What material for the heat exchange tubes?
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A floating-head heat exchanger, with the fluid on the tube side being C5 hydrocarbons and C5 resin. The tube box is made of carbon steel Q345R, the tube sheet is forged from 16Mn, but the heat exchange tubes are made of HSn70. Question: Is it necessary to use copper for the heat exchange tubes? If copper is used, which type of pipe joint connection is suitable?
For strength expansion joining, an expansion jointing test is required
Copper has a high thermal conductivity, so its heat transfer efficiency is higher. The heat exchange tubes are joined to the tube sheet by expansion bonding; since copper is soft, grooves are made in the expansion joints to prevent them from coming apart.
It’s not clear whether it’s necessary to use copper pipes; if so, the strength of the gasket plates will be affected by the grooves in those pipes.