Heat Exchangers, Vaporizers, and Condensers

AbstractHeat exchangers permit exchange of energy from one fluid to another, usually without permitting physical contact between the fluids. The following configurations are commonly used in the power and process industries. They are Shell‐and‐Tube Heat Exchangers, Plate‐Type Heat Exchangers, Spiral Plate Heat Exchangers, Air‐Cooled Heat Exchangers, Boiler Feedwater Heaters, Recuperators and Regenerator. In determining the overall cost of a proposed process plant or power plant, the cost of heat exchangers is of significant importance. Different rating methods are used depending on exchanger geometry and process type. When heat exchangers fail to operate properly in practice, the entire process is often affected and sometimes must be shut down. For proper operation of condensers it is always necessary to provide for venting of noncondensables. Industrial experience has shown for a long time that arbitrary fouling factors may actually contribute to fouling by greatly oversizing exchangers and lowering velocities.