Leakage issue in the compressor interstage cooler
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We use air coolers for the inter-stage cooling of our compressors, and they are unable to provide sufficient cooling during summer. We are now planning to replace them with heat exchangers, and there are several questions I would like to ask those familiar with this topic: 1) If we switch to water coolers, how can we prevent the risk of water leaking into the compressed gas, which could lead to cylinder damage? 2) If a minimal pressure drop across the interstage cooler is desired, what type of cooler will have a lower pressure drop when the heat exchange area is the same? If I want to use an efficient heat exchanger, could I opt for a coiled tube heat exchanger or a plate heat exchanger?
First question: Generally, water coolers are used between compressor stages in our systems. If there is an internal leak in the water cooler, gas should theoretically penetrate into the cooling water. There is a liquid separation tank after the water cooler, which can separate the liquid phase; this basically prevents the presence of liquid in the system
The circulating water pressure is lower than the medium pressure, shell and tube heat exchanger
What type of medium does the compressor use? Water cooling is standard for many compressors, so there’s no need to worry.
Issues you need to address: 1. The cooling performance is poor in summer; check whether the air cooler is covered with scale or dust. It usually performs poorly during summer, but only for a few days. It is recommended to connect a heat exchanger, so that the air cooler can still be used in winter. 2. Generally, a gas-liquid separation tank is installed, depending on the medium and pressure compressed by your compressor.
Question 1: When selecting a water cooler as described, it is recommended to choose stainless steel, provided that the process requirements and manufacturing quality can be met; I found on site that copper materials have a much higher probability of leakage compared to other materials. Question 2: The gas cooling in the air compressor intercooler follows a non-phase change cooling process; unlike condensation, plate exchangers and coiled tube types are not suitable for this operating condition due to their pressure drop energy consumption. Without considering shell-and-tube designs, one can either choose a sleeve tube type (with a higher pressure drop) or an internally finned heat exchanger. Here is a link to the forum introduction: http://bbs.hcbbs.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=163192&highlight=%D6%B5%B5%C
Adding a gas-liquid separator will solve the problem, but the air pressure should not be higher than the water pressure.
For this operating condition, a circular plate-shell heat exchanger can be used
This plate-shell heat exchanger has limitations in its application
Our grade uses a circulating water heat exchanger, with a cooling temperature difference of around 60 degrees; a liquid separation tank is employed in the downstream section to prevent gases from carrying liquid!