Editor Linda Becker and Austin Memmo, an application engineer with API Heat Transfer, talk about tips for selecting industrial process heat exchangers, including shell-and-tube, plate-and-frame, and shell-and plate designs.

Shell-and-tube heat exchangers — first introduced in the 1900s — have long been used in all types of process applications because of their robust design. Shell-and-tube heat exchangers are able to withstand high pressures and temperatures, and these features are among the reasons for their wide use.

Industrial applications have numerous requirements for heat exchangers and thermal transfer. Heat exchanger uses span the gamut: compressor and engine cooling, transformer temperature regulation, heat recovery from various processes, and treatment of effluent, digestate and other waste streams, to name a few.

Suited for applications where the fluids have relatively low viscosity with no particles, the plate heat exchangers also can be used where the product outlet temperature is close to the service inlet temperature.

Primarily used for road construction, flat roofing and as an adhesive, bitumen (asphalt) is a vital component of modern infrastructure. 

If you’re looking to get good performance from your gasketed plate heat exchanger, preventive maintenance is required.

SPX Flow’s new facility in central Europe manufactures hygienic valves, a range of sanitary plate heat exchangers and homogenizer machinery.

More efficient process heat recovery reduces energy consumption and can bring significant cost savings. Plate heat exchangers are widely used in low- to medium-pressure heat transfer applications.