Shandong Zhilin Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd.

Heat Exchanger Manufacturers: A Comparison of the Advantages and Disadvantages of Plate and Shell-and-Tube Heat Exchangers

Release time:

2022-04-15 12:04

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Through scientific research and production practice, people have gained a deep understanding of the characteristics of plate heat exchangers and have summarized a series of advantages and disadvantages. These advantages and disadvantages are usually compared with shell and tube heat exchangers, and are summarized by the heat exchanger manufacturer as follows.

Through scientific research and production practice, people have gained a deep understanding of the characteristics of plate heat exchangers and summarized a series of advantages and disadvantages. These advantages and disadvantages are usually compared with shell and tube heat exchangers, and the heat exchanger manufacturer summarizes them as follows.

Heat Exchanger Manufacturer

　　Advantage 1: High Heat Transfer Coefficient The structure of shell and tube heat exchangers is very good in terms of strength, but not ideal in terms of heat transfer, because when the fluid flows in the shell side, there are baffles - shell, folded fluid - heat transfer tubes and bypasses between the tube bundle and the shell. The fluid passing through these bypasses does not fully participate in the heat exchange. However, the heat exchanger manufacturer indicates that the plate heat exchanger has no bypass, and the corrugations of the plates can make the fluid turbulent at a lower flow rate. Therefore, it has a higher heat transfer coefficient, generally considered to be 3~5 times that of shell and tube.

　　Comparison of shell and tube heat exchangers and plate heat exchangers: To complete the same heat exchange task; the heat exchange area of the plate type is only 1/3 ~ 1/4 that of the shell and tube type.

　　Advantage 2: Large Logarithmic Mean Temperature Difference In shell and tube heat exchangers, the two fluids flow on the shell side and the tube side respectively, generally in a cross-flow mode. If further analyzed, the shell side is mixed flow, and the tube side is multi-flow, so the logarithmic mean temperature difference should use a correction coefficient. The correction coefficient is usually very small, the fluid flow is generally co-current or counter-current, and its temperature difference correction coefficient is generally greater than 0.8, usually 0.95.

　 Advantage 3: Small Footprint Plate heat exchangers have a compact structure, and the heat transfer area per unit volume is 2~5 times that of shell and tube heat exchangers. The heat exchanger manufacturer indicates that, unlike shell and tube heat exchangers, there is no need to reserve a maintenance area for the tube bundle, so when completing the same heat exchange task, the footprint of the plate heat exchanger is about 1/5 ~ 1/10 that of the shell and tube heat exchanger.

　 Advantage 4: Lightweight The plate thickness of the plate heat exchanger is only 0.5mm, the thickness of the heat transfer tube of the shell and tube type is 2.0 ~ 2.5mm, and the shell is much heavier than the frame of the plate heat exchanger. Under the same heat exchange task, the heat exchange area required by the plate heat exchanger is smaller than that of the shell and tube heat exchanger, which means that the medium plate is lighter, generally only about 1/5 of the shell and tube type.

　　Advantage 5: Small End Temperature Difference In the shell and tube heat exchanger, the fluid flowing on the shell side flows across and parallel to the heat transfer surface, and there is bypass flow. However, in the plate, the flow of hot and cold fluids is parallel to the heat transfer surface, and there is no side flow. Therefore, the temperature difference at the end is very small, which can be less than 1 for water-water heat exchange, while the temperature difference of shell and tube is about 5, which is very advantageous for low-temperature energy recovery.

　　Advantage 6: Low Fouling Coefficient The heat exchanger manufacturer indicates that the fouling coefficient of the plate heat exchanger is much smaller than that of the shell and tube type, which is due to the intense turbulence of the fluid, making it difficult for impurities to deposit. The circulation dead zone in the inter-plate channel is small; the heat transfer surface made of stainless steel is smooth, with less corrosion deposits; and it is easy to clean.

Plate heat exchanger advantages shared by manufacturers

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