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6. Advantages of heat pipe heat exchangers
The problems associated with conventional heat transfer designs, which were outlined earlier in this white paper, can be alleviated by using heat pipe technology. The advantages of using a heat pipe heat exchanger are: 1: Energy and carbon reduction savings The single greatest advantage of heat pipe heat exchangers is their ability to contribute to energy and carbon reduction measures, in line with a site’s decarbonisation strategy. Heat pipe heat exchangers generate hot water or steam from existing waste streams, thereby reducing utility supply consumption and costs by circa 3-7% and carbon by circa 4%. 2: Multiple redundancy Each pipe operates independently, which ensures that the unit is not vulnerable to a single pipe failure. This prevents cross contamination, as each heat pipe acts as an additional buffer EHWZHHQWKHWZRÀXLGV:LWKLQWKHKHDWH[FKDQJHUHDFKKHDW pipe is an individual heat exchange unit. The heat pipes are very robust, and designed to operate in aggressive industrial environments. However, even if one or two heat pipes fail, this will have a very small effect on the overall performance of the heat exchanger. For example, with a heat exchanger composed of 100 heat pipes, failure of a single pipe will still result in 99% effectiveness of the entire system. 3: Low fouling and ease of maintenance The use of smooth pipes allows heat pipe heat exchangers to be used in high particulate or oily applications, which can have a severely detrimental effect on conventional heat exchangers, for example those found in food processing waste incinerator
applications. This low fouling capability ensures that heat pipe heat exchangers can be easily maintained in situ, with no requirement to uninstall. 4: Isothermal operation – no hot or cold spots Heat pipe heat exchangers eliminate cold corners, which are common in heat exchangers designed with a complex multi- WXEXODUVWUXFWXUH7KLVLQWXUQVLJQL¿FDQWO\UHGXFHVGHZSRLQW corrosion issues, and improves overall thermal performance of the heat exchanger. 5: Robust materials and long life Heat pipes do not rely on thin metal surfaces for effective heat transfer, and therefore can be constructed from robust materials that offer increased resistance to corrosion. What’s more, heat exchangers designed with heat pipe enable the pipes to freely expand and contract within the heat exchanger casing, which eliminates thermal stress on the structure. 6: Low pressure drop Compared to other heat recovery solutions currently available on the market, heat pipe based solutions have extremely low SUHVVXUHGURSV7KLVLVSDUWLFXODUO\VLJQL¿FDQWLQVLWXDWLRQVLQ which size or weight are a consideration, as this low pressure drop is achieved with systems that are also much smaller and lighter than traditional systems.
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