At sites where steam is used to heat air, the tube-side outlet temperature failing to reach the set value is a common feedback encountered by technical engineers during troubleshooting. The medium flow rate and steam pressure may appear normal, but the problem often lies in improper matching of heat transfer area and flow velocity, or insufficient margin in the baffle spacing and shell-side flow path design. The GCH-450 shell-and-tube heat exchanger re-examines structural parameters for such working conditions, adjusting the tube bundle arrangement and baffle spacing under the same shell diameter to achieve a verifiable balance between heat transfer capacity and pressure drop.
Plate-frame heat exchangers are compact with high heat transfer coefficients, but the gaskets are sensitive to temperature cycling and medium erosion, and the maintenance cycle is constrained by gasket life. Finned-tube heat exchangers are widely used in flue gas waste heat recovery, but fins carry risks of fouling and oxidation under high-temperature dust-laden conditions. Shell-and-tube heat exchangers use welded or flanged connections between the tube bundle and shell, offering a wide pressure and temperature range, suitable for steam, high-temperature water, and some corrosive media. The GCH-450 allows material selection for the tube side and shell side to be adjusted according to medium characteristics; the combination of shell material and tube material must be confirmed during the selection stage.
Cleaning methods should be selected based on the nature of the fouling layer: mechanical cleaning is suitable for hard scale, while chemical cleaning is suitable for soft fouling, but attention must be paid to the corrosive effects of the cleaning solution on the tubes and shell. The GCH-450 features a removable structure on the tube box side for easy tube bundle extraction or mechanical cleaning of the tube side; shell-side cleaning ports are arranged along the baffle orientation to reduce cleaning blind spots. During routine maintenance, it is recommended to record the tube-side inlet/outlet temperature difference and shell-side pressure drop changes as a basis for judging the degree of fouling.
The structural parameters obtained by reverse calculation must be fed back for verification of flow velocity and vibration, and finalized after confirming no abnormalities. The selection process for the GCH-450 includes thermal calculation, tube-side and shell-side flow velocity verification, tube bundle natural frequency and Karman vortex street vibration assessment, with adjustment of baffle spacing or addition of anti-vibration measures as necessary. The design output includes heat transfer area, pressure drop, nozzle orientation, and support type, for verification by technical engineers and on-site installation parties.
