A main heat exchanger and a process for cooling a tube side stream

摘要

A process for cooling a tube side stream in a main heat exchanger is described. The process comprises the steps of: a) supplying a first mass flow of a tube side stream to the warm end of a first zone of individual tubes in the tube bundle via a first nozzle; b) supplying a second mass flow of the tube side stream to the warm end of a second zone of individual tubes in the tube bundle via a second nozzle, the second zone being offset from the first zone along a radius extending from the central mandrel to the wall of the main heat exchanger; c) supplying a refrigerant stream on the shell side for cooling the first and second mass flows to form an evaporated refrigerant stream; d) removing the evaporated refrigerant stream from the warm end of the main heat exchanger; and, e) adjusting the first mass flow of the tube side stream relative to the second mass flow of the tube side stream to maximise the temperature of the evaporated refrigerant stream removed in step d).