A heat exchanger is a device used to transfer heat between a source and a working fluid. Heat exchangers are used in both cooling and heating processes and are widely used in various industries such as space heating, refrigeration, air conditioning, power stations, chemical plants, petrochemical plants, petroleum refineries, natural-gas processing, and sewage treatment. The fluids may be separated by a solid wall to prevent mixing or they may be in direct contact. The heat transfer occurs through conduction through the exchanger materials which separate the mediums being used. The heat exchangers performance can be improved by maximizing the surface area of the wall between the two fluids while minimizing resistance to fluid flow through the exchanger. Heat exchangers can be designed with fins or corrugations in one or both directions to increase efficiency.
Heat exchangers are used to transfer heat between fluids without mixing or blending them. The fluids are separated by a wall that has high thermal conductivity, and the thickness of the wall is designed to prevent the mixing of the fluids or the possibility of direct contact between them. The resulting outcome of the process is the cooling or heating of the fluid stream. Heat exchangers are widely used in many industries such as food, pharmaceutical, bioprocessing, and chemical manufacturing, where heating or cooling is the final or an intermediate step to prepare the fluids for further processing.
Heat exchangers come in different types that have a diverse range of materials to help them work. For example, air-cooled heat exchangers are commonly used in vehicles or other mobile applications where no permanent cool water source is available. The heat exchanger is also crucial in mixing hot and cold air to create a blend of warm air that is dispensed from the furnace into a home.
