CRITERIA FOR SELECTING HEAT EXCHANGER

The selection of the proper type of heat exchangers is of critical importance. Selecting the
wrong type can lead to sub-optimum plant performance, operability issues and equipment
failure
In order to make the best selection, it is important to have some knowledge of the different
types of heat exchangers and how they operate. The tables below offer the advantages and
disadvantages of common types of heat exchangers. They can be used to arrive at a type that
is best suited for a given process.
When selecting a heat exchanger for a given duty, the following points must be considered:
• Applications: How does your heat exchanger need to perform to meet process
objectives (i.e. sensible vapour or liquid, condensing or boiling)
• Operating Parameter Operating pressure and temperature, temperature driving force
What pressures and temperature ranges will be used during different phases of the
process? (including start-up, shutdown, normal & process upset conditions)
• Performance Parameters: thermal effectiveness and pressure drops
• Heat Duty
• Mechanical Considerations such as:
 Material of construction; Do the sudden temperature changes encountered
during the process put the unit at risk of suffering thermal stress?
 Fabrication techniques
• Characteristics of Thermal Fluid – Fluids involved in heat transfer can be
characterized by temperature, pressure, phase, physical properties, toxicity,
corrosivity, and fouling tendency
• Plugging Risk - how susceptible the equipment is to fouling or clogging
• Accessibility to Utilities – Will the heat exchanger require a connection to cooling
water, steam, hot oil, etc.?
• Plot Plan & Layout Constraints Does the system layout and floor plan prohibit the
use of certain models of heat exchangers due to limited headroom?
• Housekeeping – Is the heat exchanger design conducive to carrying out the cleaning
and maintenance procedures that will need to be performed on a routine basis?
• Scalability – Will the unit be able to carry out the heat transfer needs of the existing
system and any future process developments?
• Cost – How much are you willing to spend on a unit based on the range of options
available to you? (You must consider purchase cost, installation cost, operating cost,
and maintenance cost.)
 • Environment – Is the unit energy efficient and what type of carbon footprint does it
leave?
• Compactness - how small or large the equipment's footprint is.
• Ease of Repair - Maintenance, inspection, cleaning, extension, and repair
possibilities
The primary criteria are heat duty. Operating parameters for heat exchangers which vary over
a wide range, and a broad spectrum of demands is imposed for their design and performance.
All of these must be considered when assessing the type of unit to be used.
By asking yourself the questions listed above, you can take your answers and use them to
determine the ideal heat exchanger design based on your operation specifications and other
factors identified in your personal criteria. Whether you have a new process or need to
replace a heat exchanger that is part of an existing system, it’s important to assess (or
reassess) what heat exchanger model is best for your given process. .
 Mechanical Considerations:
• Materials of Construction
The construction materials for heat exchangers should have a well-defined
corrosion rate in the service environments. The material should exhibit strength to
withstand the operating temperature and pressure. Compact heat exchangers with
extended surfaces are mostly manufactured from any metal that are durable and
exhibit formability and malleability. Heat exchanger types like plate heat
exchangers normally require a material that can be pressed or welded.
• Fabrication Techniques and Intended Applications
Fabrication techniques are the determining factor in the selection of a heat-
transfer surface matrix or core. They are the major factors in the initial cost and
influence the integrity, service life, and ease of maintenance of the finished heat
exchanger. According to the intended applications, various unit types are
available for and the selection of heat exchangers can be done which is suitable
for the application
 Operating Parameters (Temperature and Pressure)
• The design pressure is important to determine the thickness of the pressure
retaining components. The higher the pressure, the greater will be the required
thickness of the pressure-retaining membranes and the more advantage there is to
placing the high-pressure fluid on the tube side.
• At low pressures vapour phase flow rate is high and the limit of allowable
pressure drop is low which requires a design which maximised the available area.
• At high pressures, the vapour-phase volumetric flow rates are lower and
allowable pressure drops are greater. These lead to more compact units.
• In tubular exchangers, higher heat-transfer rates are obtained by placing the low-
pressure gas on the outside of tubular surfaces.
 • In gasketed plate heat exchangers the operating pressures are limited because of
the difficulty in pressing the required plate thickness, and by the gasket materials
in the case of PHEs.
• Design Temperature is important as it indicates whether a material at the design
temperature can withstand the operating pressure. For low-temperature and
cryogenic applications toughness is a prime requirement, and for high-
temperature applications the material has to exhibit creep resistance.
• Flow Rate
Flow rate determines the flow area, the higher the flow rate, higher will be the
crossflow area. Higher flow area is required to limit the flow velocity through the
conduits and flow passages, and the higher velocity is limited by pressure drop,
impingement, erosion and other factors.
• Flow Arrangement
The choice of a particular flow arrangement is dependent upon the required
exchanger effectiveness, exchanger construction type, upstream and downstream
ducting, packaging envelope, and other design criteria.
 Performance Parameters-Thermal Effectiveness and Pressure Drops
• High thermal effectiveness results in high performance and for achieving this we
can use brazed plate-fin exchangers (e.g., cryogenic service) and regenerators
(e.g., gas turbine applications). Tube-fin exchangers can be used for less thermal
effectiveness in applications, and shell and tube units for low thermal
effectiveness service.
• Pressure drop is an important parameter in heat exchanger design. Limitations
may be imposed either by pumping cost or by process limitations or both. The
heat exchanger should be designed in such a way that unproductive pressure drop
is avoided to the maximum extent in areas like inlet and outlet bends, nozzles,
and manifolds.
 Characteristics of Thermal Fluid
• Fouling Tendencies
Fouling is defined as the formation on heat exchanger surfaces of undesirable
deposits that impede the heat transfer and increase the resistance to fluid flow,
resulting in higher pressure drop. Fouling also affects the energy consumption of
industrial processes decides the amount of extra material required to provide extra
heat-transfer surface to compensate for the effects of fouling. Compact heat
exchangers are generally preferred for non-fouling applications. Plate heat
exchangers and spiral plate exchangers are better chosen for fouling services. The
flow pattern in plate heat exchanger induces turbulence even at comparable low
velocities; in the spiral units, the scrubbing action of the fluids on the curved
surfaces minimizes fouling.
• Types and phase of fluids
Various combinations of fluid phases dealt in heat exchangers are liquid-liquid,
liquid-gas, and gas-gas. Liquid phase fluids are comparatively simple to deal
 with. The high density and the favourable values of many transport properties
allow high heat-transfer coefficients to be obtained at relatively low pressure
drops.
 Ease of Repair (Maintenance, Inspection, Cleaning, Repair, and Extension
Aspects)
Ease of Maintenance, Inspection, Cleaning, Repair, and Extension plays a major role
in the selection criteria. For instance, the pharmaceutical, dairy, and food industries
require quick access to internal components for frequent cleaning. The shell and tube
heat exchanger can be made with fixed tube-sheets or with a removable tube bundle.
Casketed plate heat exchangers (PHEs) are easy to open, especially when all nozzles
are located on the stationary end-plate side. The plate arrangement can be changed for
other duties within the frame and nozzle capacity.
Repair of some of the shell and tube exchanger components is possible and Tubes can
be renewed or plugged. Repair of compact heat exchangers of tube-fin and plate fin
type is very difficult. PHEs can be used to widely overcome these drawbacks. It can
be easily repaired, and plates and other parts can be easily replaced. Due to their
modular construction, PHEs possess the flexibility of enhancing or reducing the heat
transfer surface area, modifying the pass arrangement, and addition of more than one
duty according to the heat-transfer requirements.
 Cost (Overall Economy)
The major costs considered in designing a heat exchanger are the manufacturing cost
and the operating costs, which include maintenance costs. In general, less the heat-
transfer surface area leads to less complexity of the design and lower manufacturing
cost. The operating cost is the pumping cost due to pumping devices such as fans,
blowers, pumps, etc. The maintenance costs include costs of spares that require
frequent renewal due to corrosion, and costs due to corrosion and fouling prevention
and control. Therefore an economical design has to maintain a good balance between
thermal design and pressure drop.
.
heat exchangers Advantages Disadvantages
Widely known and Less thermally efficient than other
understood since it is the types of heat transfer equipment
most common type
Most versatile in terms of Subject to flow induced vibration
types of service which Can lead to equipment
failure
Widest range of allowable Not well suited for temperature
Shell & tube heat design pressures and cross conditions (multiple units in
exchangers temperatures series must be used)
Rugged mechanical Contains stagnant zones (dead
construction - can withstand zones) on the shell side which can
more abuse (physical and lead to corrosion problems
process)
Subject to flow mal-distribution
especially with two phase inlet
streams
Low initial purchase cost Narrower rage of allowable
(plate type) pressures and temperatures
Many different configurations Subject to plugging/fouling due to
are available (gasketed, semi- very narrow flow path
welded, welded, spiral)
High heat transfer Gasketed units require specialized
coefficients (3 or more times opening and closing procedures
greater than for shell & tube
heat exchangers, due to much
Compact Heat higher wall shear stress)
Exchangers Tend to exhibit lower fouling Material of construction selection
characteristics due to the high is critical since wall thickness very
turbulence within the thin (typically less than 10 mm)
exchanger
True countercurrent designs
allow significant temperature
crosses to be achieved
Require small footprint for
installation and have small
volume hold-up
Attractive option for locations High initial purchase cost
where cooling water is scarce
or expensive to treat
Well suited for cooling high Require relatively large footprint
Air Cooled Heat temperature process streams
Exchangers (above 80oC when using
cooling water should be
avoided)
Low maintenance and Higher process outlet temperature
operating costs (typically 30- (10-20 oF above the ambient dry
50% less than cooling water) bulb temperature)
Table 2: Heat Exchanger Selection Criterion

Criteria Air Plate Spiral Lamella Plate fin Coiled Double Shell and Scraped
cooled plate tube pipe tube surface
Pressure psi 6000 300 (4) 250 (7) 600 1000 1000 600 8000 600 (18)
150(11)
Temperature ˚F (1) 500(4) 750 1000 150(12) 900 1000 1000 600
750(13)
Max ft2/unit None 16000/frame 3000 10000 100000(12) 200000 300(14) 30000/shell 10
500(13)
Compactness *(2) **** **** ** ***** **** * * *
Mech. cleaning ** ***** **** ** * * *** *** ***
Chem. ** **** **** *** ** *** *** *** ****
Cost/ft2 ** ****(5) ***(8) **(10) ***** **** ** ** *
Maintenance ** ***** **** *** * * *** ** **
ease
Corrosion risk *** **** **** **** *** **** **** ** ***
Fouling risk ** ***** **** *** ** *** *** * *****(18)
Fouling effect *(3) **** **** ** * ** *** ** ****(18)
Leakage risk ** *(6) *(9) ** **** *** ***(15) **(22) **
Duty changes ** **** * * *** ** * * *
after installation
Temp. cross * **** **** *** ***** ***** *** ** ***
Viscous flow * **** **** ** ***** ** ** * ***
**(23)
Heat sensitive ** **** **** ** *** ** ** * *****(19)
fluids
Solids flowing * ** **** ** * * *** * *****(20)
Gases **** * *** *** **** **** **** **** *
Phase change **** * **** *** **** **** **** **** *****(21)
Multi fluid *** *** * ** ***** **** * ** *
exchange
*Very poor **Poor ***Fair ****Good ***** Very Good
 Notes for Table 2:
1. Use restricted to temperatures from ambient to around 300°F;
2. Often mounted high or above pipe racks;
3. Fouling on outside can reduce air flow and diminish MTD;
4. Depends on gasket material;
5. Low relative cost applies to non-ferrous materials;
6. Plate edges can be seal welded but dismantling then very difficult;
7. For diameters up to 1 meter. For larger diameters the pressure limit is lower;
8. In all metals;
9. see (6)
10. Available only in nonferrous materials;
11. Applies to reversing service in aluminium;
12. In aluminium;
13. In nonferrous, 1nonaluminum materials;
14. Above 300 ft’ shell and tube exchangers are usually cheaper;
15. If all welded; (16) 400°F for liquids, up to 1500°F for some gases;
16. 300 ft' for cubic block, 2000 ft' for modular block;
17. Applies to scrape inside;
18. High speed rotor;
19. Low speed rotor;
20. Liquid to solid or liquid to vapour;
21. Depends on TEMA type;
22. Applies to viscous fluids being heated on shell side.