Heat Exchanger Tubes

Heat exchanger tubes are part of the heat exchanger device, which are an efficient device used by many companies in engineering products such as found in refrigeration, conditioning, and space heating and chemical processing for transferring heat from one fluid to another through a separating wall.

These can be classified according to the process of heat transfer, mechanical construction and principal material of construction. The most common type of heat exchangers includes double pipe, shell and tube. Other special types where the standard forms of tubular exchangers are not satisfactory are pipe coils, spiral, plate type, fine tube and graphite.   

Heat exchanger tubes are where the transferred fluid transferred flows. It is considered a very vital part of the device as it facilitates in separating the two chambers and prevents the two fluids from being in contact with one another.

Typical heat exchanger tubes are two passageways of pipe, which snake back and forth, turning in on themselves and consists of a number of parallel tubes enclosed in a relatively close fitting cylindrical shell.

One fluid flows inside the heat exchanger tubes and is called the tube side fluid while the other flows outside the tubes and is then called shell side fluid. If none of the fluids condenses or evaporates, then the unit will then be called in the phase of ‘heat exchanger’. If one of the fluids, in either tube or shell condenses, the unit is known as ‘condenser’ or simply as ‘heater’. This varies depending on whether the primary purpose of the unit is to condense one fluid or to heat the other.  

Special types of heat exchangers also require specialized heat exchanger tubes like that of pipe coils, spiral, plate type and graphite. Generally, the tubes are used for cooling purposes aside from the usual heating or condensing capacity of the device. Standards of Tubular Exchanger Manufacturers Association (TEMA) has set a standard and specified the design procedure and details of constructions and as to how you could maximize the usage of your heat exchangers. Bottom line is, once the components are properly chosen and maintained, you can be assured of a longer lasting and efficient device. In addition, once it is working properly, the energy consumption is much lesser.

© 2009 theheatexchangers.com: heat exchanger tubes