Ways to enhance heat transfer efficiency of shell-and-tube heat exchanger


Most heat exchangers are shell-and-tube heat exchangers, which not only have a solid structure, but also have high reliability and wide adaptability. Currently, the consumption of shell-and-tube heat exchanger accounts for about 70% of all heat exchangers. Therefore, improving its heat transfer efficiency is the most concerned issue for suppliers.


Generally speaking, there are two ways to enhance the heat transfer efficiency: one is to change the shell side structure and promote fluid turbulence; the other is to strengthen the heat exchange element, which is the heat exchange tube.


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The most common shell side structure of traditional heat exchanger is bow baffle heat exchanger, which is simple in structure and easy to process, but has high resistance and pressure drop and low heat transfer efficiency. Now it has been replaced by the spiral baffle heat exchanger and baffle rod heat exchanger in many practical applications. 


The spiral baffle plate heat exchanger has continuous spiral surface, and the fluid is in the approximate spiral flow state during the baffle flow. Compared with the arch baffle, the total heat transfer coefficient of the spiral baffle can be increased by about 1/4 under the same working conditions, and the size of the heat exchanger can be greatly reduced.


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The shell side resistance loss of baffle rod heat exchanger is about 30% less than that of conventional bow baffle heat exchanger, and the vibration of tube bundle can be effectively overcome. It has no corrosion caused by dead angle of traditional plate support structure, which can prolong the service life of equipment.


To sum up, the shell side structure and heat exchange tube of shell-and-tube heat exchanger play a vital role in the heat transfer efficiency of the heat exchanger. Therefore, designers need to consider comprehensively and reasonably during the design. Our technical engineers are able to customize the design according to users' specific working conditions, so as to ensure maximum economic benefits for users.


HC Petroleum Equipment has the first-class engineering and manufacturing capabilities, all equipment has quality assurance and commitment to timely delivery. Please do not hesitate to contact us for more information.