What are heat exchangers and how do they work?
Heat exchangers are installed to recover as much heat as possible toprevent it from being wasted.
The heat exchanger tubes that suppliers, USEL Tubular Division, provide are useful for various industrial applications and are suitable for a wide range of industries, including oil refineries, chemical, pharmaceuticals and marine engineering.
A heat exchanger tube is often found in the engine of cars, planes and ships to improve efficiency. They can also be used for refrigeration and air conditioning but what is a heat exchanger tube and how does it work?
What is a heat exchanger?
The best way to explain what a heat exchanger tube does is to picture them in your home. If you have a gas central heating system, this system is used to heat various rooms within your property and this is where the heat exchanger tube comes in.The natural gas burns and water flows through a network of pipes. In doing so, the heat passes from one liquid or gas to another, without mixing.
What is a heat exchanger used for?
Tube suppliers like USEL Tubular Division supply a range of products, including the stock heat exchanger tube and the finned tube. The main purpose of heat exchanger tubes is to heat or cool a building reliably.
- Refrigeration and Air Conditioning
The most common application of the heat exchanger tubes is refrigerators and air conditioners. These are designed to function differently to central heating systems and remove the heat that is contained inside the room.
Heat exchangers remove the heat out of the room for air conditioning.For refrigeration, the heat is removed from enclosed compartments. The heat exchanger tube is the key element of cooling and ensures optimal temperatures.
- Power Plants and Engines
At power plants, energy can be wasted and these exhaust gases are notutilised efficiently- they are simply released into the open air.Although a heat exchanger tube makes a simple addition, it can go a long way to help minimise this energy from being wasted.
To benefit from heat exchangers, it’s recommended that you choose the most suitable ones for your intended applications. A finned tube is often the best option for preventing energy loss at power plants and engines.
- Automotive
USEL Tubular Division supply a complete range of tubes that are guaranteed to suit your exact specification, after all, they aim to meet and exceed the requirements of all industries!
Buses also use heat exchanger tubes to ensure that the diesel engine cools down effectively. The heat exchanger tube allows a fluid to pass through and cool down the engine. The heat that is recovered from the heat exchangers is then used to insulate the bus.
Did you know that your car radiator is a heat exchanger? Flowing water cools the car engine down and allows the flowing water to be heated. The heat exchanger removes this excess heat to ensure that the engine performs efficiently.
Types of Heat Exchangers
Although all heat exchangers do the same job – passing heat from one fluid to another – they work very differently.
Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger
One of the most common types of heat exchangers is the shell and tube exchanger. With these, the fluid flows through metal tubes (fins) whilst the second fluid passes through a shell. The way liquid flows varies in shell and tube heat exchangers, it either flows parallel (in the same direction), counterflow (in the opposite direction) or crossflow (perpendicular).
Plate and Fin Heat Exchanger
A plate heat exchanger tube is made up of many identical metal fins. These fins have a larger surface area and allow heat to be exchanged quicker. These tubes are designed to be lightweight and can easily be installed to vehicles.
If you need to know more about any finned tube or heat exchanger tube that tube suppliers provide, be sure to call USEL Tubular Division on0191 587 1777 today!
