Spiral heat exchanger
A spiral heat exchanger , often also called a spiral heat exchanger , is a heat exchanger that can be manufactured easily and inexpensively . It is used in heating and air conditioning technology as well as in plant construction for both liquids and gaseous media.
It is made by folding an elongated rectangular sheet of metal lengthways to about half its length and then winding it up into a spiral starting from the fold . If certain measures during winding ensure that space remains between the sheet metal strips, two separate spaces are created that are spirally wound into one another, but are still open at the front.
The end faces of the rolled up sheet metal are closed by welding or two sealed round clamping covers are attached in some other way, for example by tie rods and seals . In addition, four connections are made through which the two media enter and exit (2 connections at the fold and 2 connections at the end of the spiral). These connections can also be in the clamping lids. Spiral heat exchangers are usually operated as counterflow heat exchangers .
Spiral heat exchangers are:
| advantages | disadvantage |
|---|---|
| easy to manufacture, as they only consist of a single part, apart from the base, cover and connections | Difficult to attach due to the cylindrical design |
| Insensitive to contamination, because the medium flows through the entire cross-section and, in contrast to tube bundle and plate heat exchangers, there are no internal branches in which contaminants could settle due to lower flow speeds. | not suitable for large temperature differences in the media, as the rolled sheet expands / contracts significantly |
| not suitable for aggressive media due to the seals | |
| Due to the design, cannot be used at high pressures |