Heat exchanger in swimming pool heating - Nordic Tec B210
Advantage of shell and tube heat exchanger over plate heat exchanger
The advantage of a pool heat exchanger ( specifically a shell and tube design ) over plate heat exchangers begins with having one significantly larger channel, allowing for a higher flow rate in that specific channel. This larger channel is naturally dedicated to heating the swimming pool - whereas in plate heat exchangers, both channels are usually equal. When heating pools - it is obvious that the mass flow on the pool side should be significantly higher, enabling even heating of large volumes of pool water without injecting small amounts of very hot water into the pool ( which would be uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous ).
Additionally .. pool heat exchangers generate almost no flow resistance - resulting in almost no pressure losses . This does not negatively affect the consumption of circulation pumps for the pool. Whereas .. plate heat exchangers cause noticeable pressure losses that increase with higher flow rates.
The 3rd aspect that makes pool heat exchangers suitable for pool heating is the absence of copper solder (as in plate HE ). The pool heat exchanger is brazed with steel and consists of 100 % steel (unless it is a titanium heat exchanger for saltwater or saline water) . Copper solder is the least resistant to high chlorine concentrations and swimming pool or jacuzzi chemicals - and it often leads to leakage in plate heat exchanger constructions for this application.
Most manufacturers void the warranty for plate heat exchangers when used with water containing high chlorine concentrations.
Solar pool heating and the B210 pool heat exchanger - solar powered pool heater
Solar pool heating, using solar collectors is a heating system used to warm up swimming pool water - where solar panels serve as the heat source. This heating method is highly efficient during summer as the solar collector, placed somewhere on the roof can reach very high temperatures. The tubulat heat exchanger by Nordic Tec becomes a very effective solar powered pool heater.
Solar pool heating has several advantages, primarily being cost-free and requiring minimal investments , aside from the purchase and installation of the solar collectors. Additionally - the system operates without the need for human intervention. It is an excellent solution for heating outdoor pools, but it's important to ensure that the surface area of the solar panels is suitable for the pool volume. The same - we need to adjust the heat transfer area of a swimming pool heat excahnger - otherwise our solar powered pool heated will be not effective enough.
However - solar pool heating also has its drawbacks. It is dependent on weather conditions and achieves optimal performance on warm sunny days, which ironically are the days when pool heating is least necessary in European climate. It is a seasonally dependent and .. uncontrolled heat source.
The role of the pool heat exchanger 60 kW in solar pool heating
Solar pool heating relies on solar panels filled with glycol ( a non-freezing fluid ). Therefore .. water should not be used to fill the collectors as it would freeze during winter, potentially damaging them. To prevent the warm glycol from mixing with our swimming pool water, the pool heating circuit needs to be connected to the glycol circuit through a HE Pool Heater, such as the B210 60 kW model from Nordic Tec catalogue. Each circuit - pool water circuit and glycol circuit - would have its own circulation pump. In essence without a pool heat exchanger, it would not be possible to connect and separate these two circuits without mixing them.
