type of cooler for a sludge?

[leondios]

i want to cool a sludge steam of terephthalic acid. what kind of cooler should i use?

 

[pmover]

as with any fluid needing a change in state, the fluid properties (i.e. press, temp, visc, density, hazardous, corrosive, etc.) need to be known before considering mechanisms for cooling. i'm not a chemist and do not have any knowledge of terephthalic acid, so a little more info/data would be helpful.

good luck!
-pmover

 

[leondios]

there would not be any change in state. i just want to reduse the temperature but i dont know what kind of heat axchanger will be the best because i have solids in my stream.

 

[MikeHalloran]

Presence of solids/ sludge implies that someone, someday, will be tasked with cleaning the gooey side of the thing. Whether you like it or not, they will use scrapers, and chisels, and hammers.

Which suggests something like Panelcoil, but with the sludge contact surface made planar, and either thick or abrasion resistant or both.

I don't know if anyone actually makes such a thing commercially, but you get the idea.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[sshep]

A spiral exchanger may be considered. The uniform channel eliminates dead zones where solids can settle and accumulate.

If a TEMA exchanger is used then the sludge should be put in the tubes which are more easily cleaned- I would preffer straight tubes (vs U-tubes), but without more data on the nature of the fluid this just speculation.

best wishes,
sshep

 

[speco]

Leondios,

There may be several possible solutions to your problem. However, it would be helpful if the readers of this forum had some idea of the scale and other specifics of your application. That is:

1. Flow rate of process fluid.

2. Temperatures of process, and thermal properties at those tempertures.

3. Temperaure of available coolands (water, air, glycol, ect.)

4. Compatible materials used for the process fluid.

Regards,

Speco (

http://www.stoneprocess.com)

 

[StoneCold]

Pending the answers to Speco's questions I would suggest a double pipe heat exchanger that could be dismantled. If you can pump the stuff then the double pipe will cool it down.

Regards
Stonecold

 

[thermcool]

Tube in Tube type heat exchanger can solve the purpose. Its cheap and easy to maintain. so if you need you will also be able to clean it (periodic maintainence)

 

[TD2K]

I'd echo the recommendation to look at spiral heat exchangers, they are used on quite a few very nasty services.

Alfa-Laval is one company that makes them. Supply your process requirements and see if they can give you some similar references.

 

[KiwiMace]

I support the spiral heat exchanger proposition too. These are used on waste-water sludge commonly, and you just open up the front cover plate to water blast out the channels when required - but they are inherently 'self cleaning'.

Also look at compact tube-in-tube systems. Straight tube-in-tubes often need space planning too early in the process for retrofit applications.

Aside from the equipment selection: Sludge flow is often non-newtonian and tends to revert to laminar flow if the design conditions aren't met. Make sure the selection of the H/E promotes turbulent flow so the heat transfer meets specification. Check the flow range where non-constant.

 

[Mattysdad]

What is maximum solids size ?