A complete guide to Heat Exchanger Maintenance and the importance of Flange Facing

 Heat Exchangers

Heat exchangers are industrial devices that help in reclaiming heat from waste gases. These are applicable all around us in car engines, planes, and ships for efficient working, in gas boilers, refrigerators, and air-conditioners. A heat exchanger helps in transferring heat from a gas or liquid to another gas or liquid without the need of mixing both the liquids and gases together. These exchangers transfer the heat without directly transferring the liquid carrying the heat.


Heat exchangers are generally made of metal pipes. However, these can be of ceramic, composites, or plastics. These materials have their advantages. Ceramics are perfect for temperatures above 1000 degrees Celsius since they will melt metals. Plastic is lighter and cheaper than metals and with no worries of corrosion. These are not ideal for high temperatures but suitable for room temperature. Composite consists of positive features of both plastic and metal.


Few Applications of Heat Exchanger


Heat exchanger helps to heat, cool a building or helps the machines or engines work better. These exchangers aptly fit in power plants where they are used inside the smokestacks or exhaust tailpipes. As the hot gases float upward, they pass through copper fins that have water flowing inside them. The water carries the heat back to the plant where it is recycled or reused in some way.  

There are two kinds of heat exchangers. They both do the same job but in a different manner. The most common exchangers are plate/fin and shell-and-tube.


  1. Plate/fin heat exchanger: There are many thin metal plates or fins with a greater surface area for quick exchange of heating. The industries with gas furnaces like gas processing, oil refineries, petrochemical plants, mechanical engineering, chemicals, ceramic and building materials, etc. often utilize this kind of heat exchanger.
  2. Shell-and-tube: Fluid flows through a set of metal tubes and the other fluid moves through a sealed shell that covers them. Industries like chemical, food processing, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, air processing, compressor cooling, power generation, etc. all use shell-and-tube heat exchangers.

 Phase-Change technology is one of the innovations in heat exchangers where the exchangers manage to transfer a huge quantity of waste heat efficiently.


Rapid 3D Printing helps in producing prototypes of heat exchangers parts and other components for a perfect fit. This is useful in industries where a requirement for custom-designed thermal solutions is there.

Green Energy Initiatives is another recent advancement in heat exchanger technology where eco-friendly ways help in saving energy and other thermal management solutions.

How to clean a Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger

When compared with plate heat exchangers, shell-and-tube heat exchangers have a low internal flowing velocity. Therefore, it is more vulnerable to fouling. For its effective and efficient operation, it is very important to keep the heat transfer surface of any heat exchanger clean.

In case of plate-and-frame heat exchanger, same variables define the cleaning chemicals while the compounds for cleaning have to match with the metallurgy of the heat exchanger.

An important aspect for safety of the operator is to use genuine protective equipment like safety gloves, boots, and glasses to avoid any injury while cleaning.

Importance of Flange Facing

Flange Facing is an important criteria while performing a heat exchanger maintenance routine. As during operations and daily wear and tear, flanges get into immense pressure due to which they get damaged. The tumultuous flow leads to wear and tear from inside. Moreover, the effects of other factors like manufacturing and installation, or cuts from gasket leaks have an adverse effect on flanges.

 

With the help of the flange facing process, a spiral ridged touch is provided to the flanges while cutting them. This process aids in preventing leaks due to the immense pressure of the liquid across the flange. Flange facing is one of the basic and necessary repair jobs done while plant shutdowns or urgent maintenance requirements.


Practical Applications of flange facing


Flange facing is a crucial maintenance service required in industries like petrochemicals, pipelines, oil and gas, power generation, and pharmaceutical production. There are many other industries where flange facing is required, but these above-mentioned industries need it more often. Some of its applications are:

  • Repair of Heat exchanger nozzle flange

  • Bevelling of pipe for proper sealing

  • Facing the main steam inlet flanges

  • Boiler feed pump flanges

  • Repair of ring grooves

  • Cutting new grooves

  • Repair piston rod mating flanges

  • Facing of valve flanges

  • Heat exchanger repair

  • Wind tower flange milling

  • Milling and drilling

ABS provides effective solutions to increase productivity for major industries all over India as well as the Middle East. The services ensure safety, effectively manage time and improve the quality of work


Conclusion


ABS Group has continuously been providing premium services for around two decades now. Here, we have an expert team of 150 members that have provided flange-facing services to many famous companies across India and the Middle East. We offer our productivity-enhancing services to the Oil and Gas Industry, Power plants, Wind, Manufacturing industries, and many more.


Content Sources :- ABSGroup

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