Which tubular heat exchanger is the one for you?
Pumping and thermal treatment of viscous products are the main challenges in a tubular
heat exchanger. Tubular heat exchangers (THE) are especially popular for products contai-
ning particulate. Tubes have the minimum of obstructions to get in the way of the particulate
and can be cleaned easily. But with four basic tubular designs to choose from, which is the
one for your product?
Mono-tube
Mono-tube or double-tube is used when products contain large particulate, such as, fruit
preparations for yoghurt or grape must containing stems from the grape vine. Mono tubes
in smaller diameters of 50 mm or less are also used for low flow rates typically found in
pilot-scale processing systems. The advantage of the mono-tube is that it has a single flow
path without any obstruction that would interfere with particulate. The mono-tube can also
be “pigged” to reduce product losses. A “pig” is a bullet-sized plug that is forced through
the tube by hydraulic pressure to recover any remnants of the viscous product.
The downside of the mono-tube is that “core flow” can develop when pumping viscous pro-
ducts. Core flow is prevalent with larger diameter mono-tubes. As a result, the product has
laminar flow in the centre of the tube and the core will not be exposed to the same degree
of thermal treatment as the outer layer of the tube. Thus product quality may be affected
and proper temperature control may be difficult.
Multi-tube
Multi-tube is the most commonly used type of tubular heat exchanger for products with low
to medium viscosity. The multi-tube, unlike the mono-tube, consists of more than one pa-
rallel product tube inside a shell. The bundle of tubes range from three parallel tubes all the
way up to 37 tubes depending on the product flow rate.
The tubes tend to be smaller in diameter for more improved turbulence and increased surfa-
ce area, hence the advantage of the multi-tube. The multi-tube can be used for heating and
pre-cooling applications for products that are viscous when cold but thin out when heated
such as ketchup. The downside of the multi-tube is “plug flow”. This happens when the
product is very viscous such as tomato paste and pumpkin or squash. When these viscous
products are pumped through a multi-tube (many parallel tubes), the product will speed
up through some and slow down through others. Eventually the flow through some of the
parallel tubes will stop completely, known as “plug flow”. When this happens, the pressu-
re drop increases dramatically and a portion of the surface area becomes ineffective, thus
compromising the thermal performance.
1(2)
Triple or concentric tube
The triple tube was designed mainly to process viscous products. It is designed with three
varying diameters of tubes that fit one inside the other. This forms a single product flow
path in the middle channel with media on both the outer and inner diameter of the product
tube. The single product flow path formed by the tube walls eliminates both the core flow
and plug flow conditions mentioned above with the mono and multi-tube designs. The triple
tube can even process product containing particulate providing the gap between the tubes
allows enough clearance for the particulate to pass. But the next type of design may be
even more suitable for viscous product with a high particulate size.
High-pressure coiled tube
Another tube design called the high pressure coiled tube (HPCT) is especially suitable for
viscous products where there is a high risk of fouling, such as, baby food, cheese sauce,
pudding or high protein drinks. The HPCT is designed with a single product tube similar to
a mono tube but the tube is formed into a coil. The tube coil is then inserted into a pres-
sure vessel with a narrow media path. The product is pumped through the coil at a very
high velocity. There are two benefits to the high velocity. Firstly, fouling is reduced which
is important when processing high fouling products such as cheese sauce and pudding.
The second benefit is improved thermal performance compared to a mono tube. The high
velocity flowing through a coil creates centrifugal force thus creating mixing of the product
in order to avoid the core flow phenomenon.
“In many cases, we know that a tube is the best solution for the customer,” says Don Boh-
ner, Product Manager for Heat Exchangers at Tetra Pak in North America. “As a rule, unless
the flow rate is low, the starting point is a multi-tube model. But you have to know which
products may create a risk of plugging in a multi-tube. If that is going to be a problem, you
can go to the concentric or coil solutions.”
So as you can see, processing viscous fluids through a tubular heat exchanger requires
thorough investigation concerning the product or products being processed and the type of
thermal treatment that will be needed. A designer needs to do a thorough investigation in
order to determine the most efficient solution that will ensure proper food safety and food
quality.
2(2)
