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Mechanical Engineering vocabulary · Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer

Heat exchanger

Meaning in mechanical engineering, with examples

nounCore term

In mechanical engineering, heat exchanger means: A device that transfers heat from one fluid to another without mixing them, for example from hot oil to cooling water through metal plates or tubes.

In Turkish: eşanjör, ısı değiştirici, ısı değiştiricisi

How it is used

Used in HVAC, process plants, power plants and machine cooling. Common types are plate and shell-and-tube heat exchangers. Engineers size, clean and inspect them and watch for fouling, which reduces their performance.

Example sentences

  1. The plate heat exchanger needs cleaning; the outlet temperature is five degrees higher than usual.

  2. Hot water from the boiler passes through a heat exchanger to heat the building circuit.

Common collocations

  • plate heat exchanger
  • shell-and-tube heat exchanger
  • heat exchanger fouling
  • clean the heat exchanger
  • heat transferThe movement of thermal energy from a hotter place to a colder one. It happens in three ways: conduction, convection and radiation.
  • boilerA closed vessel in which water is heated by burning fuel or by electricity, to produce hot water or steam for heating buildings or for industrial processes.
  • chillerA refrigeration machine that cools water or a water-glycol mixture, which is then pumped to air handling units, fan coils or process equipment.
  • pressure dropThe loss of pressure as a fluid flows through a pipe, filter, valve or other component, caused by friction and by changes in direction or cross-section.
  • thermal conductivityA material property that shows how easily heat passes through a material by conduction, measured in W/(m·K). Copper conducts heat very well; insulation foam does not.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer

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