There’s no problem with the water circuit of the heat exchanger
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In what situations should circulating water in a heat exchanger flow in from the top and out from the bottom? Under normal circumstances, it flows in from the bottom and out from the top. Recently, three heat exchangers in the workshop became clogged, with the fluid paths inside and outside the shell mixing up – is this related to the way the water flows?
The blockage of heat exchangers has little to do with the flow direction of cooling water, while the quality of circulating water has a significant impact. Please pay attention to controlling the impact of water quality on the circulating water.
The leakage between the tube side and shell side has nothing to do with the way water flows; it is closely related to the quality of the heat exchanger. Either that, or the gaskets between the shell side and tube side are damaged. Could you please specify the model and type of your heat exchanger, so that everyone can analyze it properly!? :o
Regardless of the way water flows, it is necessary to consider whether corrosion of the tubes and tube sheets has been severe enough to cause leaks. Given that the heat exchanger leaks after becoming clogged, it is important to determine whether there is a problem with overpressure.
It might be because the water quality is too hard, which causes things like algae to accumulate in the pipes and cause blockages. Regular cleaning will solve the problem.
Blockages in heat exchangers are mainly caused by poor water quality. This depends on the age of the heat exchanger; no matter how well pre-coating treatment is done, the tubes of the heat exchanger will still suffer from corrosion. Additionally, it is necessary to check the inlet and outlet pressures in the water flow circuit of the heat exchanger; pressure buildup must be avoided, as it will significantly reduce the service life of the heat exchanger. Usually, cold water flows in from below and out from above, while hot fluid flows in from above and out from below. If the hot fluid is to flow in from below and out from above and the cold fluid from above and out from below, then this flow pattern can be used when cooling gas.
Typical heat exchangers have fluid flow from the bottom to the top, which helps improve the efficiency of heat exchange. In cases where excessive cooling is not necessary, improvements are usually made to the arrangement of the tubes. Since you mentioned your heat exchanger nozzles, it is reasonable to assume that your cooling water likely has not undergone pretreatment. If this problem needs to be resolved in the future, it can be done by changing the water quality, or by adding a drain valve to the heat exchanger; regular drainage can also effectively solve the issue.
Thank you, this information is very useful to me
The heat exchanger is a U-tube type heat exchanger; the gas flows inside the tube side, where the material is susceptible to corrosion and hydrolysis – it must not be exposed to water at all. The maximum temperature is around 300 degrees. Water, in the form of deionized water, flows on the shell side; this makes it a very challenging situation
Generally, liquid cooling media flow in from below and out from above, while heating media flow in from above and out from below. This is because at higher temperatures the density is lower, making it less likely to occur backmixing, which would affect the heat transfer efficiency. As for whether scaling occurs or not, it has little to do with the flow direction.