in the case of tubular exchangers individual corroded tubes may be plugged thus extending the life
of the exchanger, possibly to a scheduled shutdown when a more thorough remedial action can be carried out.

The removable tube bundle allows a great deal of flexibility during scheduled shut downs. If necessary the bundle
can be retubed (retaining the existing tube sheet, baffles, tie rods, etc.) before being put back into the original shell.

Depending on the performance of the previous tube bundle, and the strategy of the particular operator, a decision
may be taken to choose a new material that will extend the life of the exchanger, which is one of the major
opportunities for Sandvik. In the case of retubing, there will be a series of alternatives that will be considered based
on the corrosive environment in question. Providing the right information about our grades and taking an active role
in supporting the materials-selection process at this stage will enhance the chance of booking a subsequent order.
The important aspects with respect to materials selection are:
• Corrosion resistance
• Mechanical properties
• Compatibility with the shell material (thermal expansion)
• Compatibility with the tube-sheet material (fabrication)
• Cost

With increasing competition in the petroleum and chemical sectors, operators are taking a close look at operating
costs. Maintenance spending is a major expense and so the trend is towards longer run times between scheduled
shut downs. This strategy requires materials capable of lasting the duration without suffering failures. The future for
corrosion resistant alloys therefore remains positive for a long time to come.

Due to the critical nature of refinery and chemical plant operation, combined with the high costs for downtime,
should failures occur, seamless tubes are most commonly specified, due to their high integrity.

Key contacts for HE-tube sales:


• Heat-exchanger fabricators
• On-site-maintenance contractors (for retubing)
• End-user companies, viz. the sections purchasing, materials & corrosion, inspection and maintenance
• Engineering contractors.

It is quite common for plants to initially install carbon-steel tubes during new plant construction, because this gives
the lowest capital investment. During the life of the plant very often the HEs with the highest corrosion rates are
upgraded to stainless steel tubes. Even just 6 months after the new plant is commissioned, there will be needs for
better products and grades.

When replacing carbon-steel HE tubes with austenitic stainless steel tubes such as 304L, it must be remembered
that there is a substantial difference in thermal expansion of the two materials which, in the case of a HE with a
fixed tube sheet, could result in the buckling of the tubes. The stresses could also cause SCC. These reasons
provide strong sales arguments in favour of using duplex tube grades, as they have similar expansion to carbon-
steel grades and far better SCC resistance than the standard austenitic grades. It is also possible that the duplex
tubes are in fact cheaper, if advantage can be taken of their high strength during design of the exchanger.

It is important therefore to look at the benefits in using duplex grades, even in plants where mild steel is a standard
material. Remember that this can offer significant potential savings, longer operating life and greater reliability &
safety for the plant operator.

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