A major side effect of many modern industries is the generation of heat, and in many cases, excessive heat can be a real problem. In factories, vehicle engines, appliances, and more, excess heat may impair the function of electrical components, and heat may also cause unacceptable expansion of warping of metals and other materials. In extreme cases, heat might even boil away or melt liquids or solids, and that could lead to disaster. For these reasons and more, heat exchangers are used everywhere, along with heat vents and heat sinks. These heat transfer models, such as heat transfer coils or harpin heat exchangers (also known as “hairpin” heat exchangers) can regulate the temperature of any item or surface for safety’s sake. These harpin heat exchangers and more can be used with liquids or gases inside to draw heat away from a machine or a surface to prevent overheating, and cooling systems such as refrigeration units also use heat exchangers and pumps daily. What is there to know about harpin heat exchangers and other models?
On Harpin Heat Exchangers
Harpin heat exchangers (or “hairpin”) are a basic but effective model of heat exchangers, and they have a distinct, bent appearance on their exposed tubes. Like other heat exchanger models, harpin heat exchangers do their job by transferring heat between two liquids or a liquid and a solid, and they use thermal contact to do this. Heat transfer is possible when two fluids are at different temperatures than each other and come into thermal contract. Convection in each fluid and conduction through the separating wall facilitate this exchange, and heat will flow from the hotter fluid to the cooler one. In harpin heat exchangers in particular, there are a number of advantages to note.
For one thing, mechanical cleaning of the tubes is easy because they are removable, making maintenance more convenient for the owner. What is more, no expansion joint is needed for the tubes, since their curves shape accommodates expansion and contraction, simplifying their construction. These harpin heat exchangers can also stand up to a lot of pressure, especially if they are built from the best possible metal alloys for the job. In many industrial construction jobs, only certain metal alloy can be used safely, since some work involves pressure, corrosion, heat, or cold that would compromise other building materials. So, a set of harpin heat exchangers may be made from just the right alloys to handle the heat and pressure of the liquids inside where other metals would rupture or warp. Finally, users of harpin heat exchangers may appreciate how their parts can be removed and rearranged to make double flow setups, making them a flexible sort of heat exchanger.
Other Heat Exchangers
While many heat exchangers use liquid and gases to draw heat away from solids and liquids during work, others are meant to create cold air inside themselves. Air conditioners and freezers, including those found in the home, work this way. Inside an air conditioner, liquid cooling will be used to remove heat from air passing through the unit, and this creates colder air that is useful for home air conditioning units. The same may be done for an ordinary refrigerator, and the cooling unit keeps the fridge’s air at a certain low temperature even if the room is much warmer. This technology may also be found in reefer trailers; that is, refrigerated truck trailers use to carry cold items such as groceries. Reefer trucks are a major part of the world’s truck-based transportation, and a lot of products such as frozen food, dairy, meats, and wine would be ruined during transport otherwise.
Heat exchangers can work the other way, too. As opposed to a cooling unit, a heater in the HVAC system of a home can use electrically heated wires to warm up air that passes by them. This is most often done during winter, and even portable heating units make use of this tech. Hot air will soon be the result after the exposed wires inside the heating unit warm up the air that pass by them. Construction sites may also make use of these portable heaters, such as during outdoor construction jobs in the middle of winter. Portable coolers can be used during summer construction.
