Solar Heat Exchanger

A solar heat exchanger is a mechanical device that is built for an efficient heat transfer from any one fluid to another fluid similar to a radiator on a car except that a car's radiator exchanges the heat of the liquid to radiate into the air.

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There are 2 different styles of heat exchanger classes of which on is parallel-flow while the other is counter-flow. The heat exchanger is designed to maximize the surface area that separates the 2 liquids while at the same time reducing the resistance of the liquid's flow through the exchanger.

The heat exchanger's efficiency is controlled by the additions or removal of the radiating fins, which will either increase or decrease the surface area. The heat exchanger will create a difference in temperatures based on the liquid that is being cooled (or heated) and the liquid that is doing the cooling (or heating).

Heat exchangers come in a couple of different forms; one in particular is the shell and tube style which is designed for high pressures, while the other is a plate heat exchanger.

The shell and tube heat exchanger uses a "shell" which is usually a large tube in which the smaller tubers will wind there way around the inside of this larger tube. In most cases you will see the plate style heat exchanger which uses a series of stacked plates with channels for the fluid to flow through.

When speaking about a heat exchanger at the same time as discussing the utilization of solar energy, you would most likely be speaking about a solar water heating system for a home that is located in cooler climates.

In cooler climate regions of the world, you can not directly use water in the heating unit you must use an anti freezing agent but then transfer the heat created to you water supply in a safe manner. If you were to use pure water, you will risk a chance of the water freezing over the night and therefore making your solar heating system useless if not completely destroying it from the expansion caused by the freezing water. Because of the possibility of using your solar heating system for taking a shower, you also cannot use pure anti-freeze.

The solar heat exchanger will allow you to use the anti-freeze agent outside so that the system will not freeze over, and at the same time use water inside your home, and to do so the 2 liquids cannot come in contact with each other. A heat exchanger will keep the two liquids separated while still allowing the heat of one liquid to be passed to the other liquid.

A heat exchanger is a necessity for any home's solar heating system as it allows for the safest production of heat without the worry or hassle of wondering if you may accidentally drink anti-freeze.