One head of the tube plates on both ends of the floating-head heat exchanger is not connected to the shell, and that end is called the folating head. When tuds are heated, the tube bundle along with the floating head can extent or retract in the axial direction, thus removing the temperature stress completely.

The new floating-head heat exchangers floating head end structure consists of such parts as cylinder, outer cover side flange, floating tube plate, hook, floating head, outer cover, thread hole and steel ring.

Chatacteristics of floating-head heat exchanger

One end of tube plates of the floating-head heat exchanger is fixed between the shell and the tube box while the other end can move freely inside the shell. That characteristic can be seen on the site. As for this heat exchanger type, the thermal expansion of shell and tube bndle is free, and its tube bundle can be drawn out to facilitate cleaning between and inside tubes. Its defects include complex structure, high cost (20% higher than that of the fixed tube plate ), the floating heads vnlnerability to leakage during running and inconvenience in check and troubleshooting. Its suitable for such conditions as big temperature difference between shell and tube bundle or the shell pass medium being vulnerable scaling.

The floating-head heat exchanger is widely used in such occasions as serious scaling and tube pass being vulnerable to corrosion in chemical and petroleum refining untis by right of its advantages like being easy for cleaning tube and shelll pass, no restriction on temperature and pressure( generally temperature ≤450 and pressure≤6.4 Mpa). The floating-head heat exchanger and the condenser have formed standard series. The heat exchanger is divided into two kinds: internal diversion and external diversion.

heat exchanger