When terms like heat exchanger get thrown around my mind goes blank and I immediately tune out. Not knowing what a heat exchanger does or what it involves, I never really had an interest in its applications. However, heat exchangers are more commonly used than I at least thought. Once researched, I found out the heat exchanging process is fairly simple when explained in its simplest terms.
Heat exchangers are pieces of equipment built to effectively transfer heat from one material to another. The material used in the heat exchanging process depends on how the piece of equipment is being used. Such materials would include liquids and gases. Heat exchangers are commonly used in refineries, refrigeration, air conditioning, boilers etc. An example of an everyday applied heat exchanger is a car radiator. Under the hood of a car the engine plays the part of the heat source while the cool air flowing through the radiator acts as the material to which the heat transfers.
The design of heat exchangers involves two separate chambers divided by one shared wall. One side of the wall is the heated material and on the other side is the cool material. When close the heat diffuses from the hot material to the cool material bringing both to an equal temperature. All heat exchangers follow the same common principles. Therefore, they may be customized to size and type depending on how they are being applied. Types of heat exchanger designs are shell and tube, plate heat, adiabatic, plate fin, pillow plate, fluid, waste heat recovery units, dynamic scraped surface, and phase-change.
Our lungs act as our own body heat exchanger. We breathe in cool air and that air presses against tissue. On the other side of that tissue is flowing hot blood. The heat from that blood transfers to the cool air, helping cool our bodies.
So the next time you hear the words heat exchanger uttered form a person's mouth you will know exactly what they are talking about and will be able to engage yourself in their conversation. You may even learn more about this fascinating and scientific application.
