Heat Exchangers

Heat Exchangers Sales & Service

The general function of a heat exchanger is to transfer heat from one fluid to another. The basic component of a heat exchanger can be viewed as a tube with one fluid running through it and another fluid flowing by on the outside.

There are three heat transfer operations that need to be described:

Convective heat transfer from fluid to the inner wall of the tube,
Conductive heat transfer through the tube wall, and
Convective heat transfer from the outer tube wall to the outside fluid.

Heat exchangers are typically classified according to flow arrangement and type of construction. The simplest heat exchanger is one for which the hot and cold fluids move in the same or opposite directions in a concentric tube (or double-pipe) construction. In the parallel-flow arrangement of Figure the hot and cold fluids enter at the same end, flow in the same direction, and leave at the same end. In the counter flow arrangement of the fluids enter at opposite ends, flow in opposite directions, and leave at opposite ends.