Oil & Gas
Thermal management has always been important, and in many instances, complex. Yet, in hazardous fields like oil and gas processing, there are more considerations than usual when it comes to implementing electrical and other thermal management solutions. For example, consistent and reliable thermal management is especially important to minimize the need for employees to venture out to fix or maintain equipment. The ability to cool equipment without drawing on enormous amounts of energy is essential for companies to control overhead costs. These and other special considerations make thermal management in oil and gas processing particularly challenging, and heat exchangers are often up for the challenge.
What Is a Heat Exchanger?
An industrial heat exchanger is a device that is specially designed for heat transfer between different media. One medium is process fluid and the other is a heat-absorbing coolant comprised of chilled liquid or gas.
What Does a Heat Exchanger Do?
Typically, this piece of equipment removes the heat generated by an industrial process helping to cool it off and prevent an unchecked rise in production temperature.
Alternately, a heat exchanger may also be used to heat a production reaction where higher process temperatures are required. This function of a heat exchanger is less commonly employed than its application in industrial cooling.
How Does a Heat Exchanger Work?
Heat exchangers function by bringing a cooled fluid into close contact with a hot industrial process or piece of equipment. This allows for an exchange of the heat between the two mediums by using the principles of thermal heat conduction.
In some cases, the media (coolant and heated process) are in direct contact but for the majority of heat exchanger types, there is usually a separating barrier between them.
Heat Exchanger Applications in Oil and Gas
The various types of heat exchangers available play key roles in the oil and gas production processes listed below:
Hot oil/heat transfer systems
Fuel gas conditioning skids
Cold ammonia flow control
Lube oil systems
SCR units
