1. A heat exchanger is a device, which transfers thermal energy between two fluids at different temperatures.
2. In most common engineering applications, both fluids are in motion and the main mode of transferring heat is convection.
Heat exchanger can be classified based on:
1. According to the geometry:
i. Tubular
ii. Plate
iii. Plate fin
iv. Tube fin
2. According to the direction of fluid:
i. Parallel flow
ii. Counter flow
iii. Cross flow
3.According to the method of heat exchange:
i. Single phased free or forced convection
ii. Boiling or condensation
iii. Radiation or combined convection radiation