Spiral heat exchanger

A spiral heat exchanger consists of two long metal plates wound around a central core, forming two separate spiral flow channels. The channels are separated by welded spacers, ensuring complete isolation of the process fluids. This geometry enables a true counter-current flow configuration, resulting in high thermal effectiveness and small temperature differences between the hot and cold process streams.

The spiral flow path increases local turbulence, creating a self-cleaning effect that reduces fouling and minimizes maintenance requirements. Furthermore, the likelihood of blockages is significantly lower in the single spiral channel than in plate heat exchangers with multiple much smaller parallel flow channels.

Spiral heat exchangers are manufactured from carbon steel, stainless steel, duplex stainless steel, or nickel-based alloys to withstand corrosive media, high temperatures, and elevated operating pressures. As a result, spiral heat exchangers are particularly well suited for applications in the chemical industry, wastewater treatment, the pulp and paper industry, food processing, and energy recovery systems.