Heat Exchangers
The process of heat exchange consists in reducing temperature differences between two media isolated from each other with a metal wall, during the flow of a specific volume over a specific period of time.
A typical shell and tube heat exchanger is a bundle of tubes in a cylindrical casing with ellipsoidal or otherwise-shaped bottoms. In order to intensify the heat transfer, special baffles are used to direct fluid across the tube bundle. The entire system is covered with an isolation mantle filled in with mineral wool to reduce thermal loss.
The number of tubes carrying the substance to be heated/cooled depends on the required heat exchange surface area.
Generally, for considerable temperature differences and length of the device, heat exchangers are equipped with compensators eliminating linear stress resulting from the thermal expansion of the materials.
In selecting a heat exchanger, important considerations include the initial temperature of the product and its final temperature which we wish to achieve, as well as the duration of the process.
Equally significant factors are the physiochemical properties of a given product and the parameters of the technological medium available for feeding the heat exchanger.
Kates produces the following types of heat transfer device:
- shell and tube heat exchangers
- aseptic shell and tube heat exchangers
- The spaces containing the product and those with the heating/cooling agent are isolated from each other in such a way that the two media cannot mix in the event of the device failure or leakage.
- tubular heat exchangers
- these are constructed as a triple coaxial tube-inside-tube system. Such a design is characterized by highly intensive cooling/heating of a substance by the working medium.
Moreover, Kates produces special constructions with spiral tubes (condensers) in accordance with pharmaceutical requirements, i.e. with control of any leakage from the perforated bottom (in the event of leakage from the perforated bottom, the medium does not get mixed with the product).
Shell and tube heat exchangers may work in two positions:
- as exchangers in a vertical configuration – condensers
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- as exchangers in a horizontal configuration
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A tubular pasteurizer
A tubular heat exchanger is typically used as a pasteurizer in the following industries:
Kates also produces heat exchangers in the form of a vertical column, where a liquid is cooled down by being splashed on subsequent conical heads.
