Heat Exchanger Tube Technology

Cooler Engineering designed and manufactured a Hydro Power Cooling Unit from stainless steel heat exchanger tubes with a copper wound 9mm fin. Mining companies utilising high water pressures in underground operations will particularly benefit from the stainless steel heat exchanger tubes as they are extremely durable under high water pressure. The first prototype was delivered in the first quarter of 2009. Small changes were made to the design and a second unit was developed which exceeded all expectations and now a full patent registration is in progress.

This industrial heat exchanger high pressure cooling unit was designed and developed to reduce hot air in underground mining tunnels where gravitational water supply is used for operations.

The heat exchanger cooling unit consists of 188 one inch stainless steel tubes wound with a 9mm copper fin, which are connected to distribution pipes and in turn connected to water inlet and outlet pipes. The cooling unit is capable of utilising the total water flow in a "Stope Section" which could be as much as 40 Litres per second. The cooling unit operates at 300 Bar (30 MPa) and the test pressure is performed at 370 Bar (37 MPa ). This unit has exceeded all expectations and results can be improved significantly if the incoming water temperatures are minimised.

Hydro Power Cooling Unit Specifications

Design Specifications:

Depending on the water pressure in the underground operations the cooling will be a full flow 100mm feed column with no restriction through the tubes. Taking the rule of thumb a 100mm feed column are able to feed in the order of 16 l/second. We expect with this flow rate and water temperature of 10 degrees in the order of 250 - 300 kw water.

Maintenance:

Heat exchanger maintenance will occur annually, reclaimed with high pressure solvent cleaning with a reverse flow pressure.

Testing:

Test Pressure up to 370 Bar (37MPa).

Risk Assessment:

Risk assessment will be supplied prior to the heat exchanger unit being delivered.