Air Cooled Heat Exchangers - Things You Need to Know

Air cooled heat exchangers are no more than 1 kind of heat exchange device from a large list of heat exchangers. Fundamentally, heat exchange devices are devices that are exclusively created for supporting the discharge of heat from a particular volume of fluid in the direction of the other. To understand more, consider the common home appliances at your residence, like the refrigerators, air conditioners, as well as your regular car radiator. They're simple examples of heat exchangers.

Now let's take a look at air cooled heat exchangers. Generally, these are used in industries which have a process system which produces substantial heat which need to be dissipated, specially if there's no home or local usage for it. Air coolers is able to perform exclusive of any cooling water from an adjacent or supporting cooling tower.

When should this equipment be used? The reply to that is if the outlet temperature is more than 20 degree Fahrenheit or -6.67 degree Celsius higher than the upper limit of the anticipated ambient air temperature. Moreover, don't let yourself be fooled by the negative symbol of the Celsius unit. Air coolers can be utilised with nearer approach temperatures, nonetheless it has again and again come to be costly when measured up to a combination of a cooling tower and a water-cooled exchanger.

Other than the appliances and cars, remember there are additional functions for air cooled heat exchangers. These uses are visible in a variety of industrial sectors, a few of which include refineries, the upstream production, and petrochemical facilities. Additionally, it's also possible to use air coolers on other conditions which have high temperatures, high pressure, acidic fluids and environments. To be more specific, air coolers are generally employed and set up in the everyday gas and oil refineries; gas storage facilities; compressor stations for oil pipelines; plants produces polychlorvinyl, polyethylene, glass fiber, biplastic; by-product coke plants and ammonia transportation and handling plants.

Apart from the various functions and uses of air coolers, you need to understand something about its construction. Fortunately, I will give that to you. The most popular air cooled exchanger that is used for processing purposes are consists of a finned-tube bundle that are built inside a rectangular box headers on both ends of the tubes. The chilling air is supplied by two or more fans. In general, the air blows upwards via a horizontal tube bundle or sideward, for vertical tube bundles. The installed fans is usually either induced or forced draft. This also is determined by whether the air is pushed or pulled all the way through the tube bundle. The air is directed by the plenum chamber, furthermore, the chamber encloses the space between the fans as well as the tube bundle. And all of the parts pointed out may be built up on legs or a pipe rack when assembled. And before I forget, the fan drive assemblage is sustained with a steel mechanical drive support system. The support system will generally be consisted of a vibration switch on every fan. The switches are designed to turn off a fan which has a problem, without having human intervention.

To comprehend the inside and out of air cooled heat exchangers generally is easier said than done, and it's even more difficult when a person has simply no foundation on machines or mechanical terminology. Though the question still remains, why are these preferred than other coolers. First of all, they're cheaper to maintain when compared with some other chemical using coolers. Secondly, it can easily be installed. Last but not least, air cooled heat exchangers are the most environmental friendly method available up to now.

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978211658

Buy American Unveils Its Industrial Heat Exchangers or Commercial Heaters Directory

Buy American, an online blog-based guide for the manufacturing community published by IndustrialLEADERS.com announced today a new heat processing equipment and systems marketplace. The company said in a press release to Arizona newspapers the site includes offerings for heat exchangers, commercial heat processing systems, industrial heaters, portable heat systems, space heaters and allied products at http://www.industrialsaver.com/classifieds/index.php/cat/193 The company indicated the site is an integration of a marketplace, directory and reference guide for those buying and selling heat processing equipment.

In a related story, Buy American also partnered with ForeignTRADEX to publish a new version of its grinding tools and equipment directory connecting companies with manufacturers and suppliers of cut-off tools, metal chippers, grinding machine, deburring machine bench, discs, belts, sanders, surface grinders and allied items at http://www.foreigntradeexchange.com/suppliers/grinding_equipment.html The company said numerous suppliers on the site offer low financing and bulk order incentives on its entire line of grinding machines, tools, equipment and accessories.

According to Frank Wallace, spokesman for Buy American, the heat processing and grinding equipment sites were both designed to helps companies source such products more efficiently in Arizona as well as across the nation and overseas. “No matter how large or small a manufacturing facility may be, Buy American and IndustrialLEADERS offers the ideal solution to find the right product for their heating, grinding and other industrial or commercial application.” He added, “If a user cannot find the solution they need in anyone of Buy American's publications, the company will personally assist them to find the ideal product.”
http://pr-usa.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=370936&Itemid=32

Heat Exchangers - A Global Market Perspective - New Market Report Published

New report provides detailed analysis of the Industrial market

 With mainstay segments flaunting a broad base, the global heat exchangers market is set to thrive on replacement demand emerging from frequent upgrades and technology attunements. On the end-use front, the industry is witnessing a rapid shuffling of shares with emerging applications in environmental remediation, propped by tightening legislation, increasingly outnumbering the traditional applications within chemical, fuel processing, and power generation sectors. Rising energy prices are expected to be among the major drivers of heat exchanger market growth in the near future.

These and other market data and trends are presented in "Heat Exchangers: A Global Market Perspective". Our reports are designed to be most comprehensive in geographic coverage and vertical market analyses... 

http://www.officialwire.com/main.php?action=posted_news&rid=116796

Modine announces collaboration on heat exchanger technology

RACINE - Modine Manufacturing Co. Tuesday announced a collaboration with Sierra SpA, a European producer of finned pack heat exchangers for use in civil and industrial applications.
Modine said the collaboration will provide Modine's patented Parallel Flow microchannel heat exchanger technology within Europe.
Racine-based Modine said the relationship will enable both Modine and Sierra to expand their capabilities within the European commercial heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration market.
Modine, with fiscal 2009 revenues of $1.4 billion, specializes in thermal management systems and components. Its products are used in light-, medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment, off-highway and industrial equipment, refrigeration systems, and fuel cells.
The company employs approximately 6,000 people at 32 facilities worldwide in 15 countries. For more information about Modine's Commercial Products Group, visit http://www.ModineHVAC.com.
http://www.journaltimes.com/news/local/article_2574d6e6-368c-11df-8be9-001cc4c03286.html

Swap metal heat exchangers for plastic

HEAT exchangers could one day be made from polyethylene after engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found a way to make it conduct heat very efficiently in one direction.

Carrying heat in one direction is not a property associated with polymers, or even metals used to make heat exchangers used today, which conduct heat equally well in all directions. The MIT team found that they could make heat travel in a straight line along a polymer fibre if they could make all the molecules in the fibre line up unidirectionally, rather than forming a jumbled mass as is the norm.

In the first stage of the production process, the team slowly drew a polyethylene fibre out of a heated solution using the finely controllable cantilever of an atomic force microscope. In the second stage it was heated once more to restretch it. “Once it solidifies at room temperature, you can't do any large deformation,” says lead author Sheng Shen, “so we heat it up twice.”

The resulting fibre was around 300 times more thermally conductive than normal polyethylene making it the highest thermal conductivity ever seen in any polymer. The team says this outperforms almost half of all pure metals, including iron and platinum.

The team will now work to scale up its production process, which has so far only produced individual fibres. The team thinks modified polyethylene could eventually replace the metals used in heat exchanger fins, solar hot water collectors and microchips.
http://www.tcetoday.com/tcetoday/NewsDetail.aspx?nid=12583

Heat exchanger tech crucial to new automotive hydrogen storage system

Researchers have completed work on a crucial component for an experimental hydrogen storage system for cars, part of efforts to reduce pollution and the use of fossil fuels in transportation.
The system uses a fine metal powder to absorb hydrogen gas under high pressure. When the powder absorbs hydrogen, it becomes a "metal hydride," and the process is called "hydriding." By then decreasing the pressure in the vessel or warming the metal hydride, the hydrogen can be released to drive a fuel cell or engine.
A complication in perfecting the technology, however, is that the hydriding process generates heat, which hinders the absorption process and prevents the hydrogen storage vessel from being filled rapidly, said Issam Mudawar, a Purdue University professor of mechanical engineering who is leading the work with research assistant professor Timothée Pourpoint and doctoral student Milan Visaria.
"If you're driving your hydrogen car, you can't wait an hour at the filling station," Mudawar said. "For this system to be practical, you have to be able to cool the hydride efficiently so that the storage vessel can be filled within five minutes with enough fuel to drive 300 miles."
The researchers have made progress in solving the problem by designing, building and testing the system's heat exchanger and circulating coolant through tubes to remove heat and speed hydrogen storage, Mudawar said.
The engineers filed a final patent in February for the heat exchanger, a coil of stainless steel tubing that fits inside a hydrogen storage "pressure vessel" 4 inches in diameter. Standard automotive coolant is circulated through the tubing.
Such a storage technology could help make hydrogen cars a reality if other researchers are successful in developing improved alloys for hydriding and better fuel cells, which generate electricity to power an electric motor. The hydrogen also could be burned instead of gasoline in internal combustion engines.
Due to space constraints, it is essential that the heat exchanger occupy the least volume possible inside the storage vessel. Using a theoretical model they developed, the researchers determined how to precisely position the tubing so that no fins are needed to dissipate heat.
Eliminating the fins reduces the cost, weight and size of the heat exchanger, Mudawar said.
The researchers designed a system that occupies the least space possible while also properly cooling the hydride. Whereas an earlier prototype occupied 30 percent of the vessel, leaving 70 percent for the metal hydride, the new design occupies 7 percent, leaving 93 percent for the hydride.
"The idea behind this latest design is to provide the coolant as close as possible to the hydride while eliminating the need for bulky heat spreading components like fins," Mudawar said. "The main advantages of this design are simplicity and flexibility. It can easily be adapted depending on cooling and size requirements."
The work was conducted in Purdue's Hydrogen Systems Laboratory at the university's Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories.
http://www.rdmag.com/News/2010/02/Manufacturing-Materials-Engineering-Purdue-Heat-exchanger-tech-crucial-to-new-automotive-hydrogen-storage-system/

Air Products to supply LNG heat exchangers for Australia's Gorgon Project

Industrial gases and chemicals supplier Air Products (NYSE:  APD | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) has signed an agreement to provide multiple liquefied natural gas (LNG) heat exchangers for the Gorgon Project offshore Western Australia, the company said on Thursday.
Under the agreement with Chevron Australia Pty Ltd, Air Products will supply its proprietary LNG process technology and equipment for three process trains producing up to 15 million tons of LNG per annum at the Gorgon Project.
Air Products will provide three separate units of its proprietary propane pre-cooled mixed refrigerant process using the SplitMR machinery configuration.
LNG production at the site is scheduled to start in 2014.

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exchangers-for-australia-s-gorgon-project-720674.html