Heat exchangers apply to both cooling and heating applications.  They are specifically the device that makes the transfer of heat between two fluid possible.  Here is a guide to the science of industrial heat exchangers, the applications, and the advancing technology.

About Heat Exchangers

An industrial heat exchanger is heat transfer equipment that utilizes a thermal energy exchange process between two or more mediums available at different temperatures.

Industrial heat exchangers are applied in various industrial applications such as power plant generation, petroleum oil and gas industry, chemical processing plant, transportation, alternative fuels, cryogenic, air conditioning, and heat recovery.

Heat Exchanger Applications

There are various types of heat exchangers depending upon the application that it is being used to accomplish.  It is equally important to take into account the medium that it is going to be for.

• air-to-liquid cooling – Cabinet cooling
• liquid-to-air cooling – Cool process fluids
• liquid-to-liquid cooling – Coolers in distilleries, commercial properties, etc.
• air-to-air cooling – Heater/heating in an industrial oven, large spaces, agriculture, and biomass

Types of Heat Exchangers

• Finned Tube/Air Cooled Heat Exchanger– This works by passing liquid into a series of tubes while pumping gas or air around the pipeline to cool the fluid down. It is ideal for chemical applications.
• Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger– The exchanger works by passing a fluid, either hot or cold through tubes and it pumps counter flowing gas or fluid into the shell where heat transfer takes place. They use this in the oil and gas industry.
• Plate and Frame Heat Exchanger– This works by passing liquids through a series of plates that are compacted together side by side. Heating systems can benefit from a gasket plate exchanger.  Allowing individual houses to use the correct amount of hot water from a source. Therefore, it cools oil using water where the liquids cannot mix. 

Pressure Based Heat Exchangers

Plate heat exchanger processes thin plates connected with spaces between the two to let the fluid flow between surface areas.  These are significantly compact and very efficient for transferring heat between low and medium pressure fluids.

For high-pressure applications, shell and tubes that consist of bundles of tubes inside a shell to transfer heat from within it and around it is an ideal instrument.

Air-cooled heat exchangers have fine tubes, and it specifically cools liquid by forcing air to the exterior of the tubes in which the fluid circulates.

Industries that Use Heat Exchangers

Several industries significantly benefit from a heat exchanger.  These include:

• Biofuels
• Breweries
• Dairy Farms
• Landfills
• Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants

Advancing Technology

Komax saw the need for more advanced design and for this reason, created the Klean-Wall Heat Exchanger.  It can be utilized for mixing and heating municipal sludge, FOG, and manure for aerobic and anaerobic digestion purposes.  It enhances the biogas production and also helps in the production of Class A biosolids.

The heat exchanger is more thermally efficient than a straight shell-and-tube heat exchanger due to the patented non-clogging mixing elements known as the Hi-Pass mixing elements.