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Chemical Industry Digest. May 2010
Heat Exchangers
T
he dominant type of heat ex-
to reduce both energy usage and the changer in process plants today
associated CO2 emissions. Two impor- is the shell-and-tube. There are
tant and profitable actions to take are to many reasons why the shell-and-tube
recover more process energy and occupies this position of dominance,
optimize cooling efficiency. This not and in many cases shell-and-tube heat
exchangers are the best or only option.
only reduces the cost of primary energy
On the other hand, too often shell-and-
supply and lowers CO2 emissions, but
tubes are selected almost “by default”
also provides benefits in terms of reduc-
because they are a familiar technology.
tions in heat rejection and in the associ- In other words, at times the decision to
ated equipment and operating costs. use a shell-and-tube rather than a com-
pact alternative is made due to lack of
This article first considers the overall knowledge about the performance and
advantages of using compact heat reliability of compact heat exchangers.
exchangers over shell-and-tube heat
There are different kinds of compact
exchangers through improving perfor-
heat exchangers available in the market
mance, savings and a faster payback today. The most common is the gasketed
rate. It then illustrates the advantages of plate-and frame heat exchanger, which
compact heat exchangers with two is often the most efficient solution. How-
examples from actual applications and ever, in petrochemical and petroleum-re-
a discussion of how cooling water can finery applications, gaskets frequently
be used to reduce chiller load. The first cannot be used because aggressive me-
example involves an interchanger in an dia result in a short lifetime for the gas-
ethylene cracking plant and the sec- kets or because a potential risk of leak-
ond a secondary condenser in a petro- age is unacceptable. In these cases, all-
chemical plant. welded compact heat exchangers with-
out inter-plate gaskets should be consid-
ered.
As quantified by the examples pre-
sented later in this article, compact heat
exchangers offer distinct advantages
over shell-and-tube heat exchangers.
AUTHOR They use corrugated plates between the
heating and cooling media and the plate
Henrik Andersson, marketing manager and
design provides the advantages of high
application expert for the petrochemicals market
unit, Alfa Laval, Sweden. He holds a Master of
turbulence, high heat-transfer coeffi-
Science degree in chemical engineering and cients and high fouling resistance. High
Bachelor of Science in Business and Econom- heat-transfer coefficients allow smaller
ics from Lund University. heat-transfer areas compared to tradi-
tional shell-and-tube heat exchangers
used for the same duty. This ultimately results in sig- dor. If the equipment is appropriate for your applica-
nificant size reductions and weight savings as less tion, most suppliers are also willing to provide a quick
material is needed to construct the unit. This is espe- quote so that you can compare solutions and deter-
cially important when working with expensive corro- mine which would be best for you.
sion-resistant metals such as titanium or hastelloys.
In the two cases and the discussion presented here, Compact heat exchanger versus shell-
the optimal solution is a fully welded heat exchanger and-tube
that allows overall counter current flow in heat-recov-
All-welded compact heat exchangers consist of
ery positions as well as condensation with a low pres-
plates that are welded together. Among the many mod-
sure drop and optimal cooling-water utilization. The
els available in the market today, all have one thing
units are also accessible on both the hot and the cold
in common: they do not have inter-plate gaskets. This
side of the heat exchanger, which enables mechanical
feature is what makes them suitable for processes in-
cleaning as well making all welds accessible for re-
volving aggressive media or high temperatures where
pair if needed.
gaskets cannot be used. On the other hand, some of
these all welded heat exchangers are sealed and can-
When to use compact heat exchangers not be opened for inspection and mechanical clean-
Compact heat exchangers can be used in most in- ing. Others can be opened, allowing the entire heat-
dustrial applications as long as design temperature transfer area and all welds to be reached, cleaned and
and pressure are within the accepted range, which repaired if necessary.
normally is up to 450oC and 40 barg. When the appli-
The most-efficient, compact, plate heat exchanger
cation allows it, compact heat exchangers, either
designs have countercurrent flows or an “overall
gasketed or fully welded, are often the best alternative
countercurrent flow” created by multi-pass arrange-
in situations when a high-grade, costly material is re-
ments on both the hot and cold sides. Such units can
quired for the heat exchanger, when a small footprint
be designed to work with crossing temperatures and
is an advantage and when optimal energy recovery is
with temperature approaches as close as 3oC (the tem-
important.
perature approach is the difference between the out-
If you are not certain whether a compact heat ex- let temperature of one stream and the inlet tempera-
changer is appropriate for your application ask a ven- ture of the other stream).
Case Study 1:
As mentioned earlier, all-welded compact heat ex- Heat recovery in ethylene production
changers are very compact in comparison to shell-and- In a recent feasibility study for improving the en-
tube heat exchangers. This advantage is a result of the ergy efficiency of a European ethylene plant, a num-
higher heat-transfer coefficient and the resulting much ber of opportunities to increase the export of high-
smaller heat-transfer area of compact heat exchang- pressure (HP) steam to the site’s utility system were
ers. The units typically occupy only a fraction of the identified. One position in which there was an oppor-
space needed for a shell-and-tube heat exchanger. tunity to recover energy was in the quench water loop.
Small size also means lower weight, which can mean
savings on foundation structures, steel work and The existing quench water/polished water shell-
equipment needed to service the unit. The space and-tube heat exchanger was limiting heat recovery.
needed for maintenance is also much smaller as no From an energy point of view, it was desirable to maxi-
tube-bundle access and withdrawal space is required. mize heat transfer between these streams. This would
reduce the low-pressure (LP) steam required for boiler
There are two main reasons why all-welded com- feed water (BFW) de-aeration (due to an increase in
pact heat exchangers are more thermally efficient than de-aerator BFW feed temperature). It would also re-
shell-and-tube heat exchangers: duce the heat-duty load on the cooling water tower (a
G All-welded compact heat exchangers have high site bottleneck), due to a reduction in quench-water
heat transfer coefficients. This is due to the high cooling against cooling water.
turbulence created in the corrugated plate chan-
The required minimum performance of the replace-
nels. The high turbulence results in thin laminar
films on the surface of the
heat-transfer area. These have Table 1. Original and energy
a much lower resistance to recovery programs
heat transfer compared to the Quench water Polished water Heat
thicker film found in a shell- load
and-tube heat exchanger
T,in T,out T,in T,out
G Counter-current flows can be °C °C °C °C
achieved in all-welded com- Original temp. program 88,6 58,9 18 77 10 000
pact heat exchangers. This Energy recovery temp. program 88,6 55 18 85 11 300
Table 2. Comparison, CHE vs. S&T in quench water case. a fully welded compact heat ex-
changer (Fig 3). The compact
Original case Energy recovery
heat exchanger is capable of
Type S&T, BEM CHE S&T, BEM CHE handling the condensation at a
# of units 2 1 2 1 very low pressure drop of only
Heat load (kW) 10 000 10 000 11 300 11 300 2,1 kPa while reduce fouling by
Overall heat transfer 921 3 373 897 3 993 maintaining high turbulence on
coefficient (W/m2K) the cooling water side. The cho-
Heat transfer area (m2) 468 129 864 193
sen solution also offers accessi-
bility to both the process and the
LP steam savings (m.t./hr) cooling water side for mechani-
Money savings (lakh INR) 780 780 920 920 cal cleaning during routine
Purchase cost (relative to base) 100% 99,60% 169% 125% maintenance shut downs.
During winter conditions the
sponding shell-and-tube heat exchanger. In the energy shell-and-tube just barely manages to achieve full con-
recovery case, with 17% additional monetary saving, densation, which takes place at 78oC. With the higher
the payback time for the compact heat exchanger is temperatures in summer, full condensation could not
only 8% longer, while the payback time for the shell- be achieved with the shell-and-tube (Fig 4). However,
and–tube heat exchanger design is 44% longer. in both cases the compact heat exchanger achieves full
condensation including 14-18oC subcooling of the
Case Study 2: condensate.
Better cooling and higher production capacity in The compact heat exchanger offered a number of
petrochemical plant advantages over a new shell-and-tube design. Three
When a petrochemical producer in South Europe highly important factors made the decision an easy
was experiencing product loss due to high summer one:
temperatures, a compact heat exchanger
turned out to be the best way to solve their
problems.
Fig 4. Condenser and trim cooler G A multipass arrangement for the cooling water
makes it possible to maintain a high flow velocity
that generates sheer forces against the wall and
keeps fouling/scaling caused by the cooling
water at a minimum. This allows greater cooling
efficiency as compared to the shell-and-tube
design.
G A better cooling-water flow allows the outlet tem-
perature of the cooling water to be kept at or be-
low the 43oC specified in the design. Therefore all
products are fully condensed even at the highest
cooling-water temperatures during summer.
G Because the original shell-and-tube was installed
under the air-cooled primary condenser, the space
for the new installation was limited. The shell-
and-tube design that was proposed as an alterna-
tive to the compact heat exchanger solution was
too large to fit in the original space allotted. This
meant that a shell-and-tube installation not only
required investment in the actual unit but also con-
struction of a new foundation and support for the
unit. The compact heat exchanger solution, on the
other hand, fit perfectly in the original space allot-
The continuous line shows the CHE thermal ted.
performance while the dotted line shows the
The compact solution offers enough space for both
shell and tube.
The temperature curve for the cooling water
mechanical cleaning and visual inspection of the-heat
is more or less the same for both the shell- transfer surface with no need to remove a tube bundle
and-tube and the CHE. or move the heat exchanger (Fig 5).
Myriad opportunities
The continuous line shows the CHE thermal per- There is increasing pressure on industry today to
formance while the dotted line shows the shell reduce CO2 emissions. Reducing energy use by im-
and tube. proving process heat recovery is an effective way for
The temperature curve for the cooling water is companies to respond to this pressure. Reducing en-
more or less the same for both the shell-and-tube
and the CHE.
Reprinted from
CHEMICAL INDUSTR
CHEMICAL Y DIGEST
INDUSTRY
Issue No: Vol.XXIII.5. May 2010
ISSN-0971-5266
PP100413EN 1006
Blockdale Publishing
15, Purshottam, 21 J P Road, Nr Navrang Cinema,
Andheri (W), Mumbai-400 058, INDIA
Tel: 022-26207402/32689321 Fax: 022-26254921
Email: bcid@vsnl.com Website: www.chemindigest.com