The working principle of the floating head heat exchanger

One end of the tube sheet Du of the floating head heat exchanger is fixed to the shell, while the other end of the tube sheet can float freely inside the shell, as shown in the following figure. The thermal expansion of the tube shell and tube bundle is caused by Dao. Therefore, when the temperature difference between the two media is large, there is no thermal stress between the tube bundles. The floating head end adopts a detachable structure, allowing the tube bundle to be easily inserted and pulled out of the shell (or designed as non-detachable), which is convenient for maintenance and cleaning. However, the structure of the heat exchanger is rather complex. During operation, it is impossible to know whether there is any leakage with the small floating end cover. Therefore, special attention should be paid to its sealing during installation.

The floating head structure of the floating head heat exchanger can be designed in various forms according to different requirements. In addition to the free movement of the equipment tube bundle, the convenience of maintenance, installation and cleaning of the floating head components must also be taken into consideration. In the structure shown in Figure 2, although the floating head can move freely, the tube bundle cannot be pulled out of the shell. Its advantage is that under the same shell diameter, there are more tubes and a larger heat exchange area. However, when the outer wall of the heat exchange tube needs to be cleaned frequently, this structure is not suitable.