Pressure Equipment: Floating head heat exchangers

Heat exchanger with a floating head. In the floating head exchanger, the tube sheet is not welded to the shell at the rear header end but is permitted to move or float. The tube sheet at the front header (fluid inlet end on the tube side) has a larger diameter than the shell and is sealed in a manner similar to that applied in the fixed tube sheet design. The tube sheet at the rear header end of the shell is somewhat smaller in diameter than the shell and allows the bundle to be drawn through the shell.