Shell: Cylindrical pressurized shell housing the tube bundle, steam flows on the shell side.

Tube Bundle: Multiple heat exchanger tubes (copper, stainless steel or titanium alloy) are fixed by a tube sheet, and cooling water flows inside the tubes.

Tube Sheet: Separates the shell side from the tube side to ensure that the medium does not mix, often welded or expanded to fix the tube bundle.

Vacuum system: with vacuum pumps (such as water ring pumps, jet pumps) to maintain negative pressure on the shell side (vacuum usually 10-80kPa).

Principle of operation

Condensation in vacuum environment: the boiling point of shell-side steam decreases under negative pressure (e.g. the boiling point of water is about 80℃ when the vacuum degree is 60kPa), and the temperature difference is formed with the cooling water (20-40℃) in the tube, and the steam exotherms and condenses into liquid, and the condensate is discharged through the bottom.

Heat transfer process: steam → pipe wall → cooling water, heat transfer coefficient is usually 800-1500W/m2・K (depending on the medium viscosity and flow rate).

Industry: Chemical & Petrochemical

Application: Condensation of steam at the top of vacuum distillation columns (e.g. crude oil decompression distillation, methanol-water separation), recovery of solvents or purification of products.

Technical advantages: corrosion resistance (optional titanium tubing), handling of large steam flows.

Industry: Food & Beverage

Application: Vacuum evaporation systems for fruit juice concentration, milk dehydration, alcohol distillation, condensation of secondary vapors (e.g. recovery of aroma components in orange juice concentration).

Technical advantage: low temperature condensation to protect heat-sensitive substances (e.g. vitamin C)

Industry: Pharmaceutical & Biological

Application: Solvent recovery (ethanol, acetone) in vacuum dryers (e.g. biconical dryers), GMP-compliant condensation of vapors in aseptic processes.

Technical advantages: polished interior (Ra ≤ 0.8 μm), easy-to-clean design

Industry: Electricity and Environmental Protection

Application Scenarios: Condensation of turbine spent steam (condenser), low-temperature waste heat recovery in waste incinerators (e.g., flue gas condensation to save water).

Technical Advantages: Large diameter shell (diameter 1-5m) to handle 10,000 tons of steam.

Industry: Desalination

Application Scenario: Condenser in Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) or Multi-Stage Flash Evaporation (MSF), vacuum environment to reduce evaporation temperature and save energy.

Technical Advantage: Titanium tubes for seawater corrosion resistance and long life design.