Heat exchangers are key equipment for transferring heat in industrial production and daily life, and titanium heat exchangers have become indispensable core equipment in the chemical, petroleum, electricity, food and other industries due to the unique advantages of titanium metal. This article will take you to a deep understanding of the mystery of titanium heat exchangers.
What is a titanium heat exchanger
Titanium heat exchanger is a heat exchange equipment made of titanium as the main material. It is like a “heat carrier” in industrial production, which can transfer heat from one heat carrier to another. Titanium heat exchangers are usually composed of tube bundles made of titanium tubes, shells that wrap the tube bundles, tube sheets for fixing the tube bundles and separating fluid channels, and baffles set in the shell to change the direction of fluid flow. For example, the common tubular titanium heat exchanger is composed of titanium tube bundles and shells. The heat medium flows inside or outside the tubes and heat is exchanged through the tube wall.
Working Principle
Based on the basic principle of heat transfer, when two fluids of different temperatures flow in the internal channels of the titanium heat exchanger, the hot fluid flows through the titanium tube bundle or channel, transferring heat to the titanium alloy wall; the cold fluid flows through the channel on the other side, absorbing the heat transferred by the titanium alloy wall, thereby achieving heat exchange.
Why is titanium heat exchanger the best choice?
Metal corrosion has always been a pain point that is difficult to cure for industrial heat exchange equipment. Traditional carbon steel and stainless steel often cause leakage accidents due to electrochemical corrosion or stress cracking under strong acid, alkali, seawater or high temperature conditions, and the natural advantages of titanium metal break this dilemma.
Good corrosion resistance: Since a dense oxide film will spontaneously form on the surface of titanium, it has good resistance to various corrosive media and can operate stably for a long time in harsh working environments. For example, in the fields of chemical industry, seawater desalination, etc., it can effectively resist corrosion from seawater, acid, alkali and chlorides.
High heat transfer efficiency: Titanium has good thermal conductivity. Through reasonable design (such as optimizing tube bundle arrangement, adding baffles, etc.) and efficient production process, it can effectively transfer heat and improve the heat transfer efficiency of the heat exchanger.
Light weight: The density of titanium is relatively small, which makes the overall weight of the titanium heat exchanger lighter and easier to install and maintain. It is especially suitable for application scenarios with strict weight requirements, such as marine engineering equipment.
Long service life: Due to its strong corrosion resistance, the maintenance cost during use is relatively low, and it can reduce the investment and operating costs of related equipment (such as pumps).
Specific applications of titanium heat exchangers
Titanium heat exchangers are widely used in many fields due to their strong corrosion resistance, lightweight, high thermal conductivity and long life.
1. Marine engineering and seawater treatment
- Seawater desalination: In multiple effect distillation (MED) or reverse osmosis (RO) systems, titanium heat exchangers can be used to preheat or cool seawater, effectively resisting chloride ion corrosion up to 19,000ppm in seawater, and ensuring the stable operation of seawater desalination equipment.
- Ships and offshore platforms: They can be used as coolers to treat seawater cooling media, such as engine cooling, ballast water systems, etc., to avoid pitting problems in stainless steel and adapt to the high salinity of the marine environment.
- Marine chemical industry: In the treatment of saline wastewater, brine concentration and other processes, titanium heat exchangers can achieve efficient heat exchange, and their corrosion resistance makes them perform well in marine chemical production.
2. Chemical and petrochemical industry
- Heat exchange of strong acid media: Titanium heat exchangers perform well in the heating or cooling process of strong acids such as hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, and nitric acid. For example, titanium shell and tube heat exchangers are often used in sulfuric acid dilution processes and can withstand strong acid corrosion.
- Chlor-alkali industry: In the preheating of electrolytic brine and cooling of chlorine, titanium heat exchangers can withstand wet chlorine corrosion to ensure the smooth progress of chemical production.
- Organic chloride production: In equipment such as EDC (ethylene dichloride) condensers in PVC production, titanium heat exchangers can resist chlorinated hydrocarbon corrosion to ensure safe and stable production.
3. Power and energy
- Nuclear power field: used in the secondary loop seawater cooling system of nuclear power plants to avoid the risk of radioactive medium leakage and ensure the safe operation of nuclear power plants.
- Geothermal power generation: heat exchange of geothermal fluids with high salinity and sulfide content to adapt to the special working conditions of geothermal power generation.
- LNG liquefaction: used as a seawater cooler in liquefied natural gas pretreatment, adapting to the dual environment of low temperature and corrosion to ensure the efficient progress of the liquefaction process.
4. Environmental protection and wastewater treatment
- Industrial wastewater treatment: heat recovery and evaporation concentration of acidic wastewater (such as electroplating wastewater, metallurgical waste acid) to improve resource utilization.
- Flue gas desulfurization (FGD): In the wet desulfurization process, it is used for heating or cooling gypsum slurry, resisting SO₂ and Cl composite corrosion, and improving desulfurization efficiency.
- Leachate treatment: realize evaporation heat exchange of high-salt and high-organic leachate, avoid scaling and corrosion, and reduce pollution to the environment.
5. Pharmaceutical and food industry
- Pharmaceutical industry: used for sterilization and cooling of high-purity media (such as water for injection, acid and alkali solutions), meet GMP pollution-free requirements, and ensure drug quality.
- Food processing: pasteurization and heat exchange of acidic foods (juice, vinegar), titanium materials meet FDA food contact safety standards to ensure food safety.
- Bioengineering: In terms of fermentation liquid temperature control, titanium heat exchangers can avoid metal ion pollution affecting the activity of strains and provide a stable temperature environment for bioengineering production.
6. New energy and electronic materials
- Lithium battery manufacturing: cooling and circulating temperature control of electrolytes (such as lithium hexafluorophosphate) to resist fluoride corrosion and ensure the production quality of lithium batteries.
- Polysilicon production: used for condensation and recovery of high-purity chlorosilane gas to avoid the introduction of impurities and improve the purity of polysilicon.
- Hydrogen fuel cells: thermal management of electrolyte solutions (such as concentrated sulfuric acid) to ensure reaction efficiency and safety and promote the development of hydrogen fuel cells.
7. Other special fields
- Aerospace: used for hydraulic oil cooling and fuel preheating systems, using titanium’s lightweight and high temperature resistance to reduce equipment weight and improve aircraft performance.
- Medical equipment: in hemodialysis machines, oxygen generators and other equipment, as a heat exchange module to ensure biocompatibility and cleanliness, and ensure the normal operation of medical equipment.
- High-end laboratories: in the synthesis of ultrapure chemical reagents, achieve precise temperature control, avoid metal contamination, and meet high-precision experimental requirements.
Jiangsu Daxun Alloy Co., Ltd. is a titanium product supplier from China, providing various models of titanium heat exchangers, [contact us] now to get the best quotation.
Reference Links：
Titanium heat exchanger link:https://daxuns.ru/titanium-heat-exchanger
External links：https://www.toptitech.com/info/titanium-heat-exchangers-experts-in-heat-tran-95193204.html