A heat exchanger is a device designed to transfer heat between two or more fluids—i.e., liquids, vapors, or gases—of different temperatures. Depending on the type of heat exchanger employed, the heat transferring process can be gas-to-gas, liquid-to-gas, or liquid-to-liquid and occur through a solid separator, which prevents mixing of the fluids, or direct fluid contact.
There are several types of heat exchangers, including:
- Double-Pipe Heat Exchanger: A double-pipe heat exchanger is the simplest type of heat exchanger and can operate with co-current or counter-current flow.
- Shell-and-Tube Exchanger: A shell-and-tube exchanger is used for larger flows, which are very common in chemical process industries.
- Cross-flow Exchanger.
- Tube-in-Tube Heat Exchanger: Tube-in-tube heat exchangers are specially designed for sludge containing fibers and other particles.
- Double Pipe Heat Exchanger: These are also known as hairpin heat exchangers.