Summary

The First Law of Thermodynamics states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. Heat exchangers are devices built for efficient heat transfer from one fluid to another. They are widely used in engineering processes and include examples such as intercoolers, preheaters, boilers and condensers in power plants. Heat exchangers are becoming more and more important to manufacturers striving to control energy costs.

Process Heat Transfer Rules of Thumb investigates the design and implementation of industrial heat exchangers. It provides the background needed to understand and master the commercial software packages used by professional engineers for design and analysis of heat exchangers. This book focuses on the types of heat exchangers most widely used by industry, namely shell-and-tube exchangers (including condensers, reboilers and vaporizers), air-cooled heat exchangers and double-pipe (hairpin) exchangers. It provides a substantial introduction to the design of heat exchanger networks using pinch technology, the most efficient strategy used to achieve optimal recovery of heat in industrial processes.