Large bubbles form in the tube as gas flows. Turbulators help cut and prevent large bubbles.
Fouling layer build-up on tube wall reduces heat transfer.
Turbulators prevent build up by converting laminar flow to turbulent flow, increasing heat transfer.
Turbulator forces fluids to flow in a complex pattern of eddies causing multiple self-collisions that lead to a more homogenous mixture.
Vaporizers are plagued with issues like film boiling, mist flow and unmanageably large bubbles. Turbulators keep the boiling mechanism in nucleate boiling or as close as one can be to it, take out the aspect of mist flow and cut bubbles down to size, this prevents htc from dropping off a cliff in vaporizers. Very useful in LNG Vaporizers.
In vertical condensers, turbulators can help drain the liquid from the wall through the center to allow for more condensation. This can really improve performance.
Turbulators direct all the liquid to the tube wall improving heat transfer as more fluid is in contact with the wall. It also agitates the film along the tube wall and the zig-zag pattern created increases dwell time and thickens the film layer. This also reduces fouling and increases the interval between cleanings.
List of applications including (but not limited to just these) scenarios where turbulators, if given a shot, would appreciably increase performance:
Vaporizers are plagued with issues like film boiling, mist flow and unmanageably large bubbles. Turbulators keep the boiling mechanism in nucleate boiling or as close as one can be to it, take out the aspect of mist flow and cut bubbles down to size, this prevents htc from dropping off a cliff in vaporizers. Very useful in LNG Vaporizers.
Turbulators can improve furnace inlet temp in refineries to improve refinery yield and reduce CO2 emissions. 2 birds, one stone.
Turbulators, on account of the increase in shear stress, can mitigate fouling in certain exchangers in the CPHT. This can also keep the Furnace Inlet Temp consistently high over a period reducing the fouling drop-off in performance.
In vertical condensers, turbulators can help drain the liquid from the wall through the center to allow for more condensation. This can really improve performance.
With viscosities as high as 1000cP make this a great candidate for enhancement using VorTX technology since Reynolds Numbers will be depressed.
Most liquid cooled heat sinks use some mix of glycol water and turbulators are known to improve the tubeside performance appreciably to enable more powerful electronic components to be designed in a smaller area.
Using turbulators as the prime driver, agitated vessels for batch reactions can be replaced with Shell and Tube Reactors with Turbulated Tubes to enable inline reactions that are significantly quicker, lower on power and have equipment that is a fraction of the normal size.
The dehydration of wet crude involves units with high viscosities which operate in laminar flow and are the nailed on use-case for VorTX Wire, VorTX Spiral or twisted tape turbulators.
To keep decent vapor qualities, VorTX tech can mitigate phase stratification and improve vapor heating.
If you’re dealing with tight approaches with internal temp crosses, VorTX turbulators can help reduce passes and keep performance up even in laminar flow and low velocities.
Transformer oil is viscous and it means that units operate under severely laminar conditions. To maintain efficient transformer operation, one can use VorTX technology to increase heat transfer in this low Reynolds environment and maintain process target temps.
When dry crude is being heated by water there’s laminar flow on the tubeside where performance can be appreciably improved by using VorTX technology.
Glycol is used in absorption dehydration of gas streams. Glycol being viscous operates in laminar flow and is another use-case that’s a great candidate for VorTX performance enhancement.
Bottoms out of any distillation process are high in viscosity and exhibit laminar flow which can see sizable improvements in performance using VorTX technology.
Effluent cooling is generally needed for either further processing or storage. When a fluid cools its viscosity goes up and that leads to laminar flow. And laminar flow is a happy hunting ground for VorTX technology.
Heating crude where crude is on the tubeside makes it the limiting side for heat transfer. An improvement on the tubeside with VorTX technology will improve overall coefficient in a big way.
Tight approaches on heat recovery applications necessitate tubeside enhancement. Enter VorTX turbulators that can improve this in cases of both vaporizing and condensing of multicomponent reactor effluent.
VorTX tech can improve phase distribution through the tubes and prevent film boiling or stratified flow. This will improve overall performance.
High tube side viscosities and having water on the shell side make resin coolers a star use case for VorTX tech heat transfer enhancement. Because water on the shell side means that the tubeside is heavily controlling.
Cooling or even condensing of MDI would do well with VorTX tech as it would bulk mix the components and even drain off excess condensate to free up more area for condensation.
VorTX tech can help achieve high product quality and improve throughput by a number of product actions. Improving phase distribution through the tubes for starters. And improving boiling mechanisms to move away from film boiling, stratified flow towards nucleate boiling.
Polyols are an ingredient in the production of resins and they’re characteristically viscous and operate in laminar conditions best suited for VorTX enhancement.
Amide Coolers in the nylon process can have their cooling impacted through yearly condition changes. VorTX technology can help maintain optimal performance of these units.
Gas transporation pipeline compressors need lube oil at a cool enough temp. Air coolers that cool them can be smaller in size (upwards of 50% in the majority of cases) with the use of VorTX technology. Add to that lowered fan power consumption and it’s easy to see why it’s a glowing use-case.
Fuel Gas Heaters generally have a temp cross problem which can be alleviated by making them a 1 pass design powered by VorTX technology.
The last thing you want is droplet carryover to downstream equipment. To prevent this you need full vaporization which is something VorTX can give you by maintaining performance even at high vapour qualities my mitigating droplet formation at the outlet.