Heat Pipes: An Industrial Application

This paper reviews the basics of heat pipe exchangers. Included are how they are constructed, how they operate, where they have application, and various aspects of evaluating a potential application. After discussing the technical aspects of heat pipe exchangers, an industrial case history is presented. The case history involves a retrofit project which added heat pipes to five natural draft process heaters with a combined heat duty of 150 M Btu/hr. A heat recovery of 15 M Btu/hr has resulted from the flue gas/combustion air interchange. The paper will include design considerations, and operating and maintenance history since early 1980. A second application for heat pipes with a 12 M Btu/hr duty installed in 1983 will also be discussed