How many types of heat exchanger?

A heat exchanger is a device designed to efficiently transfer or "exchange" heat from one matter to another. When a fluid is used to transfer heat, the fluid could be a liquid, such as water or oil, or could be moving air. The most well known type of heat exchanger is a car radiator. In a radiator, a solution of water and ethylene glycol, also known as antifreeze, transfers heat from the engine to the radiator and then from the radiator to the ambient air flowing through it. This process helps to keep a car's engine from overheating. Similarly, DFC's floating heat exchangers are designed to remove excess heat from aircraft engines, optics, x-ray tubes, lasers, power supplies, military equipment, and many other types of equipment that require cooling beyond what air-cooled heat sinks can provide.

There are various types of tube-sheet heat exchangers. DFC's heat exchangers provide air-to-liquid cooling, liquid-to-air cooling, liquid-to-liquid cooling, or air-to-air cooling. With air-to-liquid cooling, heat is transferred from the air to a liquid. One example of air-to-liquid cooling is cabinet cooling. With liquid-to-air cooling, the heat is transferred from the liquid to the air. This type of cooling is generally used to cool process fluids. Liquid-to-liquid cooling is also used to cool process fluids, but the heat is removed by another liquid instead of by air. Lastly, with air-to-air cooling, heat is transferred from one air or gas stream to another.