Does a finned tube heat exchanger fall under pressure vessels?
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Does a finned tube heat exchanger fall under pressure vessels? Each tile contains multiple tubes with a diameter of 25x2.5; there are 3 rows of tubes (27, 26, 27). The steam pressure is 1.2 MPa, and these tubes are used to heat air. I would appreciate some advice from those with more experience
Air coolers and shellless heat exchangers are not pressure vessels governed by the acceptance regulations.
Owner, is the air under pressure (pressure ≥ 0.1 MPa)? Is the volume of the shell side ≥ 250 L? If so, then it is a pressure vessel
If it is an air cooler, then it is not a pressure vessel
Reply to 3# kld779816: What you’re referring to is a pressure vessel in a narrow sense; that’s too restrictive
An air cooler is a device that uses ambient air as a cooling medium, which flows across the outside of finned tubes to cool or condense the high-temperature process fluid inside the tubes. It is commonly referred to as an \"air cooler\" or an \"air-cooled heat exchanger\". Air coolers, also known as finned fans, are commonly used to replace water-cooled shell-and-tube heat exchangers for cooling the medium. When air is under pressure, it is no longer ambient air but compressed air; the equipment is then not an air cooler. Whether it constitutes a pressure vessel depends on its diameter and volume.
Our company’s operating conditions are somewhat similar to those of the original poster: finned tube heat exchangers, with a steam pressure of 0.6 MPa, and the tubes are located in the flow path； Compressed air at 0.3 MPa flows through the shell side; the product of the operating pressure on the shell side and its volume is greater than 2.5 MPa·L. The air is heated from 0 degrees to 140 degrees. I would appreciate advice from those with more experience – what rationale can be used to justify that this equipment does not need to comply with the ‘Regulations on Pressure Vessels’ (TSG R0004-2009, Safety Technical Supervision Regulations for Fixed Pressure Vessels)? ；