A heat exchanger is a device that transfers heat from one medium to another. For example, a hydraulic oil cooler will remove heat from hot oil using cold water or air. A swimming pool heat exchanger, on the other hand, uses hot water from a boiler or solar heated water circuit to heat the pool water. Conduction heat exchangers transfer heat through the exchanger materials that separate the mediums being used. A shell and tube heat exchanger cools a liquid by passing it through and over tubes, and an air-cooled heat exchanger cools it by passing cool air through a core of fins.
Types of heat exchangers
There are several types of heat exchangers.
Shell and tube heat exchangers
Shell and tube heat exchangers are made up of many small tubes that are housed within a cylindrical shell. The tubes are positioned into the cylinder using a tube bundle or tube stack that can have fixed tube plates permanently fixed to the body or a floating tube stack that allows the tube bundle to expand and contract with varying heat conditions. The latter is easily removed for service and maintenance.
Plate heat exchangers
Plate heat exchangers work in the same way as shell and tube heat exchangers, but instead of tubes, they use a series of stacked plates. Depending on the application and fluids used, plate heat exchangers are usually brazed or gasketed. Because of their compact stainless steel construction, they are ideal for use with refrigerants or in food and beverage processing.
Air-cooled heat exchangers
Air-cooled heat exchangers are commonly used in vehicles or other mobile applications where there is no permanent source of cool water. A fan or air flow caused by the movement of the vehicle provides cool air.
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