Compact Heat Exchangers to Increase Energy Sustainability

The use of fossil fuels for energy generation is responsible for major part of hazardous pollutions, greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide emissions made by human activities. These facts jeopardise the sustainable development of modern society and stress on necessity to increase the efficiency of energy usage. The reduction of the demand in primary energy sources can be achieved with efficient heat recuperation in industrial processes and waste heat utilisation. As most of the mentioned sources can be characterized by relatively low temperatures, to utilize this low grade heat there is a requirement to consider minimal temperature differences in heat exchangers of reasonable size.  Different types of compact heat exchangers are presented and discussed with emphasis on their application for increased heat recuperation in industry and low grade waste heat utilisation. The principles of heat transfer intensification in heat exchangers of different types and method to increase compactness are analysed.