Heat Exchangers

As well as pipe fittings and flanges for use in pipelines to carry liquids and gases in the petrochemical industry we at Chemipetro also manufacture specialise pipes for use in heat exchangers. These are also used in the petrochemical industry in processes where it is required to transfer heat or cooling from one medium to another.

Heat exchangers can take on several forms depending on whether it is a gas to gas exchanger required, gas to liquid or a liquid to liquid exchanger.

For a gas to gas exchange, the most common form is a plate heat exchange. Here the two gases flow in opposite directions with a set of plates separating them so that there is no mixing of the two gas streams. Heat is transferred through the plates from one gas to the other.

The second type is a liquid to gas exchanger. This is similar to the radiator in a car in that the liquid is contained in a series of pipes. The gas is directed by a series of plates connected between the tubes. The plates are necessary to increase the surface area allowing the heat to be better transferred.

The third type is the liquid to liquid exchange and this usually takes the form of a shell and tube system. As its name implies this consists of a larger outer shell. And inside there is coiled a smaller pipe. On liquid flows in the outer tube and the other flows in the inner tube. The length of the inner tube determines how much heat is transferred.

Heat exchanger units are used regularly but require specialist materials such as duplex and super duplex stainless steels as the internal pipes in heat exchanger are difficult environments subject to high temperatures and pressures. At Chemipetro we manufacture the specialist pipes used to manufacture heat exchangers as well as pipe fittings and flanges required to connect them into the systems.