Heat exchanger for waste processing plant
Imagine, you are a project manager at a waste processing company and have to deal with an acute leak in a heat exchanger that is critical for the organization. You immediately contact Kapp for support. Within a day, we get back to you with the first calculations for a replacement heat exchanger. The next day, a Kapp specialist arrives on site to assess the situation. Kapp then delivers the heat exchanger two weeks before the desired delivery date. This is the story of a large waste processing company in North Brabant (NL).
Large temperature changes are a challenge
Het bedrijf had een 7 jaar oude gelaste warmtewisselaar met vierkante platen staan. Toen deze zo lek als een mandje bleek moest er snel geschakeld worden; de warmtewisselaar is kritiek voor het koelen van rookgassen en zorgt er daarnaast voor dat de warmte uit dit rookgas elders in het proces kan worden hergebruikt. Deze warmteterugwinningsstap draagt bij aan een significante reductie van uitstoot.
The old heat exchanger probably leaked as a result of trips with substantial temperature changes during the past two years. Our end customer has tried to repair the heat exchanger, but this was not successful, partly because this type of heat exchanger is not very suitable for this purpose. In the meantime, the clock was ticking. A maintenance stop was scheduled for 10 weeks from now.
Tight deadlines and process optimisation
We are not just going to replace the heat exchanger here. This is also a good time to further optimise the processes. The end user would like to recover even more heat from the process, so we will have to calculate an additional heat exchange surface. The calculations are ready and the situation has been assessed. We know the optimal solution. The customer aims for delivery before the maintenance shutdown. Challenge accepted.
At Vahterus they work very hard to meet the tight deadline.
Plate & Shell heat exchanger as a solution
Omdat we de problemen en kansen duidelijk in kaart hebben gebracht, raadden wij een volledig gelaste platenwarmtewisselaar aan. Vahterus is in deze case de perfecte partner omdat zij de zogenaamde Plate & Shell warmtewisselaar bouwen; een rond platenpakket in een ronde mantel. De ronde vorm zorgt ervoor dat de warmtewisselaar beter geschikt is tegen thermische stress. Direct vanaf aanvang van het project wordt er keihard gewerkt en we weten de warmtewisselaar 2 weken vóór de gewenste leverdatum te leveren. Een groot woord van dank gaat hiervoor uit naar onze Finse partner Vahterus!
Een ronde plaat heeft als grote voordeel dat thermische stress over de gehele plaat wordt verdeeld. Een rechthoekige plaat maakt vooral veel thermische stress in de hoeken van de plaat op.
Efficiente samenwerking
Kapp’s capability to compare various types of heat exchanger always proves to be a great advantage. We are not tied to one type of heat exchanger or one manufacturer. We selected a Plate & Shell heat exchanger. Short lines of communication ensured that we were able to act within a very short time frame; within 24 hours the first calculations were available and on day 2 we visited the site to assess the situation. Despite the time pressure, Kapp facilitated an interim inspection at the manufacturer in Finland, which gave the end user even more confidence. We were able to deliver the heat exchanger to their site within 8 working weeks, after which the client was able to install the exchanger directly during the maintenance break. A successful project with many highlights, which could not have succeeded without the extremely efficient cooperation between the end user, Vahterus and Kapp.