3 Things to Consider Before Buying Plate-to-Frame Heat Exchangers

Pressure Vessel Engineering

Buying a new heat exchanger for your business can be one of your big investment decisions. Make sure it’s smart.

Consider these three tips before buying your next heat exchanger and help yourself make the most out of your money.

1. First Of All, Be Clear Of your Requirements

Heat exchanger and pressure vessel manufacturer companies know a great deal about their manufactured equipment and their applications.

This means that if you tell them about the thermochemical processes that you need this heat exchanger for, they will be able to choose the best heat exchanger products for your industry and business.

So, don’t hesitate. Feel free to make your ask, and it’ll only help you decide.

2. Check Chemical Compatibility

Another thing that you need to be sure of before buying a heat exchanger is that the equipment is chemically compatible with the substance that you require it to handle.

For example, chloride’s effect on 316 steel is subject to temperature. And according to the rule of thumb, chloride’s compatibility with 316 goes like: 180 ppm (parts per million) at 122oF (50oC), 120 ppm at 170oF (77oC), and 50 ppm at 212oF (100oC).

Similarly, for different metals and alloys used for manufacturing these plate-to-frame heat exchangers react differently with different chemicals.

To make sure that your processes reap the desired results, you must check that the device that you are going to buy is chemically compatible with the reactions that it has to cater.

3. Avoid Buying Equipment in Which Pressure Spikes Can Occur

Even though heat exchanger manufacturers make machining allowances in their products’ designs, the need for staying within pressure limits persists.

The best that you can do to avoid exceeded pressure limits is to avoid buying equipment in which pressure spikes can occur or are tricky to control.
Also, try to avoid pressure changes of more than 150 psig/min and temperature changes of more than 20oF/min (11oC/min).

To make sure that these pressure and temperature conditions stay under control, you can use relief valves, rupture discs, pulsation dampers and arrestors.

As you plan on buying a plate-to-frame heat exchanger, make sure it consumes less of your money and reaps more for your business. And how can that be done? Well, the tips in this article can help you achieve that.