Which heat exchanger type is bent into a U shape with the inlet and outlet on the same end and a divider plate separating inlet from outlet?

Which heat exchanger type is bent into a U shape with the inlet and outlet on the same end and a divider plate separating inlet from outlet?

• A. U-Tube
• B. Straight Tube
• C. Shell and Tube Type Heat Exchanger
• D. Multi-Pass HXR

Answer: (A)

The defining feature here is a heat exchanger where the tubes are formed into a U, so the tube ends come back to the same side of the exchanger. That U-bend makes the inlet and outlet for the tube side appear on the same end, which is the key clue. A divider plate that separates the inlet flow from the outlet flow on the shell side further reinforces this configuration by keeping the two streams from mixing as they pass through the shell. This combination—U-shaped tubes plus ports on one end—doesn’t describe straight-tube exchangers, which have tubes that run straight, nor does it describe the general shell-and-tube family where the tube geometry isn’t necessarily a U. It also isn’t about flow pattern in the tubes (like multiple passes) but about the actual tube geometry and how the ends are arranged. So the design that matches all these details is the U-tube heat exchanger.

The defining feature here is a heat exchanger where the tubes are formed into a U, so the tube ends come back to the same side of the exchanger. That U-bend makes the inlet and outlet for the tube side appear on the same end, which is the key clue. A divider plate that separates the inlet flow from the outlet flow on the shell side further reinforces this configuration by keeping the two streams from mixing as they pass through the shell.

This combination—U-shaped tubes plus ports on one end—doesn’t describe straight-tube exchangers, which have tubes that run straight, nor does it describe the general shell-and-tube family where the tube geometry isn’t necessarily a U. It also isn’t about flow pattern in the tubes (like multiple passes) but about the actual tube geometry and how the ends are arranged. So the design that matches all these details is the U-tube heat exchanger.