Multi-Tube Hairpin Heat Exchangers
The Muti-Tube Hairpin Heat Exchanger, also known as multis, take the benefits of both shell and tube heat exchangers and double pipe heat exchangers. It uses a U-tube bundle with separate tubeplates and shells for each of the legs. The return header allows for differential expansion of the bundle and shell and, if required, removal of the tube bundle for inspection, cleaning and maintenance.
As with double pipe heat exchangers, the multi-tube can achieve counter current flow, giving maximum temperature differential and enabling it to accommodate temperature approaches or temperature crosses.
The freedom of the bundle to move independently of the shell removes the need for expansion bellows and allows the unit to accommodate wide or cyclic temperature variations.
Many of the process enhancements found in shell and tube heat exchangers can be incorporated into Multi-Tube units, such as vapour belts, finned tubes, turbulators etc.
While the shell and tube heat exchanger is often described as the "workhorse” of the industrial process industry, the multi-tube heat exchanger builds on the success as an immensely versatile unit, able to handle a wide range of process applications and conditions. Whether you are looking to cool, heat, vaporise or condense, just like the shell and tube the multi-tube can meet your needs.
Conditions include:
- Temperature approaches and crosses
- High Pressure to Vacuum conditions
- High Temperature to Cryogenic cases
- High Fouling to Ultra Clean Environments
- Heating / Cooling / Condensing / Vaporising
- Large fluctuations in pressure, temperature or external environment
- Process cycling
- Wide Range of Materials
- Wide Range of Configurations
While we design the headers to meet individual client needs, we group them into four product types.
MTF - Fixed Tubesheet
This is the simplest and most economical case, in the which the bundle is not removable and can be designed with a variety of header arrangements. These units provide all the thermal, cyclic and mechanical advantages of the multi-tube heat exchanger, but without the complex header arrangements.
MTF Multi-Tube Hairpin Fixed Tubesheet Heat Exchanger
MTR - Removable Bundle
Advanced gasketed joints are used to allow the headers to be remove and the bundle, complete with tubesheets, to be extracted through the return end.
MTR Multi-Tube Hairpin Removable Bundle Heat Exchanger
MTXF & MTXR - Cross Contamination Prevention
In cases where it is paramount that cross contamination must not occur, such as bio-pharmaceutical or lethal service, we employ our unique separation headers. Available in both removable and fixed bundle arrangements, they create a physical break between the tube ends and the shell side fluid, so that even in the unlikely event of a tube end or gasket failure, the two fluids are prevented from mixing.
MTXF Multi-Tube Hairpin Cross Contamination Prevention Fixed Tubesheet Heat Exchanger
The more information that a client can supply, the closer the design can meet the process requirements. The minimum information required, however, is as follows:
- Fluid Flow Rates
- Stream Temperatures
- Stream Composition / Physical Properties Data
- Stream Pressure
- Available Pressure Drop
Whether it be NACE spec materials for the Oil Industry or weld overlayed / explosively bonded tubesheets, we manufacture heat exchangers in most combinations of materials.
- Low-alloy steel
- Ferritic chromium stainless steels
- Austenitic chromium-nickel steels
- Copper-base alloys
- Nickel-base alloys
- Titanium
- Stainless Steel
- High Nickel Stainless Steel
- Duplex Stainless Steel
- Hastelloy
- Incoloy
- Cupro Nickel
- Copper
- Brass
- Carbon Steel
- Low Temperature Steel
