Brief on Shell and tube heat exchanger

A Shell and Tube heat exchanger is used to transfer heat between fluids. These exchangers consist of a large pressure vessel that surrounds a bundle of tubes present inside it. They are used for heating and cooling processes which are carried out in plants and refineries. In plants and refineries, different types of machinery and substances are heated to a particular temperature and the heating process is monitored so that the machinery doesn’t get overheated. Shell and Tube exchanger can come to the aid in such situations by helping the machinery to cool down by exchanging the heat from it.

They are also used for air conditioning, in cooling and heating systems. In some factories and industries, Shell and Tube Heat exchangers are used for keeping machinery, water, gas and chemicals within a safe temperature range. These exchangers can also be used to capture heat from steam or by-products generated from a process and use this steam or by-product for other different processes saving the manufacturing cost.

In a typical Shell and Tube heat exchanger, different fluids of different temperatures are present. One of the fluid flows through the shell and the other fluid flows through the tubes present inside the shell. The heat from the hotter fluid is transferred to the fluid with a comparatively cooler temperature through the tube walls. To increase the efficiency of the exchanger a larger heat transfer area should be selected and the number of tubes should be more. Other equipment such as fans, condensers, coolants, belts and additional tubes increases the efficiency of the tube heat exchangers.

There are different types of Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers and they can be classified into different types such as direct contact heat exchangers, indirect contact heat exchangers and many more.