With the rapid development of the equipment industry and the improvement of living standards, volumetric heat exchangers are mainly used for exchanging heat energy or cold energy. Then, do you know what the performance characteristics of volumetric heat exchangers are? And what about their historical development? The following is an introduction to "the Development History and Performance Advantages of Volumetric Heat Exchangers".
Development History of Volumetric Heat Exchangers
A volumetric heat exchanger can be either an independent piece of equipment (such as a heater, cooler, or condenser) or a component of a process equipment (such as the heat exchanger inside an ammonia synthesis tower).
Due to the limitations of manufacturing technology and scientific development level in the early days, heat exchangers could only adopt simple structures. They had small heat transfer areas, large volumes, and were heavy-typical examples include coiled-tube heat exchangers.
With the development of manufacturing technology, the shell-and-tube heat exchanger was gradually developed. It not only has a large heat transfer area per unit volume but also achieves good heat transfer efficiency. For a long time, it has been a typical heat exchanger in industrial production.
In the 1920s, plate heat exchangers emerged and were applied in the food industry. Heat exchangers made of plates instead of tubes featured compact structure and excellent heat transfer performance, so they were gradually developed into various types.
In the early 1930s, Sweden developed the spiral plate heat exchanger. Subsequently, the UK used brazing technology to manufacture a plate-fin heat exchanger made of copper and its alloys, which was used for heat dissipation of aircraft engines. In the late 1930s, Sweden further produced plate-shell heat exchangers for pulp mills. During this period, to solve the heat exchange problem of highly corrosive media, people began to pay attention to heat exchangers made of new materials.
Around the 1960s, driven by the rapid development of aerospace technology and science, there was an urgent need for various compact heat exchangers. Coupled with the development of stamping, brazing, and sealing technologies, the manufacturing process of heat exchangers was further improved-this promoted the vigorous development and wide application of compact plate-type heat exchangers.
In addition, starting from the 1960s, the typical shell-and-tube heat exchanger was further developed to meet the needs of heat exchange under high-temperature and high-pressure conditions as well as energy conservation. In the mid-1970s, to enhance heat transfer, heat pipe heat exchangers were developed on the basis of the research and development of heat pipes.
Characteristics of Volumetric Heat Exchangers
Volumetric heat exchangers realize heat exchange by allowing cold and hot fluids to alternately flow through the surface of heat storage bodies (fillers) in the heat storage chamber. Among them, the recuperative (wall-type) volumetric heat exchanger separates cold and hot fluids with a solid partition wall, and heat exchange occurs through this wall-hence it is also called a surface-type heat exchanger.
Volumetric heat exchangers can be divided into three categories according to different heat transfer methods:
- Mixed-type volumetric heat exchangers
- Regenerative volumetric heat exchangers
- Recuperative (wall-type) volumetric heat exchangers
Key Characteristics of Volumetric Heat Exchangers
Large temperature drop of heat medium:
For steam-water heat exchange: The outlet temperature of condensate water is approximately 50°C. Steam traps need to be installed on the upper and lower parts of the return pipe, facilitating operation and maintenance.
For water-water heat exchange: The temperature drop of the heat medium is 2–2.5 times that of the same-type heat exchangers. High-temperature hot water (120–150°C) can be cooled down to 70–75°C after heat exchange.
Excellent heat exchange and energy-saving performance:It has good heat exchange efficiency, low heat dissipation loss, and thus achieves energy conservation. Meanwhile, when steam is used as the heat medium, it can recover about 15% of the total heat exchange capacity from the condensate water.
Small cold water zone and high volume utilization rate:The area occupied by cold water in the equipment is small, which maximizes the effective use of the equipment's internal volume.
Retains advantages of traditional volumetric heat exchangers:It maintains the advantages of large water storage capacity, low head loss, stable water supply, and convenient scale removal.
The above introduction regarding "the Development History of Volumetric Heat Exchangers" and "the Characteristics of Volumetric Heat Exchangers" is intended to help you understand "the Development History and Performance Advantages of Volumetric Heat Exchangers".
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