The early heat exchangers were simple in structure, small in heat transfer area, bulky and cumbersome. Later, with the development of the manufacturing process, the shell-and-tube heat exchanger was gradually formed. Plate heat exchangers appeared in the 1920s. In the 1930s, Sweden made spiral plate heat exchangers and plate-and-shell heat exchangers. The UK has also produced plate-fin heat exchangers. Around the 1960s, China and Sweden independently manufactured umbrella plate heat exchangers. In the mid-1970s, in order to enhance heat transfer, heat pipe heat exchangers were created on the basis of research and development of heat pipes. The heat exchanger can be divided into: 1 hybrid heat exchanger according to the transfer mode. A heat exchanger that exchanges heat by direct contact and mixing of cold and hot fluids is only suitable for applications where the two heat exchange fluids can be directly contacted. Shockwave heat exchangers fall into this category. 2 regenerative heat exchangers. A heat exchanger that exchanges heat and hot fluid alternately through the surface of a regenerator in a regenerator for heat exchange, and is mainly used for recovering and utilizing heat of high-temperature exhaust gas. 3 wall heat exchangers. The heat exchanger in which the cold and hot fluids are separated by the solid partition wall and exchanges heat through the partition wall is widely used. The material of the heat exchanger is generally metal; in addition to making the gasket, some non-metal materials have been used to make corrosion-resistant heat exchangers, such as graphite heat exchangers and glass heat exchangers. Heat exchangers are widely used in petrochemical, power, atomic energy and daily life. The heat exchanger can be a separate device, such as a heater, a cooler, etc., or it can be a component of a process equipment, such as a heat exchanger in an ammonia synthesis tower.

The main function of the heat exchanger is to ensure the specific temperature required by the process for the medium, and it is also one of the main equipment for improving energy efficiency.