PTFE Tubing Coil Heat Exchanger for Acid and Alkaline Solutions

Many chemical baths are designed to hold a host of different chemicals. The need to uniformly heat or cool these chemicals is met by the use of universal heat exchangers. In its most basic design, the heat exchanger consists of two adaptors, connected to one another by many lengths of tubes. The adaptors are round blocks with multiple holes through them, each meant to house one end of the tube. The adaptor in turn is connected with a device that pumps out fluids, which then pass through the tube and out the other adaptor. The fluid may be heated or cooled to accordingly heat or cool the chemical bath, respectively. The tubes – which may be many meters in length – are submerged in the chemical bath, allowing for the heat transfer to take place between the chemical and the fluid within the tubes. The size, length and quantities of these tubes will define the volume of fluids that can be passed through the heat exchanger. Furthermore, the wall thickness of the tubes used will add to the efficiency of the heat transfer.

PTFE (Teflon) heat exchangers follow this design, with both the adaptors and the tubes being made from pure virgin PTFE.

PTFE Heat Exchangers: A Universal Solution for Corrosive Environments
The inert nature of PTFE (Teflon) has naturally endeared it to applications involving corrosive chemicals. Not only does PTFE stay non-reactive to almost all chemicals (notable exceptions being sodium and alkalis at elevated temperatures), it also exhibits its properties all the way up to temperatures of 250°C. This seemingly invincible nature allows fabricators and systems designers to incorporate PTFE without worrying which chemicals may or may not present within a system.

Many chemical baths are designed to hold a host of different chemicals. The need to uniformly heat or cool these chemicals is met by the use of universal heat exchangers. In its most basic design, the heat exchanger consists of two adaptors, connected to one another by many lengths of tubes. The adaptors are round blocks with multiple holes through them, each meant to house one end of the tube. The adaptor in turn is connected with a device that pumps out fluids, which then pass through the tube and out the other adaptor. The fluid may be heated or cooled to accordingly heat or cool the chemical bath, respectively. The tubes – which may be many meters in length – are submerged in the chemical bath, allowing for the heat transfer to take place between the chemical and the fluid within the tubes. The size, length and quantities of these tubes will define the volume of fluids that can be passed through the heat exchanger. Furthermore, the wall thickness of the tubes used will add to the efficiency of the heat transfer.