What is the heat exchanger used in refinery?


A heat exchanger is an essential component in the oil refinery industry. It is a device that transfers heat between two or more fluids, allowing them to reach different temperatures without mixing. Heat exchangers are used in a variety of refinery processes, such as cooling crude oil, heating feedstock, and recovering heat from waste streams.



Types of Heat Exchangers Used in Refineries


There are various types of heat exchangers used in refineries. The most common ones include:


1. Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers: This type of heat exchanger consists of a shell (a large cylindrical vessel) and a bundle of tubes inside it. One fluid flows through the tubes while the other flows around them inside the shell. Shell and tube heat exchangers are used for high-pressure and high-temperature applications in refineries, such as the cooling of crude oil.


2. Plate Heat Exchangers: Plate heat exchangers consist of a series of metal plates with corrugated edges. The plates are stacked on top of each other, creating channels for the fluids to flow through. Plate heat exchangers are compact and have a large surface area, making them suitable for applications where space is limited.


3. Air Cooled Heat Exchangers: Air cooled heat exchangers (ACHE) use air as the cooling medium instead of water. They are used to cool high-temperature fluids that cannot be cooled by water. ACHEs are commonly used in refinery processes such as the cooling of high-temperature hydrocarbons.

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