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Industrial Heat Exchangers
For Process Applications
12+
Heat Transfer for
Demanding Processes
Heat exchangers are among the most critical and widely applied pieces of equipment in industrial process plants. They transfer thermal energy between two or more fluids — without mixing them — to heat, cool, condense, or vaporize process streams.
Proper selection depends on process temperatures, pressures, fluid fouling characteristics, available footprint, maintenance access, and lifecycle cost. Brad Thompson Company provides engineering-backed selection assistance from our principals for all major heat exchanger types.
We serve refineries, petrochemical plants, pulp and paper mills, food and beverage processors, power generation facilities, and industrial gas producers throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, and British Columbia.
TEMA Standards
All S&T designs per TEMA R, C, or B classifications for the appropriate service.
ASME Coded
Pressure vessels and heat exchangers designed and stamped to ASME Section VIII.
Thermal Sizing
Principal engineers provide detailed thermal and hydraulic performance analysis.
Multiple Configurations
Fixed tubesheet, U-tube, floating head, gasketed plate, air-cooled and more.
Three Core Heat Exchanger Types
Each technology offers distinct advantages depending on your process conditions, fouling service, space constraints, and maintenance requirements.
Shell & Tube Heat Exchangers
The most widely used heat exchanger type in the process industries. A bundle of tubes is enclosed within a cylindrical shell — one fluid flows inside the tubes (tube side) while the other flows outside the tubes across baffles (shell side).
Available in fixed tubesheet, U-tube, and floating head configurations to handle differential thermal expansion and allow mechanical cleaning.
TEMA designations (AES, BEM, AEW, etc.) define front end, shell, and rear end configurations. Our principals offer designs from small single-pass units to large multi-pass, multi-shell trains for heavy industrial service.
Typical Process Applications
Plate Heat Exchangers
Plate heat exchangers (PHEs) consist of thin, corrugated metal plates pressed together in a frame. Hot and cold fluids alternate between adjacent plate gaps, flowing in countercurrent arrangement.
The high degree of turbulence created by the chevron-pattern plates delivers heat transfer coefficients 3–5 times higher than shell-and-tube designs, enabling compact, efficient units.
Gasketed PHEs allow easy plate access for inspection and cleaning, making them ideal for fouling or viscous services such as wort cooling, dairy pasteurization, and amine regeneration. Brazed or welded variants extend the pressure and temperature envelope for refrigeration and high-pressure duty.
Typical Process Applications
Advantages
- High heat transfer coefficient (U)
- Compact footprint — minimal space
- Easy to expand (add plates)
- Accessible for cleaning/inspection
- True counter-current flow
Limitations
- Limited to lower P & T (gasketed)
- Not suitable for large solids/slurries
- Gasket compatibility required
- Not ideal for high fouling service
Air-Cooled Heat Exchangers
Air-cooled heat exchangers (ACHEs), also called fin-fans or aerial coolers, reject process heat to the atmosphere using forced or induced draft fans. Process fluid flows inside finned tubes while ambient air is moved across the tube bundle by motor-driven fans.
Eliminating the need for cooling water makes ACHEs ideal for remote sites, water-scarce locations, and where once-through or recirculating cooling water systems are cost-prohibitive.
Forced draft units (fans below bundle) offer ease of maintenance; induced draft configurations (fans above) provide more uniform air distribution and better hot air recirculation protection. Louvers, variable pitch fans, and steam coils can be added for cold climate or wide ambient temperature range operation.
Typical Process Applications
Advantages
- No cooling water required
- Low operating cost
- Ideal for remote / arid locations
- Low maintenance — accessible fans
- Handles high inlet temperatures
Limitations
- Performance varies with ambient temp.
- Cannot achieve near-ambient outlet
- Large plot area required
- Fan noise considerations
Comparative Performance Summary
Use this table as a first-pass screening guide. Contact us for detailed thermal sizing based on your specific process conditions.
| CRITERIA | SHELL & TUBE | GASKETED PLATE | AIR-COOLED (ACHE) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Max. Operating Pressure | Unlimited (ASME) | ~300 psi (gasket) | Unlimited (ASME) |
| Max. Temperature | ~1200°F | ~400°F | ~700°F process side |
| Heat Transfer Coefficient | |||
| Fouling Tolerance | |||
| Footprint / Compactness | |||
| Cooling Water Required | Yes | Yes | No — air only |
| Cleanability | Tube side (mechanical) | Full plate access | External fin cleaning |
| Typical Capital Cost | Medium–High | Low–Medium | Medium–High |
| Operating Cost | Low (no fans) | Low | Medium (fan power) |
| Best For | High P/T, fouling, two-phase | Liquid-liquid, clean duty | Remote, water-scarce sites |
Process Applications by Industry
Brad Thompson Company serves a broad cross-section of process industries from refineries to frozen food plants, across the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, and British Columbia.
Petroleum Refining
- Crude preheat train S&T
- Overhead vapor condensers S&T / ACHE
- Vacuum tower reboilers S&T
- Hydrocracker feed/effluent S&T
- Product rundown cooling ACHE
- Amine lean coolers PHE / ACHE
Gas Processing & LNG
- NGL fractionator condensers S&T
- Gas compression coolers ACHE
- Amine regenerator cooling PHE / S&T
- Molecular sieve reactivation S&T
- LNG vaporizers S&T
Pulp & Paper
- White/black liquor heat recovery PHE
- Digester heat exchangers S&T
- Bleach plant cooling PHE
- Steam condensate recovery S&T
- Boiler feedwater preheating S&T
Food & Beverage
- Wort cooling (brewing) PHE
- Pasteurization / HTST PHE
- Refrigerant evaporators PHE / S&T
- CIP & hygienic service PHE
- Blanching & retort cooling S&T
Power Generation
- Lube oil coolers PHE / S&T
- Generator stator water cooling PHE
- Air-cooled condensers ACHE
- BFW preheaters S&T
- Closed-loop intercoolers S&T
Chemical & Petrochemical
- Reactor feed preheating S&T
- Solvent recovery condensers S&T
- Caustic heaters/coolers S&T
- Interprocess heat recovery PHE
- Effluent air cooling ACHE
Key Thermal Design Considerations
Understanding these fundamentals helps engineers specify the right equipment and communicate effectively with our principals' thermal design teams.
Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient (U)
U combines convective resistances on both sides plus wall and fouling resistances. Shell-and-tube U values typically range 50–500 BTU/hr·ft²·°F for liquid service; PHE units achieve 200–1,000+ BTU/hr·ft²·°F. Fouling factors (per TEMA) are added to reduce effective U for sizing.
Log Mean Temperature Difference (LMTD)
LMTD is the driving force for heat transfer. True counter-current flow maximizes LMTD. Multi-pass and cross-flow configurations require an F-correction factor (F < 1.0). Close temperature approaches (<10°F) are more easily achieved in PHEs than in S&T designs.
Fouling & Cleaning
Fouling is the accumulation of unwanted deposits reducing thermal performance. TEMA specifies fouling resistances (Rf) by service type. Specifying the dirty service stream on the tube side enables mechanical cleaning. PHEs can be fully disassembled; fin-fan bundles are cleaned in-situ by water or steam lancing.
Two-Phase & Phase Change Service
Condensing and vaporizing duties require special consideration for flow regimes, vapor velocity limits, and baffle design. Kettle reboilers, thermosyphon reboilers, and falling-film evaporators each suit different process conditions. Our principals engineers provide full datasheet and mechanical design support for two-phase applications.