Can heat exchanger tubes made of zirconium be processed into U-tube bundles?
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As the title says. Can heat exchanger tubes made of zirconium be processed into U-tube bundles? Will cold bending of zirconium tubes into U-shaped tubes significantly affect their corrosion resistance? Are there any industrial application cases? I would appreciate your guidance.
What are the heat exchange temperature and pressure? Thank you!
The tube train uses acetic acid as the process medium, with a design pressure of 3.4 MPaG and a design temperature of 235°C; a U-tube bundle is planned to be used； The shell side uses boiler feed water BFW to generate steam, with a design pressure of 1.2 MPaG and a design temperature of 195°C.
U-shaped tubes can be cold-formed; after cold forming, removing the residual stresses will not affect the product’s corrosion resistance, but this depends on factors such as the specific material, bending radius, outer diameter, and wall thickness
Thank you for the answer from Building 4! The material of the heat exchange tubes is Zr702 zirconium; U-shaped tube bundles are planned to be used in order to eliminate one end cap and one tube sheet made of zirconium, and to avoid thermal stress between the tube bundle and the shell.