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Specifying that workhorse of the process

industries, the shell-and-tube heat
exchanger, is usually a straightforward
exercise in these days of computer-aided
design packages, but you do need to ask
the right questions. David Knightbridge
offers a brief guide to that common one:
which type of TEMA exchanger?

Take the TEMA test

Which type of TEMA Heat Exchanger ?
THE advent of modern computer
programmes has enabled many of us to
thermally rate heat exchangers quickly and
Typical Description Removable Tubes can Non-hazardous Non-hazardous Hazardous No gaskets Ability accurately. But how do we decide which
TEMA of TEMA tube be cleaned liquids & gases liquids & gases liquids in contact to resist
type heat type heat bundle internally below 40barg above 40barg and gases with thermal design of heat exchanger for a given
exchanger exchanger by rodding process side shock application will satisfy the operating
Below Above conditions, all the mechanical/thermal
190 C 190 C
criteria, and give a cost-effective solution?
AEW Externally Yes Yes Yes No No No No No Many customers have asked what forms
BEW sealed
the basis of a heat exchanger design for their
Floating
tube sheet particular enquiry. I well recall in my earlier
years as a junior applications engineer, my
AEP Outside Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes2 No No No
BEP packed mentor of the time showing me how to
floating make a selection, saying that the enquiry we
head
were looking at was leading him by the
AEL Fixed tube No Yes Yes1 Yes1 Yes Yes Yes3 No nose to a certain type of heat exchanger
BEM sheet design. His experience gained over the years
NEN Fixed No Yes Yes1 Yes1 Yes Yes Yes3 No enabled him to do this, but what was the
tubesheet, thought process that went into selecting the
channel
integral with right type of heat exchanger? In some cases
tubesheet there can be more than one solution.
Obviously it is not possible to cover all
AEU U tube Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes4 Yes
BEU aspects of design or all available TEMA
types of heat exchanger in just a few short
AET Pull-through Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
BET floating lines, but the table and diagrams overleaf
head show some of the more commonly used
types of TEMA heat exchangers [TEMA is
AES Floating Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
BET head with the Tubular Exchanger Manufacturers
backing Association see panel opposite].
device
All the types shown in the table can be
designed in accordance with TEMA B, C
Notes: 1. Expansion bellows may be required. 2. Tube side only. 3. Shell side only.
4. Shell side only if tube bundle welded into shell and therefore not removable. and R codes. The table is intended as a
general guide only and does not purport to

20 | PROCESS ENGINEERING | APRIL 05

 HEAT TRANSFER

Front end stationary head types Rear end head types

The typical TEMA type
heat exchangers listed
in the table can be
visualised from the L - Fixed tubesheet like
A stationary head
A - Channel and removable cover diagrams shown here
(right and left). From
the three-letter coding
for each type of
M - Fixed tubesheet like
exchanger (AEW, BEW, B stationary head

AEP and so on, as

listed in the table) a
picture can be built up
N - Fixed tubesheet like
B - Bonnet (integral cover) of the final shell-and- N stationary head
tube assembly of front-
end stationary head,
shell type, and rear-end
head P - Outside packed floating head

N - Channel integral with tube-sheet

and removable cover
S - Floating head with
backing device

Shell types
T - Pull through floating head

E - One pass shell

U - U-tube bundle

cover all aspects of design. Full technical advice can be

given by a heat exchanger applications engineer.
Another question that is often asked is what is the
difference between the three types of TEMA B, C and R W - Externally sealed
floating tubesheet
codes? To answer that in detail would require a full
review of TEMA standards, but the following guide
lines may be useful:
l TEMA B generally for chemical process services,
more stringent than TEMA C, but not as stringent as R;
l TEMA C for generally moderate commercial and
The standard-setting TEMA team
process application requirements. Probably the most TEMA, the Tubular Exchanger Manufacturers Association, is a US trade association
commonly used in our industry; of leading manufacturers of shell-and-tube heat exchangers, which has pioneered
l TEMA R the highest integrity design. the research and development of heat exchangers since its foundation in 1939.
The decision as to which class of TEMA to use does TEMA standards and software are now accepted worldwide as the authoritative
not lie with the heat exchanger manufacturer, but with source on shell-and-tube mechanical design.
the design authority responsible for that part of the Eight editions of TEMA standards have been published over the years, each one
project. The manufacturer must then consider all the updating the industry on the latest developments in technology. The standards
thermal and mechanical requirements of the requested have been developed with input from the likes of the API (American Petroleum
design code when making the selection. PE Institute) and ASME (the Amercian Society of Mechnical Engineers), both
standard-setting organisations in their own right.
David Knightbridge FInstSM is UK sales manager for TEMA has also developed engineering software products which complement the
the German heat exchanger manufacturer Funke TEMA standards in the areas of flexible shell elements (expansion joints) analysis,
flow induced vibration analysis and fixed tubesheet design and analysis. The
For more information on:
software programs feature a materials databank of 38 materials of construction.
TEMA 230; Funke 231; or visit www.e4enquiry.com

PROCESS ENGINEERING | APRIL 05 | 21