Shell and tube heat exchanger

Heat exchangers are designed for a rated or nominal condition. The most commonly used heat exchanger is the shell and tube type. It is the ‘workhorse’ of industry. They are rugged, reliable, simple in construction and available in such exotic alloys as Hastelloy, titanium and zirconium as well as all the common metals of construction.

It has many applications on the power generation, petroleum refinery, chemical industries, and process industries. They are used as steam generator, oil cooler, condenser, feedwater heater, and in single phase processes.

Shell-and-tube heat exchangers are built of round tubes mounted in large cylindrical shells with tube axis parallel to that of the shell.

The major components of a shell and tube exchanger are tubes, baffles, shell, front head, rear head and nozzles. Expansion joint is an important component in the case of fixed tubesheet exchanger for certain design conditions.

In the simplest form of a horizontal shell-and-tube type: one fluid stream flows through the tubes while the other flows on the shell side across or along the tubes.
Shell and tube heat exchanger