Operational Issues Caused by Incorrect Heat Exchanger Design Choices
May 31, 2023 (4pm UK time)
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Failure of heat exchangers installed in industrial facilities may lead to serious accidents resulting in injuries, environmental spills, and significant financial losses. This presentation discusses various design choices that may work properly for most typical operations but fail when heat exchangers operate at unexpected operating conditions which were not considered at the design stage. The presentation shows five different design choices that could lead to serious operational problems are described in detail:
- Selecting design temperatures for the heat exchangers installed in networks that are subject to non-uniform fouling.
- Selecting design temperatures for electric process heaters.
- Selecting fixed tubesheet heat exchangers without considering all possible operating cases.
- Selecting conventional heat exchanger geometry for cycling services and high tube-side temperature increase.
- Selecting the tube bundle geometry resulting in unforeseen flow-induced vibration tube failures.