Heat exchangers are used in a variety of industries to transfer heat from one medium to another. They can heat within a process, and may be used to cool a liquid, vapor or gas (referred to as a fluid within this article) representative sample to make it safe to handle or transfer.
There are many heat exchange applications within processing plants such a process heating and cooling, vapor condensing to sample conditioning.
The right specialty heat exchanger can cool or heat any fluid within a process. For safety and efficiency, it is critical to choose the best heat exchanger for your application.
Heat exchanger choice depends on:
- The amount of heat to be exchanged
- The specific type and thermo-physical properties of both the process and cooling fluids
- The temperature of the fluid
- Liquid or gas phases, and whether a phase change is required
- Process pressure and flow rate
- Characteristics of the cooling water, such as chlorides, calcium or hardness, or high total dissolved solids
- Efficiency relative to size
- Physical space within the process for the heat exchanger
- Budget
Aligning your heat exchanger choice with these criteria is imperative, especially the smaller scale specialty models used in industrial applications for power generation plant, and chemical, refinery, food and beverage production facilities and in professional carpet cleaning systems. Selecting a one-size-fits-all heat exchanger for a process might seem to be less expensive at first, but can end up being inefficient, uneconomical and hazardous to operators, equipment and assets.
Explore more about heat exchanger uses, types and selection considerations in the new Sentry® eBook, Specialty Heat Exchangers 101: Choosing the Right One for Your Application. Download your free copy now by clicking the button below.
