Maintaining the Heat Plate Exchanger

A heat exchanger is equipment built for efficient heat transfer from one medium to another. The medium might be separated by a wall so that they don't become a mixture or come in direct contact. Heat exchangers are used generally in refrigerators, air conditioners, power and chemical plants, sewage treatment and natural gas processing and so on.

A plate heat exchanger is one of the most well-known types of heat exchanger; it is made of multiple thin, slightly separated plates and has large surface areas and passages for fluids to flow for transfer of heat. They are heavy duty machinery capable of handling demanding workloads, thus the popularity.

Notwithstanding their resilience, proper handling and operation should be observed to keep these plate heat exchangers running without any hurdles. Broken or defective plate heat exchangers would surely cause problems in the manufacturing process and, if left unattended, shall cause collateral damage to other equipment.  Maintenance of the said equipment can either be re-active or pro-active. Reactive repairs save the manufacturers time and money which can be used in other aspects of production. On the other hand proactive maintenance, invests in the regular check-up of operating machines making sure they are working at their optimum level.   

The concept behind a heat exchanger is the use of pipes or other containment vessels to heat or cool one fluid by transferring heat between it and another fluid. Mostly it consists of a coiled pipe containing one fluid which passes through the container which has the other fluid. The pipe walls are made of metal mostly or another substance with a high thermal conductivity to facilitate the interchange, while the outer casting of the larger chamber is made of plastic to discourage heat from escaping the equipment.

All plate heat exchangers look similar on the outside. The difference lies on the inside, in the details of the plate design and the sealing technologies used. Hence, when evaluating a plate heat exchanger, it is very important not only to explore the details of the product being supplied, but also to analyze the level of research and development carried out by the manufacturer and the post commissioning service and spare parts availability.  

Measures to be taken for proper application of heat plate exchangers include inspection of the unit and to be certain that the product is not defective when it was manufactured. If there are underlying problems, then the machine should not be operated as it may cause more damage. The inlet and outlet connections should be tightly sealed to prevent leakage and ensure maximum heat transfer. The vent valve should be open to let the heat escape.

Properly maintained plate heat exchangers could cause years of trouble-free operation, and would do well in maintaining the productivity of your manufacturing process. No machine is perfect, and repairs are bound to happen, and if costly interruptions and product loss are to be kept at a minimum, a pro-active maintenance solution for plate heat exchangers is definitely viable.

Cleaning the plate heat exchanger can be done through chemical cleaning using alkaline cleaning agents like sodium hydroxide, sodium carbonate, small quantities of hypochlorite or agents for the formation complexes and surfactants. Under no circumstances should hydrochloric acid be used with stainless steel plates and hydrofluoric acid with titanium plates. Thus, companies which provide services for the maintenance of plate heat suppliers should be contacted for the cleaning, repair and overall servicing for the plate heat exchangers to bring out the best results.

Regular cleaning of your heat exchanger plates ensures the efficiency and reliability of your equipment. Heat Exchangers is known for offering the finest heat exchanger plates cleaning in Perth. For more details visit their website for further procedure.