Technical paper
Advantages of Brazed Heat Exchangers in the Gas Processing Industry
Brazed aluminum heat exchangers have superior heat transfer capabilities and can be cost effective for non-corrosive gases and liquids as compared with traditional shell-and-tube exchangers. Even so, brazed aluminum exchangers are often not considered because of complicated design equations and complex stacking arrangements. The simpler yet less efficient shell-and-tube exchangers or networks of shell-and-tubes are employed instead. Recently, the design equations for multistream brazed aluminum heat exchangers for both single and multiphase flow have been added to the Heat Exchanger Rating package of the process simulator PROSIM® . This paper presents guidelines for designing a brazed exchanger, and the brazed exchanger is compared with traditional shell-and-tube exchangers and networks of exchangers in several examples.
Brazed aluminum heat exchangers have superior heat transfer capabilities and can be cost effective for non-corrosive gases and liquids as compared with traditional shell-and-tube exchangers. Even so, brazed aluminum exchangers are often not considered because of complicated design equations and complex stacking arrangements. The simpler yet less efficient shell-and-tube exchangers or networks of shell-and-tubes are employed instead. Recently, the design equations for multistream brazed aluminum heat exchangers for both single and multiphase flow have been added to the Heat Exchanger Rating package of the process simulator PROSIM® . This paper presents guidelines for designing a brazed exchanger, and the brazed exchanger is compared with traditional shell-and-tube exchangers and networks of exchangers in several examples.