Importance of Keeping Heat Exchanger Clean

The heat exchanger air-water purification is an absolute necessity so that the system of production runs. If your heat exchanger will not be as clean as it should be, he is unable to properly operate and exchange of heat, could not take place. This leads to significant problems in the line if it is not treated within a short time. However, with the cleaning alone is not sufficient to keep everything in perfect condition.

An air-water heat exchanger is very specialized devices intended for use when the air or in the air, the temperatures are higher than 130 degrees Fahrenheit. Air conditioning industry is not the machine to cool when the ambient temperature is at this level, since the refrigerant compressor of its production to about 150 degrees Fahrenheit, and there is too little difference between the two temperatures for the coolant to his job. In such cases, the air-water heat exchanger in question. They bring in the chamber in the courtyard below the temperature of the air, so that the device is not working correctly.

Basically, a heat exchanger air water cleaning is simply to ensure that both air and water to a portion of the thermal processes of your system are clean. For example, if the mechanism of the system brings the air is a cooling tower, you must bear in mind when he brings the air in the system, the debris, which is not in the air in the system with him. These deposits may be in the system, the establishment in her, and limited the operation - and possibly causing a malfunction, and even heavier. So, quite simply your own system seems to heat the solution to this problem.

However, the ratings are compared, what the adoption of a cold tablet, if you have a cold, and rightly so. Even if the cleaning of the heat exchanger of the system ensures that they are free of everything, leading to problems, whether it is doing nothing to prevent the problem does not occur, particularly in areas where there is a lot of scrap , potentially leading to a kind of jam. In this sense, the cleaning is not enough.

The ultimate solution would be an excellent technology Filtersystem keep residue in the system, primarily, and cleaned with care.

So, make the installation of filters and the technology of filtration and devout your water air heat exchanger for cleaning your entire system to function optimally.

Plate Heat Exchangers - Design, Advantages and Disadvantages

Plate heat exchangers are obviously types of heat exchangers. It functions by transferring the heat from one fluid to another through the use of metal plates. Comparing it with conventional heat exchangers, these ones are favored specifically because the fluids work on larger surface areas and are capable of dispersing to the metal plates. Simply put, the procedure enables proper facilitation of heat transfer as it speeds up the changes in temperature occurring during the process.

Knowing more about the concept of plate heat exchangers involves looking at the design of the tool as well as setting apart the advantages from its disadvantages. Basically, a heat exchanger uses pipes in order to cool or heat a fluid through the process of transferring it to another fluid. The pipes' walls are often made either out of metal or other substances known to be of high thermal conduction capabilities. This is to ensure that the transfer of heat from one fluid to another will be properly facilitated. Another coating is found outside the pipe walls, now made of plastic with thermal insulation to suppress the heat from coming out of the exchanger.

Design of plate heat exchangers

From the conventional design of heat exchangers, a plate heat exchanger is said to be more of a specialized one. The design was made to construe with its purposes of heat transfer for two types of fluids. For the heat exchanging process, semi-welded, brazed or welded exchangers are used. Instead of making use of a regular pipe, two chambers are used and are separated by the so-called corrugated metal plate.

The plate is designed out of stainless steel. This material has the ability to withstand corrosion and high temperature while it is also noted for its durability and strength. In between the plates, rubber sealing gaskets are placed.

A look at its advantages and disadvantages

The advantages of this type of heat exchangers are seen through its compactness, flexibility and ease of cleaning. Its compactness can be attributed to the fact that the entire output does not require a large floor space. Its flexibility is seen with its ability to cope with requirements of different types of fluids. The plates are removable thus making it easy to clean. If replacement is needed, the plates may be removed conveniently as well.

The main disadvantages of plate heat exchangers are classified into three. First, long gaskets are needed. Second, leakage is probable. And lastly, operation costs as well as investment should also form part of the consideration.

Visit the American Industrial Directory to find leading manufacturers of industrial equipment, machinery and supplies based in the U.S., Canada and Mexico offering a wide range of plate heat exchangers and other products and solutions for the global industrial marketplace.

Cleaning Plate Heat Exchanger Matter

I made a post entitled "Learning Process From Cleaning Plate Heat Exchanger" which was a follow up entry from "Some Updates". You can refer to the 2 posts for reference. From that post, I received some interesting response and questions from few engineers asking more detail about the cleaning of heat exchangers. The questions are taken from the comment section of that Learning Process From Cleaning Plate Heat Exchanger post without any editing. I answered the questions but I add more of my answers here after thinking about it...

Questions:

I'm a process engineer and your article is very useful and interesting. Could you say (if it possible) how long time did this plate heat exchanger work good without cleaning? And was the concentration of caustic solution high?

Answer:

Thanks for your kind words Olga.

How long time did this plate heat exchanger work good without cleaning?

That depends on how you use the plate heat exchanger and the types and quality of fluid that passes the plate heat exchanger. From my experiences, the plate heat exchanger can operate effectively up to 1.5 years without cleaning, but that is because the feed oil is clean and other combining parameters are good. There are also cases where we have to clean the heat exchanger after 4-5 months... There's no straight answer to this. It depends on a lot of factors. You need to really sit down and monitor the processing parameters and the quality / condition of fluid entering it. I have about 16 plate heat exchangers which I monitored and all of them have different records. Those who belong at the same section in the plant will have almost similar cleaning track record. All of them have different classification of problems too. So, we need to really look at the heat exchanger(s) and make a proper inspection, evaluation and analysis.

The caustic concentration was 3-5%. This also depends on how severe the scale build up is inside the plates. You can have lower concentration if the scale is lesser. You can add up more of the caustic concentration, but it may be not good for your plates (of the plate heat exchanger) or the tubes (of the shell and tube heat exchanger).

Questions:

How heavy and fooling is that oil?

Does it really worth the trouble to use a plate exchanger respect to a shell and tube for such fluids? After all a shell and tube is much easier to clean.

Answer:

It depends on your process and application. What is the type of flow? what is the pressure and temperature? You have to use a shell and tube heat exchanger if you have a high pressure and high temperature. A shell and tube heat exchanger is more expensive. A plate heat exchanger is cheaper and can be used for lower temperature and lower pressure. The main constraint of the plate heat exchanger is because of the gasket used cannot cope with temperature higher then 200oC. so, it's a matter of the effect of process parameters and not the easiness to clean the heat exchanger. A shell and tube heat exchanger 2 pass (or U tube) is also sometimes very difficult to clear especially at the U bend. You need a special equipment with high pressure of jet water to clear the scale, fouling. In worse cases, you need to introduce a small drill combined with the high jet water, preferably up to 20,000 psi to ensure you eliminate the stubborn scale.

Hmmm...maybe those of you who have other experiences on dealing with heat exchanger cleaning can share it with us here...TQ!

The author of this post is Zaki from Chemical Engineering World - subscribe to the blog...
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Heat Exchangers for Outdoor Corn Boilers

A heat exchanger is a device designed to efficiently transfer the heat from one medium to another. In the case of an outdoor corn boiler, these media would be air and water.

A typical domestic setup would include a water-to-water heat exchanger for hot water and a water-to-air heat exchanger for forced air home heat. Water-to-water heat exchangers are also used to heat hot tubs, swimming pools and the water for radiant baseboard or radiant in floor
heating systems.

Water-to-Water Heat Exchangers

The three most common types of water-to-water heat exchangers used with outdoor
corn boilers are: Sidearm, Shell and Tube, and Brazed Plate. What differentiates these heat exchangers, besides the cost, is the way they're designed to transfer heat from one medium to another and the method used to create turbulence.

A key component in the efficient transfer of heat between liquids is turbulence. The more turbulent the flow of water through a heat exchanger, the more efficiently heat is transferred.

Sidearm Heat Exchanger

The sidearm heat exchanger is a popular and inexpensive choice for heating domestic hot water. It incorporates a pipe within a pipe design where the water in the inner pipe (your hot water) is heated by hot water from the boiler circulating through the outside pipe.

Turbulence is created by scrolling on the outer surface of the inside pipe.

This straightforward design prevents clogging by sediment and resists scaling. One drawback of the sidearm heat exchanger is reported slow recovery under heavy use. Cost: $130-$150.

Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger

Shell and tube heat exchangers are available in dozens of tube configurations and sizes ranging from a few feet long to 50 feet or more for power plant steam generation.

A variation on the shell and tube design is shell and coil where a helical (spiralling) coil
replaces the tubes.

No matter what the design or application, the basic principle is the same. The water to
be heated flows through tubes, and the heated boiler water, encased by the shell, flows around the tubes.

Turbulence is created by the baffles holding the tubes together in what is called a tube bundle.

Shell and tube heat exchangers for non-chlorinated water applications, such as domestic hot water and hydronic heating, are usually constructed with a brass shell and copper tubes.

For swimming pools and spas the shell should be PVC or stainless steel with stainless
steel tubes. 316L grade stainless steel is commonly used for this application.

Cost: $200-$600 depending on copper or stainless construction and the overall size based on the volume of water to be heated.

Brazed Plate Heat Exchanger

The brazed plate heat exchanger combines compact size with a highly efficient design to produce a device for heat transfer that is up to six times smaller than a shell and tube heat exchanger of similar capacity.

The key to this efficiency lies in their unique construction. Corrugated stainless steel plates are brazed together (eliminates gaskets) with every second plate turned 180 degrees. This design creates two highly turbulent fluid channels that flow in opposite directions (counter flow)
over a massive surface area.

Cost: $100-$500 depending on capacity.

Get better outdoor corn boiler information at Alternative-Heating-Info.com

Alfa Laval Plate heat exchangers

Alfa laval is one of various companies producing plate heat exchangers for chemical industry. I'm currently using 2 types of plate heat exchange in my plant (another brand that I'm using is Schmidt Bretten plate heat exchanger). I'm using the clip on gasket. It's easier using this type of gasket because it's faster to attached the gasket to the plate. Following is a brief explanation about Alfa-Laval that I adopted from Alfa Laval site.

Alfa Laval - choose a market leader
Alfa Laval is the leading manufacturer of plate heat exchangers in the world. We provide you with compact, modern solutions with the highest thermal efficiency.

Working principle
The basic plate heat exchanger consists of a series of thin, corrugated plates that are gasketed, welded together (or any combination of these) or brazed together depending on application. The plates are then compressed together in a rigid frame to create an arrangement of parallel flow channels. One fluid travels in the odd numbered channels, the other in the even.

Similar on the outside, unique on the inside
All plate heat exchangers look similar on the outside. The difference lies inside, in the details of plate design and the sealing technologies used. Alfa Laval is in the forefront of R&D work on plate heat exchangers. We continue to improve and develop products to optimise our customers processes. Time and time again (MORE).