A LARGE HEAT PIPE HEAT EXCHANGER WITH AUTOMATIC ASHCLEANER

The heat pipe air preheater type RH 2215 is a large integral heat pipe heat exchanger equipped with automatic ashcleaner. It has been used in a crude vaccum distillation unit at Shanghai Petrochemical Works since 1986 and its recovered heat is 5330 kW. This paper presents the experimental study of heat pipe elements and finned heat pipe bundles, describing the design, general construction, arrangement and application of the large heat pipe heat exchanger. An automatic ashcleaner is also summarised.