Vertical Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers
Vertical Shell and tube heat exchangers consist of a series of tubes. The second fluid runs over the tubes that are being heated or cooled so that it can either provide the heat or absorb the heat required.
One set of these tubes contains the fluid that must be either heated or cooled. Vertical Shell Tube Heat Exchanger is widely used in variety of application as a cooling solution.
Shell and tube heat exchangers are used for the majority of Swenson installations. The heating medium is typically steam which is normally condensed on the outside of the tubes to heat the liquor or slurry which flows inside the tubes.
Both vertical and horizontal tube heat exchangers are utilized. The horizontal exchanger is used for installations with limited headroom or where maximum liquor submergence is needed to prevent surface boiling and subsequent salt precipitation on the tubes.
Heat exchangers are typically one or two passes and are designed for relatively low temperature rises in the solution. This limits the supersaturation of scaling components when heating materials with inverted solubility. In most applications, the steam-to-liquid delta-T is also limited to prevent mass boiling within the tubes or vaporization at the tube wall.
Internal tube supports are not normally required for vertical heat exchangers. The tubes are usually fastened mechanically to the top and bottom tubesheets by expansion of the tube into the tube holes.