Shell-and-tube heat exchanger

A shell-and-tube heat exchanger having upper and lower portions and inlet and outlet portions comprising a shell having a wall;

• a tubular core axially disposed inside said shell;
• heat transfer tubes uniformly spaced inside said shell defining an intertubular space, between the shell wall and said core;
• upper and lower tube plates disposed at the upper and lower portions of the heat exchanger for said heat transfer tubes to be secured therein;
• each of said tube plates consisting of an array of separate trapezoidal sections, said sections of the tube plates being inclined relative to the heat transfer tubes secured therein and to said tubular core, so that gaps are formed between adjacent sections, which gaps ensure free passage of a heat transfer agent in the axial direction into the intertubular space at the inlet and outlet portions of the heat exchanger;
• inlet and outlet collectors connected to each section of the upper and lower tube plates, respectively, for the supply of the heat transfer agent into said heat transfer tubes.