Heat exchangers are a device used for managing thermal energy within an application. These devices are used for heating and cooling operations in various industrial processes. The heat transfer process takes place between hot and cold mediums. The hot and cold mediums can be in different forms – liquid or gas. A wall separates the two mediums to prevent them from mixing. The heat transfer can be from liquid to liquid, gas to liquid, liquid to gas, or gas to gas.
The materials with good thermal conductivity are selected for manufacturing heat exchangers that include metals like copper, stainless steel, and aluminum. Many industries like pharmaceuticals, chemical plants, petroleum refining, food processing, and laser applications use these devices for cooling or heating requirements. Heat exchangers come in different shapes and sizes depending on the requirements. Liquid to liquid type of device is manufactured using plates or pipes of different sizes and different materials.
Liquid to gas, gas to liquid, and gas to gas types of devices are considered Gas Heat Exchangers.
Gas to Liquid Heat Exchanger
Gas to liquid type of device is used for transferring heat from hot gases to the cold liquid medium.
The main applications of these type of devices include
- Heat recovery applications in different industries, examples include heat recovery from industrial HVAC systems, ventilation applications, and heating applications.
- Heating or cooling gases in drying technology, sea water applications, waste burning, metal processing, and sewage sludge burning.
- Providing hygiene solutions in the Plants.
- Providing ventilation requirements for clean-room technology solutions.
- Vapor condensation in the Pharmaceutical industry.
- Drying, cooling, or heating corrosive gases.
- Condensing and Extraction of toxic or corrosive gas particles.
Liquid to Gas heat exchanger
In the liquid to gas type of device, heat is transferred from the hot liquid to the cold gas. In the water to air cooling applications, hot water is transferring heat to the cold air, and as a result, water is losing temperature. Finned tubes and finned plate type of devices are examples of this type of heat exchangers. The finned tube heat exchangers, the hot liquid passes through the tubes and releases the heat from the fluid in the surrounding air using the surface of the tubes and fins. In case of the plate fin heat exchangers, hot liquid passes through the passage created by two subsequent plates, and releases heat into the surrounding air using the surface of the plates and the fins. Water to air type heat exchangers are used for heating residential apartments.
Gas to gas heat exchangers
This type of devices are used for processing hot exhaust gas and extracting heat from them and using the same heat to process incoming fresh gas. This type of mechanism is used for saving energy and it is used in the boiler for preheating the gas.