This section provides overview, applications, and principles of heat exchangers. Also, please take a look at the list of 92 heat exchanger manufacturers and their company rankings.
Table of Contents
A heat exchanger is a machine that transfers heat between fluids such as air and water.
The most common machine in which heat exchanger is used is the air conditioner, which regulates room temperature through heat exchange between refrigerant and air. Various structures have been developed for heat exchanger, which must be properly selected according to the fluid used for heat exchange. Types of structures include multi-tube heat exchanger, plate heat exchanger, spiral heat exchanger, finned tube heat exchanger, air-cooled heat exchanger, and coil heat exchanger.
Heat exchangers are used in air conditioning, refrigerators, car cooling mechanisms, water heaters, industrial plants, etc. Heat exchangers should be selected based on the accuracy and durability of the temperature environment required for heat exchange, the type of fluid to be exchanged, and the uniformity of temperature.
Examples of heat exchangers applications are shown below.
This section describes the principle of heat exchangers. Since heat exchangers have a variety of structures, we will explain typical multi-tube heat exchangers, plate heat exchangers, spiral heat exchangers, and finned tube heat exchangers.
Multi-tube heat exchangers consists of a thick circular tube and many thin circular tubes inside the circular ring. The fluid to be exchanged flows into the thick circular tube, and the refrigerant or cooling water flows into the thin circular tube, and heat is exchanged between the two tubes.
Plate heat exchangers are heat exchangers with a structure in which the plates through which the high-temperature fluid flows and the plates through which the low-temperature fluid flows are arranged alternately. The fluid flowing through the plates becomes turbulent and agitated, resulting in extremely high heat exchange efficiency.
Spiral heat exchangers are heat exchangers that exchanges heat between two fluids in a spiral-shaped flow path where the two fluids do not mix. The inside of the channel is a single flow path, and even if a substance adheres to the wall of the heat exchangers, the width of the channel is shortened, and the flow velocity is increased, allowing the adhered object to peel off from the wall. Therefore, it is suitable for the heat exchange of fluids containing impurities.
Heat exchangers are used in a variety of industrial applications, including distillation columns, boilers, steam generators, and condensers. The structures can be classified as follows.
A multi-tube heat exchanger are a device in which several tubes are inserted into a cylindrical shell. Each is separated by a plate so that the fluids do not mix and heat is exchanged between each other.
Air-fin heat exchangers are a device consisting of tubes and a fan. Used for cooling, the fluid to be cooled flows through the tubes and is cooled by air flow using the power of the fan.
Finned-tube heat exchangers are device with fins (heat-transfer plates) installed in a tube to increase the heat-transfer area. They are used in heat exchangers for air conditioners.
Coil heat exchangers are device in which a heat-transfer tube is coiled and surrounded by a cylinder, etc., to which a cooling or heating medium is added to exchange heat with the tube side.
A heat sink is a device with many heat sinks installed directly on the heat-generating medium and uses the outside atmosphere as a cooling medium. They are used to cool semiconductors such as CPUs in PCs.
Plate heat exchangers are heat exchangers in which a number of specially processed metal heat-transfer plates are stacked on top of each other, and high-temperature fluid and low-temperature fluid flow alternately across the plates.
This heat exchangers easily obtains a turbulent flow effect and has a very large summary heat transfer coefficient compared to multi-tube heat exchangers, resulting in a high heat exchange rate. In addition, its compact design makes it less problematic in terms of installation location when used in plants. And it is possible to increase or decrease the heat transfer area, which is not seen in other heat exchangers. Since the structure consists of stacked heat transfer plates, the number of plates can be changed to meet process requirements.
The disadvantage is that it cannot be used in processes where the fluid has a large viscosity, contains particles, or is heavy and easily contaminated. The use of such fluids not only reduces thermal efficiency but also leads to blockages between the plates. It is associated with higher equipment maintenance costs and process shutdowns.
*Including some distributors, etc.
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Ranking as of January 2023 in United States
Derivation MethodRank | Company | Click Share |
---|---|---|
1 | Johansing Iron Works | 100% |
Ranking as of January 2023 Globally
Derivation MethodRank | Company | Click Share |
---|---|---|
1 | Johansing Iron Works | 100% |
Derivation Method
The ranking is calculated based on the click share within the heat exchanger page as of January 2023. Click share is defined as the total number of clicks for all companies during the period divided by the number of clicks for each company.Number of Employees
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