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ChEs
Vishwas V. Wadekar, HTFS, AEA Technology Hyprotech

to

CHEs

Guide

Compact Heat Exchangers

Copyright

2000 American Institute of Chemical Engineers. All rights reserved. Copying and downloading permitted with restrictions.

variety of heat exchangers can be employed to heat or cool process streams. More often than not, though, shell-and-tube exchangers are selected for most chemical process industries (CPI) applications. However, this situation is gradually changing, and compact heat exchangers are now gaining increased attention as viable cost-effective alternatives. Several factors are responsible for this change: The advantages of CHEs are becoming increasingly apparent in their original elds of application, such as refrigeration and air conditioning, cryogenics, food processing, etc. In recent years, new CHEs have been introduced, including some specically for hightemperature, high-pressure applications in the CPI. Software tools for the selection and design of CHEs are now available from independent sources. There is increased awareness about CHEs through specialist conferences and study groups. In many retrot applications, equipment with increased throughput yet occupying less oor space is required, forcing engineers to look for alternatives to conventional shell-andtube exchangers. Offshore applications, where incentives are

Compact heat exchangers (CHEs) offer high heat-transfer coefficients and large surface areas with a small footprint, making them a cost-effective alternative to shell-and-tube exchangers in many applications.
much greater for weight- and space-saving equipment, have become test beds for new CHE applications, highlighting the practicality and advantages of some of the CHEs. Of course, compact heat exchangers do have a number of real (and some perceived) limitations and disadvantages. Generally, though, the cost and energy saving benets offered by CHEs over the conventional shell-and-tube heat exchanger make it imperative that they be considered as a serious alternative. This article gives a broad overview of compact heat exchangers. It provides some background on the thermal benets of CHEs, the concepts of thermal effectiveness and temperature approach, and the degree of compactness of an exchanger, and it describes the different types of CHEs. Finally, it offers guidelines for selecting an appropriate CHE for a particular application.

Thermal benets of CHEs To understand some of the advantages of compact heat exchangers, lets start with the basic question for the overall heat transferred within a heat exchanger:
Q = UAFtTlm (1)

Due to their inherently complex, often tortu-

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Compact Heat Exchangers

s Figure 2.
T1, T2,
in

T2,

in

Thermal Effectiveness

out

Thermal effectiveness vs. number of transfer units.

T1,
out

1.0 Countercurrent 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2

Crossflow Cocurrent

s Figure 1. Schematic diagram of stream

temperatures in a two-stream exchanger.

ous and noncircular ow passage structure, CHEs tend to have higher heat-transfer coefficients for both the hot and the cold streams. This increases the CHEs overall heat-transfer coefficient, U. Due to the higher area density (heat-transfer area per unit volume of the exchanger), the incremental cost of incorporating a larger heat-transfer area is generally less for CHEs than for shell-and-tube exchangers. This means that the value of the heattransfer area, A, in Eq. 1 is likely to be higher for CHEs. Some CHEs, such as plate-n exchangers, contain extended surfaces or secondary heattransfer area, which further increases the total effective heat-transfer area signicantly. In Eq. 1, Ft is a correction factor for the log mean temperature difference, Tlm, to account for the departure from pure countercurrent flow. Thus, if the streams within a heat exchanger are flowing in a true countercurrent manner, Ft = 1. Compact heat exchangers can generally be configured as essentially pure countercurrent flow devices, with Ft nearly approaching the value of unity. In view of the high values of the overall heat-transfer coefficient and the heat-transfer area, coupled with the value of Ft close to unity, Eq. 1 can be interpreted in two ways. For a given mean temperature difference, the heat duty that could be achieved in a compact heat exchanger will be higher. Alternatively, for given heat duty, a smaller mean temperature difference will be required.

0 0 1 2 3 4 5

NTUmax = UA/Cmin

Thermal effectiveness and temperature approach These two terms are often used in connection with heat exchangers. Because they characterize the thermal performance of an exchanger, they are especially relevant and frequently used in quantifying the thermal benefits of compact heat exchangers. Thermal effectiveness is a ratio of the actual heat transferred in the exchanger to the thermodynamic maximum. If a two-stream heat exchanger is handling streams with equal thermal capacity, mcp (ow rate times heat capacity) [i.e., (mcp)Stream 1 = (mcp)Stream 2], then the thermal effectiveness, , is simply given by the ratio of the actual temperature change for a stream to the maximum possible temperature change. For the example depicted in Figure 1, the temperature change for Stream 1 is (T1,out T1,in). If the heat exchanger had an innite area, the outlet temperature of Stream 1 would be equal to the inlet temperature of Stream 2. The maximum possible temperature change for Stream 1 is, therefore, (T1,in T2,in). Thus, the thermal effectiveness will be given by
= T1,out T1,in T1,in T2,in

(2) The temperature approach is the minimum difference between the

local stream temperatures in the exchanger. For the unit shown in Figure 1, it remains the same everywhere throughout the exchanger because the two stream temperature proles are parallel to each other. Exchangers that contain more heat-transfer area, provide high overall heat-transfer coefficients, and have pure countercurrent ow tend to have a higher thermal effectiveness. This is illustrated in Figure 2, which plots thermal effectiveness against the maximum number of transfer units (NTUmax). Cmin is the minimum of (mcp)Stream 1 and (mcp)Stream 2. Note that for a given position along the x-axis, the countercurrent flow arrangement provides the maximum thermal effectiveness, followed by crossflow, and then cocurrent flow. The curves approach different limiting values of thermal effectiveness asymptotically 0.5 and 1.0 for cocurrent and countercurrent flow, respectively, with an intermediate value for crossflow. For any given flow arrangement, the thermal effectiveness rises with an increase in the overall heat-transfer coefficient and heat-transfer area, although the rate of increase slows down asymptotically. It should be noted that exchangers with higher thermal effectiveness result in closer temperature approaches.

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Hydraulic Diameter, mm 60 10 1 Human Lungs 0.1

Specialty Plate-Fin Plate Shell-and-Tube 100 1,000 Area Density, m2/m3 10,000

Plate heat exchanger In the broadest sense, this category includes all heat exchangers that use plates in their construction. Examples are the various types of exchangers containing cross-corrugated channels, spiral plate heat exchangers, and some proprietary welded exchangers. Gasketted plate-and-frame heat exchanger This exchanger, referred to as a plate-and-frame heat exchanger or simply a plate heat exchanger, consists of a pack of plates held together in a frame. Figure 4 shows an exploded view of the assembly of a plate heat exchanger. More details of construction are available from a number of sources (e.g., Ref. 1). As shown in Figure 4, the two streams ow in alternate channels between plates, entering and leaving via ports in the corners of the plates. Each plate has a gasket around the edge and around the ports. The gaskets around the plate edge dene the ow paths and are arranged to make the two streams ow in alternate plate passages. The exchanger can be completely dismantled for cleaning. This is the main reason for its widespread use in the food industry and other clean applications. Figure 5 shows a typical chevron pattern, which forms the cross-corrugated passages in the plate heat exchanger with chevron patterns of the consecutive plates pointing in opposite directions. The plates are normally made of stainless steel; they are also available in other higher alloys and metals (such as titanium) for special duties. Plates can be from 0.2 m to over 3 m long, with widths typically 20% to 40% of their length. The plate thickness is usually in the range of 0.4 to 0.9 mm, and the plate spacing varies between 2.5 and 5 mm, except for special wide-gap plates sometimes used for viscous or brous materials. The hydraulic diameter for ow between plates is approximately twice the plate spacing.
41

s Figure 3. Flow channel size and heat-transfer area density for various types of heat exchangers. As mentioned earlier, compact heat exchangers offer high overall heat-transfer coefficients and heattransfer areas. Hence, they can operate at a high thermal effectiveness, making them especially suitable for close temperature approach duties. Again, many CHEs can be congured as nearly ideal countercurrent ow devices. Thus, they fall on or very near the high thermal effectiveness curve for countercurrent ow in Figure 2. The flow passages of compact heat exchangers offer another advantage. The flow velocities of the streams tend to be more uniform across the flow width thereby minimizing the stagnant or low-velocity zones within the exchanger. Because such zones are more susceptible to fouling, their elimination means that CHEs have less propensity to foul. Although compact exchangers are less likely to foul on this basis, the possibility of blockage of the small flow channels by suspended particles needs to be taken into account for not-so-clean fluids. In many cases, this calls for the installation of strainers before the streams enter the exchanger.

Degree of compactness Heat exchangers can be classied in a variety of ways. One way that is especially relevant to compact heat exchangers is based on two closely related parameters the ow channel size and the heat-transfer area density. Normally, the smaller the ow channel size in the exchanger, the higher the area density. Figure 3 compares several broad categories of heat exchangers. Shelland-tube exchangers use plain tubes that are typically 10 to 30 mm in diameter, which translates to area densities of about 100 m2/m3. Plate-type exchangers (e.g., plate-and-frame exchangers) generally have 5-mm to 8mm channels and area densities more than 200 m2/m3. Plate-n exchangers, the category to which car radiators belong, have channel sizes of about 2 mm and area densities between 800 and 1,500 m2/m3. Speciality heat exchangers, which include the printed circuit heat exchanger, have channels with hydraulic diameters of roughly 1 to 2 mm and area densities of over 2,000 m2/m3. The human lung, with ow passages of 0.2 mm equivalent diameter and area densities of more than 10,000 m2/m3, is shown for comparison.

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Compact Heat Exchangers

Soft Plate

Hard Plate

s Figure 5. Typical chevron pattern

on a plate

s Figure 4. Exploded view of a plate-and-frame heat exchanger. Courtesy of Alfa Laval Thermal Inc. Operating pressures up to 20 bar are standard, and somewhat higher pressures can be achieved using heavy-duty frames. The gaskets, employed to seal the ow passages, usually limit the operating temperature range, with a lower limit of 25C and an upper limit of 160C to 180C, depending on the specic gasket material. The main advantage of this type of exchanger is that it can be opened, providing complete accessibility to the heat-transfer surface. This also gives the exibility of adding or removing some plates to accommodate changes in the heat duty. The main limitation of the plateand-frame heat exchanger is that the process uids must be compatible with the gasket material. The gasketted construction also makes these units unsuitable for renery applications where prolonged resistance to re may be required. Partially welded plate-and-frame exchangers (discussed later) allow the user to balance the advantages of exibility and accessibility arising from the gasketted construction against the higher temperature and pressure operation with a wider range of uid types offered by the welded construction. (Fully welded exchangers can operate at even higher temperatures if exibility and accessibility are not necessary.) For single-phase liquid duties involving moderate temperatures and pressures, plate-and-frame exchangers can be a cost-effective alternative to the conventional shell-and-tube exchanger.

Flow passage structure in plate exchangers Plate heat exchangers have corrugated plates. The corrugations provide both support against internal pressures and heat-transfer enhancement. The most common type of plate has crossed corrugations, that is, the corrugation patterns in adjacent plates are at an angle to each other, giving a lattice of support points where they touch and a complex ow channel shape between the plates. The corrugations are usually formed as chevrons. There may be a single chevron pattern, as in Figure 5, or multiple rows of chevrons across the plate width. Other variants have the chevron pattern running along the length rather than width of the plate. In all cases, however, the local ow geometry has the same cross-corrugated structure. For the cross-corrugated plates formed from the chevron pattern,

chevron angle is an important design variable. The chevron angle is the angle of the corrugations with respect to a horizontal line, designated as in Figure 5. A plate with a low chevron angle offers a high heat-transfer coefcient and high pressure drop, whereas a plate with a high chevron angle has lower heat transfer and lower pressure drop. The low- and highchevron angle plates can also be referred to as hard and soft plates, respectively, reecting the resistance that they present to a owing uid. For single-phase duties, reliable information is generally available on the effect of chevron angle on heat transfer and pressure drop (for example, Ref. 2). Therefore, selecting soft or hard plates (or a combination) to match specic pressure drop and heat-transfer requirements is relatively straightforward. In addition to the main chevron pattern, the pattern on the distribution regions of the plates is also important and plays a signicant role in uniform distribution of a stream in a given plate channel (34).

Partially welded plate heat exchanger This variant of the plate-and-frame heat exchanger attempts to combine some of the advantages of gasketted and welded construction. This design is useful when a suitable gasket mate-

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Endplate Gasket Service

Welded Seal

Flowplate Gasket

Welded Seal

Flowplate Welded Gasket Seal

Flowplate Gasket

Welded Seal

Head

Process Endplate Pair Flowplate Pair Flowplate Pair Sealplate Pair

s Figure 6. Partially welded, or welded-pair, plate heat exchanger. Courtesy of APV Heat Exchanger
Product Group.

rial cannot be found because of the chemical aggressivenes of one of the uids. Pairs of plates are welded together around the edges to form gasket-free channels through which the aggressive uid can ow. Gaskets are used between the welded pairs for the less aggressive uid. Such a heat exchanger is referred to as a weldedpair plate exchanger (Figure 6). The aggressive uid, while owing through the ports, does come in contact with the circular port gaskets mounted on the gasketted side of the plates. Because these gaskets are circular and therefore easy to seal, and are relatively small, they can be made from a less exible but more chemically resistant material, such as polytetrauoroethylene (PTFE, or Teon). Welded-pair plate exchangers have the same operating temperature and pressure limits as the fully gasketted plate-frame exchangers. Advantages of accessibility and exibility also remain the same except for the access to the welded side of the plates.

and is completely free of gaskets. The plate pack is held within a frame in a conventional manner. Ducts of the same material as the plates are welded to the plate pack at the port holes and carry uids to and from the anges attached to the frame and the plate pack, eliminating the need for a gasket between the front plate and the head plate of the frame. The welded construction allows the exchanger to operate at temperatures up to 350C and pressures up to 40 bar. However, because it is welded, the plate pack cannot be opened for cleaning and plates cannot be added or removed from it.

plates are continually becoming available. The exchanger s overall size is still relatively small compared to the large plate-and-frame units. These exchangers are now widely used in the refrigeration industry for single-phase and two-phase duties. They are probably the cheapest stainless steel exchangers available on the market today. They should be used only for relatively clean uids because of their small passages and inaccessibility of the heat-transfer surface for mechanical cleaning. More recently, nickel brazed plate heat exchangers have been introduced to the market. They are particularly useful for duties involving ammonia as a working uid where copper brazed heat exchangers cannot be used.

Plate-and-shell heat exchanger An interesting variant of the plate exchanger is the plate-and-shell heat exchanger (Figure 8). It consists of a stack of welded circular cross-corrugated plates tted into a cylindrical shell. The stack is formed by welding the plates alternately around the ports and around the outer periphery. One stream ows through the plate pairs and the other between the alternate plate gaps. The plates are made of stainless steel and higher alloys. Plate diame-

Completely welded plate heat exchanger Recently, a fully welded platepack construction has been introduced in the market. In this arrangement, the plate pack is welded fully

Brazed plate heat exchanger This design (Figure 7) has a plate structure similar to that of the conventional plate-and-frame heat exchanger, but the plate pack is brazed together using copper as the brazing material. Plates are made from stainless steel or higher alloys. Brazing eliminates the need for both a frame and gaskets. Brazing also increases the operating temperature and pressure range considerably. The exchanger can operate from 195C to 200C at pressures up to 30 bar. Plate lengths are usually 1 m or less, although larger units with longer

s Figure 7. Brazed plate heat exchanger.

Courtesy of Alfa Laval Thermal Inc.

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s Figure 8.
Plate-and-shell heat exchanger.

ters range from 200 to 1,000 mm. Standard designs can accommodate heat-transfer areas from 0.5 to 500 m2 in a single unit. These units can operate in the temperature range of 200C to 600C and at pressures up to 40 bar. It is claimed that plate-and-shell exchangers can handle duties involving thermal cycling, because the plate pack is able to expand and contract within the shell. These exchangers have been used in single-phase and two-phase duties in refrigeration and other industries.

Plate-n heat exchanger The conventional brazed aluminum plate-n heat exchangers are used extensively in cryogenic applications, such as air separation and ethylene plants. However, because they are made from aluminum, they cannot be used for higher temperature applications. Their derivatives made of stainless steel and titanium have more potential applications in the CPI. Brazed aluminum plate-n heat exchanger A typical brazed aluminum exchanger handling multiple streams is illustrated in Figure 9. It consists of alternating layers of plates (referred to as parting sheets) and corrugated ns. Flow passages are formed between the consecutive parting sheets, with the sealing provided by the side bars along the edges. The parting sheets and ns provide the primary and secondary surface for heat-transfer, respectively. In addition to pro-

viding the secondary area for heat transfer, the brazed ns hold the heat exchanger together. In most plate-n exchangers, the effective length of the block consists of nning laid parallel to the block axis, to give true counterow heat exchange among the streams. At the end of the exchanger, pads of nning are laid at an angle and serve as distributors. These distribute the ow coming from the headers and nozzles into the main heat-transfer passages or collect the ow coming from the passages and direct it into the headers and nozzles. The headers and nozzles are welded onto the outside of the block. Within the plate-n core, each stream ows in a number of layers, each of which is divided into numerous parallel, nearly rectangular subchannels by the ns. Fin heights and n frequencies determine the size of these subchannels. Fin heights are typically between 5 and 9 mm, while n frequencies, in the main heattransfer region, are typically 590 to 787 ns/m (15 to 20 ns/in.). The equivalent hydraulic diameters of these subchannels are, thus, only a few millimeters. These small passages result in heat-transfer area densities of about 800 to 1,500 m2/m3. Such high area density, coupled with the aluminum construction, means that for a given heat-transfer area, the exchangers are smaller and lighter than any other exchanger type. The overall size of these exchangers can be up to 1.2 m wide, 1.2 m deep (the stack height), and 6.2 m long. They are used for single-phase

and two-phase duties involving boiling and condensation. In low-temperature cryogenic applications, they provide the benet of a multistream capability, ensuring that all the cold streams produced in a process are used to cool the incoming warm streams. They can operate at a thermal effectiveness up to 98% and are able to handle temperature approaches down to less than 2C. In cryogenic duties where economics are dominated by the cost of energy required to generate the low temperatures, such close temperature approach is of vital importance. Brazed aluminum exchangers can be used for streams at pressures up to 100 bar and generally within a temperature range of 269C to 100C; with appropriate alloys for the headers and nozzles, they can be used at temperatures up to 200C. However, the maximum operating temperature for aluminum alloys decreases rapidly with increasing pressure. Four basic n geometries (Figure 10) are used in plate-n exchangers. All manufacturers make plain, perforated, and serrated (offset strip) ns. Some make wavy ns; others prefer serrated ns with a long serration length. The perforations provide a small enhancement over plain ns for improved single-phase performance. Perforated ns are often used for boiling. The perforations help to equalize ows among the subchannels, mitigating against local blockage or pressure uctuations arising from the evaporation process. Serrated ns signicantly increase

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s Figure 9.
Nozzle Inlet Outlet Header

Brazed aluminum plate-n heat exchanger.

Distributor Fin Heat Transfer Fin

Wear Plate

Spacer Bar Parting Sheet

both heat transfer and pressure drop over plain ns. They are used for single-phase gas duties, where the increase in heat-transfer coefficient is most desirable. Sometimes, they are also used for boiling duties because they are thought to aid the onset of boiling. Plain ns nd applications in condensation and single-phase duties, where lower pressure drop characteristics may be more important. For serrated ns, the standard length of the serrations is 3 mm (q in.). A longer length (12 or 15 mm) results in a n whose performance is between that of perforated ns and standard serrated ns.

Support Plate Cap Sheet

Plain Fins

Serrated (Offset) Fins

Perforated Fins

Wavy (Herringbone) Fins

s Figure 10. Plain, serrated, perforated, and wavy ns.

Stainless steel plate-n heat exchanger Plate-n heat exchangers can be manufactured of materials other than aluminum so that they can be operated at higher temperatures and pressures. Stainless steel exchangers have been used for some time in vehicle and aerospace applications, mainly for single-phase duties. These are typically small exchangers blocks with sides less than 0.3 m. Some manufacturers, however, can supply larger brazed stainless-steel plate-n units (up to 0.6 m by 0.6 m by 1.5 m long) for CPI applications. Brazed stainless steel exchangers are geometrically similar to brazed aluminum plate-n exchangers, but they normally have lower n heights (less than 5 mm high) because of the relatively poor thermal conductivity of stainless steel. They generally employ plain ns, because other n types are difficult to manufacture in stainless steel. Copper is used as the braze metal for stainless steel exchangers. The effect of the braze on process uids has sometimes been of concern to potential users. Therefore, some manufacturers are trying to develop diffusion bonding techniques for stainless steel plate-n exchangers to avoid problems associated with the copper braze.

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Literature Cited
1. Hewitt, G. F., G. L. Shires, and T. R. Bott, Process Heat Transfer, CRC Press, London (1994). 2. Heavner, R. L., H. Kumar, and A. S. Wanniarachchi, Performance of an Industrial Plate Heat Exchanger: Effect of Chevron Angle, AIChE Symposium Series, Vol 89, AIChE, New York, pp. 262267 (1993). 3. Kumar, H., M. F. Edwards, P. R. Davison, D. O. Jackson, and P. J. Heggs, The Importance of Corner Header Distributor Designs in Plate Heat Exchangers, Proceedings of the 10th International Heat Transfer Conference, Brighton, U.K., published by IChemE, Rugby, U.K., Industrial Session, Paper 1/2-CHE-5, pp. 8186 (1994). 4. Haseler, L. E., V. V. Wadekar, and R. H. Clarke, Flow Distribution Effects in a Plate Frame Heat Exchanger, 3rd U.K. National Heat Transfer Conference, published by IChemE, Rugby, U.K., IChemE Symposium Series 129, Vol. 1, pp. 361367, (1992). 5. Adderley, C., and J. O. Fowler, The Use of a Novel Manufacturing Process for High Performance Titanium PlateFin Heat Exchanger, Chapter 17, Heat Exchange Engineering, Vol. 2, E. A. Foumeny and P. J. Heggs, eds., Ellis Horwood, Chichester, U.K. (1991). 6. Haseler, L. E., and D. Butterworth, Boiling in Compact Heat Exchangers/Industrial Practice and Problems, Keynote Paper IV, International Conference on Convective Flow Boiling, Banff, Canada, published by Taylor & Francis, Philadelphia, PA, pp. 5770 (1995). 7. Guide to Compact Heat Exchangers, Prepared for the Energy Efficiency Ofce by Energy Technology Support Unit (ETSU), Harwell, U.K. (1994). 8. Oswald, J. I., D. A. Dawson, and L. A. Clawley, A New Durable Gas Turbine Recuperator, ASME Gas Turbine Conference, Indianapolis, IN, ASME 99-GT369, ASME, New York (1999). 9. Ramshaw, C., Intensied Heat Transfer: The Way Ahead?, Chapter 15, Heat Exchange Engineering, Vol. 2, E. A. Foumeny and P. J. Heggs, eds., Ellis Horwood, Chichester, U.K. (1991). 10. Ferrato, M., and B. Thonon, A Compact Ceramic Plate-Fin Heat Exchanger for Gas Turbine Heat Recovery, in Compact Heat Exchangers for the Process Industry, R. K. Shah, ed., Begell House Inc., Wallingford, U.K. and New York, pp. 195199 (1997).

Diffusion-bonded titanium plate-n heat exchanger Another development in the manufacture of plate-n heat exchangers capable of high-pressure, high-temperature operation is the application of superplastic forming and diffusion bonding technology (which was originally developed for titanium turbine blades) (5). The manufacturing technique is illustrated in Figure 11. Three sheets of titanium are diffusion bonded at selected positions using a bond inhibitor. These three sheets are then expanded superplastically in a closed die at elevated temperatures by pressurizing the unbonded regions between the plates. This forms a single element equivalent to a single layer of plate-n geometry, where the middle sheet forms the subchannels (i.e., the secondary surface). The subchannels, however, are trapezoidal rather than rectangular, and somewhat larger than the subchannels in aluminum plate-n exchangers. The heat exchanger core is assembled by diffusion bonding these elements together. The typical height of the trapezoidal subchannels is 2 to 5 mm. They are made as wavy rather than straight subchannels. Different wavy frequencies are offered to accommodate a range of pressure drop and heat-transfer characteristics. In terms of general heat transfer and pressure drop performance, these exchangers are similar to aluminum plate-n exchangers, offering the same advantage of high thermal effectiveness. The use of titanium coupled with the metallurgical benets of the manufacturing technology allow them to operate at temperatures above 550C and at pressures above 200 bar. The other main advantage of this type of exchanger is that titanium which is a highly corrosion-resistant material, and no other metal is involved as a braze. All the existing applications of these exchangers are for single-phase duties (6).

Printed-circuit heat exchanger The printed-circuit heat exchanger is manufactured by diffusion bonding technology. The term printed circuit is used because semicircular flow passages are chemically etched onto flat plates, which resemble printed circuit boards (Figure 12). The plates are then stacked and diffusion bonded together to produce an exchanger capable of operating at pressures up to 1,000 bar and temperatures up to 900C. The exchangers can be manufactured of either stainless steel or various higher alloys. The ow passages in a printed-circuit heat exchanger are normally between 0.5 and 2.0 mm deep, and the cross-section approximates a semicircle. Zigzag, as well as other morecomplicated patterns, can be etched. Various combinations of crossow and counterow can be employed in the exchanger as required. Welded compact heat exchanger Plate-and-frame exchangers with

After Bonding

After Superplastic Forming

After Ironing

s Figure 11. Steps in manufacturing an

element for a diffusion-bonded titanium plate-n exchanger.

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a cylindrical shell. This arrangement can operate at pressures up to 300 bar and temperatures ranging from 200C to 700C. Because of the large plate size, the heat-transfer area of a single unit can be as high as 10,000 m2. A typical application for this type of exchanger is feed effluent duty in a catalytic reforming plant. All welded exchangers are more expensive than the gasketted plate heat exchanger. But, the use of large plates helps reduce the cost differential. Some of the proprietary exchanger types and their pressure and temperature limits, along with examples of their applications, are described in Ref. 7.

attached to the pressure retaining sheets. Instead, the high pressure on the air side maintains the contact between the gas-side ns and the adjacent sheet. This exchanger is not yet being manufactured on a commercial scale. But when it is, it is likely to be costeffective because it can be manufactured by a continuous process.

s Figure 12. Printed-circuit heat exchanger.

Courtesy of Heatric.

fully welded plate packs were discussed earlier. There are also other types of proprietary welded designs. In one, large plates up to 10 m long and 1.5 m wide are welded together and the plate pack is contained within

Spiral recuperator A new recuperator has been developed to withstand thermal cycling (8). Unlike existing recuperators, it is made from two continuous sheets of metal wound into a spiral with a corrugated sheet providing nned channels for the hot gas stream (Figure 13). Air enters the top and ows down, while the gas enters at the bottom and ows upward. An unusual feature of the spiral recuperator is that the ns on the gas side of the matrix are not physically
s Figure 13.

Air In

Construction of a spiral recuperator.

Gas Out

Nonmetallic exchangers Compact heat exchangers can also be fabricated of nonmetallic materials of construction, such as graphite, polymer lms, and ceramics, for specialized applications. Graphite is used in making plates for the conventional plate-and-frame heat exchanger. With special gaskets made from carbon fibers, these exchangers are used for highly corrosive fluids such as acid and salt solutions in the mineral processing industry. Graphite is also used as a material of construction for carbon block exchangers, where circular passages are machined in a solid carbon block, typically in a crossflow arrangement. A detailed discussion of ceramic and polymer lm heat exchangers is given by Ramshaw (9). More recently, Ferrato and Thonon (10) have investigated the use of ceramic plate-n heat exchangers for high-temperature applications. Selection Choosing an appropriate compact heat exchanger for a given duty is a complex process. However, a preliminary selection procedure can be compared to a simple two-stage separation process that applies a coarse lter followed by a ne lter. In this case, we are separating the various types of CHEs into suitable and unsuitable designs using technical criteria as the lters. The coarse lter makes a preliminary cut by rejecting the obviously unsuitable types and leaving behind those that are capable of performing the specied duty. The ne lter then
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Air Out

Gas In

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Compact Heat Exchangers

Table 1. A preliminary selection guide to compact heat exchangers.

Plate-andFrame (Gasketed) Compactness (m2/m3) Stream Types Up to 200 Liquid-Liquid Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Frame: Carbon Steel Plates: Stainless Steel, Titanium, Incoloy, Hastelloy, Graphite 35 to +180 25 Mechanical Not Common Partially Welded Plate-andFrame Up to 200 Liquid-Liquid Gas-Liquid Two-Phase DiffusionBonded Titanium Plate-Fin 700800 Liquid-Liquid Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Titanium

Brazed Plate Up to 200 Liquid-Liquid Two-phase

Plate andShell Liquids

Brazed Plate-Fin 8001,500 Liquid-Liquid Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Aluminum, Stainless Steel, Nickel Alloy

Printed Circuit >2,000 Liquid-Liquid Gas-Liquid Two-Phase S/S, Nickel, Titanium Inconel Incoloy

Materials

Frame: Stainless Carbon Steel Steel Plates: Stainless Steel, Incoloy, Hastelloy,

Stainless Steel, Titanium

Temperature Range (C) Maximum Pressure (bar) Cleaning Methods Multistream Capability

35 to +180 25 Chem/Mech* No

195 to +200 30 Chemical No

200 to +600 40

269 to +100 90

<550 200 Chemical Yes

200 to +900 300400 Chemical Yes

Chem/Mech* Chemical No Yes

*Chemical cleaning on the welded side and mechanical cleaning on the other side.
Source: Adapted from (7).

further narrows the choice based on heat-transfer area and exchanger cost.

Step 1: The coarse lter Based on considerations of operating temperature, pressure, and uid compatibility, the exchangers that cannot be used for a given duty can be rejected. Other factors, such as mechanical or chemical cleaning of the heat-transfer surface, multistream capabilities, and so on, can also be taken into account. Table 1 can be used to apply this coarse lter to the CHEs covered here. This involves considering the following: 1. Maximum pressure. Many CHEs can be employed only up to moderate pressures, and these will be ruled out for higher-pressure services. 2. Temperature range. Different exchangers have different tempera-

tures ranges, so some exchanger types can be ruled out on this basis. 3. Fluid compatibility. Compatibility refers to that between the uid and the materials of construction for the heat exchanger. Gasketted exchangers, for example, may be excluded if there is a problem of compatibility between the uid and the gasket material. 4. Other issues. This could include such factors as the consequences of leakage of one stream into another. For example, if there is a likelihood of a violent chemical reaction, a double-wall type heat exchanger should be considered. Another factor is temperature cross i.e., where the outlet temperature of the hot stream is higher than the inlet temperature of the cold stream. If there is a temperature cross, then only exchangers that can be congured as countercurrent devices can be used. As a result of this ltering, one or

more exchangers could be left as viable. Note that Table 1 is by no means exhaustive and could be supplemented with relevant data from manufacturers, especially for the proprietary exchanger types.

Step 2: The ne lter All of the exchangers identied in Step 1 as capable of performing the duty need to be investigated further in Step 2 to narrow down the choice. This involves approximating the heattransfer area and cost for each exchanger. Based on these two parameters, a nal selection can be made. To determine the heat-transfer area, Eq. 1 can be rearranged:
A = 1/U (Q/T) (3)

In principle, the heat-transfer area can be multiplied by cost per unit area to obtain the cost of the ex-

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Table 2. Typical heat-transfer coefficient (U) and cost factor (C) data for a shell-and-tube heat exchanger with Q/DT = 5,000 W/K.
Hot-Side Fluid LowHighViscosity Viscosity Organic Organic Condensing Liquid Liquie Steam 99 1.76 375 1.08 720 1.07 500 1.05 153 1.32 677 0.78 500 1.05 63 2.24 120 1.68 142 1.41 130 1.55 82 1.91 140 1.44 130 1.55 107 1.62 530 0.99 1,607 0.48 818 0.93 173 1.16 1,432 0.54 818 0.93 Condensing Hydrocarbon With Inert Gas 86 1.82 240 1.16 345 1.17 286 1.26 336 1.62 336 1.20 286 1.26

Cold-Side Fluid Low-Pressure Gas (1 bar) High-Pressure Gas (20 bar) Treated Cooling Water Low-Viscosity Organic Liquid High-Viscosity Organic Liquid Boiling Water Boiling Organic Liquid

Parameter* U C U C U C U C U C U C U C

LowPressure Gas 55 2.13 93 1.88 105 1.65 99 1.76 68 2.07 105 1.65 99 1.76

HighPressure Gas 93 1.88 300 1.20 484 1.08 375 1.08 138 1.46 467 1.13 375 1.08

Process Water 102 1.71 429 0.95 938 0.81 600 0.87 161 1.25 875 0.87 600 0.87

Condensing Hydrocarbon 100 1.74 388 1.05 764 1.01 524 1.01 155 1.30 722 1.05 524 1.01

* Units for U are W/m2K, units for C are $/WK. Source: Adapted from (1).

changer. However, for some exchangers, especially those containing extended surfaces, it may be difficult to dene the heat-transfer area. For this reason, Hewitt et al. (1) proposed cost factors (C) based on Q/T. Table 2 presents typical data for the overall heat-transfer coefficient and the cost factor at Q/T = 5,000 W/K for shell-and-tube exchangers handling a variety of streams. (Complete tables for shell-and-tube and plate-and-frame heat exchangers are given in Ref. 1.) The steps involved in the application of this ne lter can be illustrated as follows. 1. Calculate the heat duty, Q, from a heat balance. 2. Estimate the mean temperature difference, T, between the streams, using a correction factor (Ft) if necessary. 3. Calculate the ratio Q/T. Note that the ratio may be different for dif-

ferent heat exchangers and ow congurations if the value of the correction factor is different. 4. Obtain values of C and U from tables such as Table 2 (which is adapted from Ref. 1) and using logarithmic interpolation if necessary. Logarithmic interpolation should be used to interpolate for in-between values of Q/T. 5. Calculate the cost of the heat exchanger by multiplying C and Q/T. 6. Calculate the area of the heat exchanger using Eq. 3. If there is one heat exchanger or heat exchanger ow conguration that is signicantly better (by a factor of 1.5 or so), then this type warrants a detailed design and cost estimation. If there are several exchangers with comparable costs, then all of them need to be investigated in detail. It should be noted that extensive

tables of information giving C values, as well as software for selection of heat exchangers, is available from CEP commercial sources.
V. V. WADEKAR is Research Manager at HTFS, AEA Technology Hyprotech, Harwell, U.K. (Phone: +44-1235-434249; Fax: +44-1235-831981; E-mail: vishwas.wadekar@hyprotech.com). In addition to leading his research team at Harwell, he chairs the HTFS Industrial Review Panel on compact heat exchangers. He has authored or coauthored a number of technical and research papers in the area of compact heat exchangers, multiphase flow heat and mass transfer, and boiling heat transfer. He has lectured internationally and presented numerous training courses related to compact and other exchanger types. Recently, he has started teaching a short course on compact heat exchangers at the AIChE Spring National Meeting. He obtained his BChemEng and PhD degrees from Bombay Univ. Dept. of Chemical Technology. He is a member of the Heat Transfer Society, U.K., and of AIChE.

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