Corrugated Tube Heat Exchanger to Obtain Higher Heat Transfer Coefficient

Corrugated Tube Heat Exchanger

Various industries use chemical processes that require heat to be transferred between two fluids or gases. While many industries still make use of the plate heat exchangers for simple viscous fluids like water, milk and some thin oils, it is best to use tubular heat exchangers. 

There are many types of tubular heat exchangers available in the market, but the one that provides the highest efficiency depends upon the type of tube that is used and not its configuration. Yes, we are talking about the corrugated tube heat exchangers that are extremely efficient at transferring heat than the smooth ones.

Here are a few advantages of corrugated tube heat exchanger that helps obtain a higher heat transfer coefficient:

1. Increased Efficiency: When a fluid passes through the tube of the heat exchanger, a lot of factors affect the way it moves such as the pressure, the nature of the fluid (its viscosity), and the design of the tube wall. In a smooth tube, the fluid moves in a plain path and the particles of the fluid do not interfere with each other.  On the other hand, corrugated tube heat exchanger creates turbulence within passing fluid, which makes the corrugated tube more efficient by preventing the viscous fluid sticking to the internal surface of the tube.  It also prevents materials in suspension from dropping out of the carrier fluid.

2. Easier Maintenance and Cleaning: Since corrugated tube heat exchanger provides a sufficient amount of turbulence it is much easier to clean and maintain and therefore, more reliable too.

3. Smaller Footprint: Since this type of heat exchangers have increased heat transfer rate when compared to the smooth tube of the same length, they can be made smaller in size.

4. Longer Running Times: Corrugated tube heat exchanger prevents the formation of a boundary layer in the tube, thereby increasing the thermal efficiency and reducing the downtime needed to keep removing it.  

Corrugated tube heat exchanger comes in different geometrics such as the HARD Corrugation which allows achieving the high increase of heat transfer co-efficient and the SOFT Corrugation which is an intermediate between smooth tube design and HARD tube corrugation that improves heat transfer to a comparatively lesser extent. 

To obtain a higher heat transfer coefficient, the number of starts of the helix must be changed as well as the angle of the tube. Stalwart International deals with various types of the corrugated tube heat exchanger and the professionals here know which type would exactly fit your requirements. To know more, visit their website and get in touch with their team experts.