Regarding the design pressures for the shell side and tube side of heat exchangers
Thread Content
This post was last edited by ZHANGZHANTJ on 2015-7-25 08:08. There is a gas/water heat exchanger, with a design pressure of 1.6 MPa for the tube side (water) and 5.1 MPa for the shell side (natural gas). My questions are: 1. Does the design pressure for the tube side/shell side refer to the pressure of the fluid? 2. Should the heat exchange tubes in the tube side be selected for their material (wall thickness) based on the pressure in the shell side? I hope to hear your professional answer. Thank you!
Design pressure refers to the pressure that a device can withstand, or in other words, the maximum pressure that the medium it handles can reach.
The heat exchange tubes in the tube side should have their materials (wall thickness) selected based on the pressure in the tube side. The design pressure for the tube side/shell side refers to the highest pressure at the top of the tube and shell sides.
If there is a large difference in operating pressures between the shell side and the tube side (for example, hundreds of kilograms), could this cause compression damage to the tube bundle? If not, please explain why. Thank you!
When using SW6 for calculation, it automatically checks whether the external pressure on the heat exchange tubes is within acceptable limits.
The design pressure is a specified value that must not be lower than the maximum operating pressure; the design pressure for the tube side and the shell side must be determined separately