Interview By Petroleum Africa Magazine: Trends in Plate Heat Exchangers
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Equipment Operation, Reliability and Control'. The book which is published by John Wiley will be ready this coming May 2012. I'm so excited and cannot wait to get my hands on this new book. My contribution is in Chapter 5.Instead of the topic cooling tower, I said why not you interview me about Plate Heat Exchanger because it is my favourite equipment. Well, he said yes. He can interview me about Plate Heat Exchanger. Well, the interview when well and it was published soon in November 2011 in the Downstream Focus section in Petroleum Africa Magazine page 30-33 (4 pages).
- Please click the photo to enlarge -
I'm not sure if I'm allowed to place the interview article here. If I have the permission, I'll make it available for download.
Here is a partial shot from the 3rd page.
- Please click the photo to enlarge -
I hope I can contribute more like this in future. If you want to read Petroleum Africa Magazine, you can try it out and subscribe it here.
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Have you downloaded my free "Choosing Alternative Fuel" Ebook? If not, then please download it here. It's Free and on top of getting the free ebook, you'll get eCourse on Alternative Fuel. It's a good and easy way to add more valuable information to yourself.
Labels: Chemical Engineering, Experience, Heat Exchanger, Learning Curve
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 6:02 PM,
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Plate Heat Exchanger Software
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
When I was working as a process engineer, my favourite equipment was the heat exchanger. To be specific, it was the plate heat exchanger (PHE) that I am fond off. Until now, I still appreciate and liked the plate heat exchanger. The only thing is the plate heat exchanger in our unit operation lab is a little bit tiny.
All this while I thought I know a lot about plate heat exchanger. But I am wrong. I still don't know much about it. I faced some difficulty designing a plate heat exchanger for one of my project. That's when I started asking friends, heat exchanger suppliers, participated in forums and searched the net. I found and learned many softwares that are used to design plate heat exchanger. In fact, I've got myself one of the software which is called PHex. That's fine as long as I can try designing a plate heat exchanger the modern way. It was really interesting to use the software.
PHex is an easy to use tool which domonstrates the thermal calculations of Gasketed Plate Heat Exchangers, The plate dimensions and materials can be entered, this includes the size of plate heat exchanger and chevron angle (25 to 65 degrees).
List of main features:
1- User friendly and easy to use with ability to save/load data.
2- Estimate the Physical properties of more than 1450 components; the database has the ability to estimate Thermal Conductivity, Density, Heat Capacity and Viscosity. The database also included critical properties, boiling and melting points.
3- Estimate mixture properties.
4- Create you own database of Plates and Components. You can add your fluid physical properties and load the data to your project with a click of a button and more…
5- Chose between S.I. or English U.S. units of measurements.
6- Temperature and Flow rate estimation in the event of insufficient data.
7- Heat load required (clean or fouled) calculations.
8- Duty clean / dirty calculations.
9- Total effective area calculation.
10- Surface area calculation.
11- Number of plates calculations.
12- Overall Coefficient (clean / dirty) calculations.
13- Pressure drop Channel/Port/Total for Hot side and Cold side Calculations.
14- Plate heat exchanger dimension calculations.
15- Velocity through ports, Mass velocity through channel/ports calculations.
16- Reynolds and Nusselt numbers calculations.
17- Heat transfer coefficient calculations.
18- Summary of results with image to help in understanding.
This is without doubt a must have software for heat exchanger designers. This superb software cost only $69.99 per computer (1 license). You can also add on additional license with some extra cost if you are interested. For more information, click the following link:
>>> Get PHex Gasketed Plate Heat Exchanger Design Software
Have you downloaded my free "Choosing Alternative Fuel" Ebook? If not, then please download it here. It's Free and on top of getting the free ebook, you'll get eCourse on Alternative Fuel. It's a good and easy way to add more valuable information to yourself.
Labels: Chemical Engineer, Chemical Engineering, Environmental, Equipments, Heat Exchanger
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 11:22 PM,
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Female Chemical Engineer - No offence please...
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
When I was working as a process engineer few years back, I came across an interesting and funny experience. A newly graduate chemical engineer just joined the company and I was instructed by my manager to bring her around the plants and facilities. She was so excited and I walked her through the plants, showed her the heat exchanger, vessels, distillation columns and almost everything. I also brought her to the control room and explained to her the process. Being young and energetic as well as equipped with the process PID diagram, she asked me thousands of questions.
After that, I showed her the cooling tower and she was also very excited to see a series of huge cooling towers. I asked her, "Do you want to climb the cooling tower?"
She answered, "Yes, I want to".
Then I asked her to climb first and I followed closely behind. She was so fired up to see the big fans and also the hot water flowing down the cooling tower...
But, after that...this happen...
She cried...and cried...she cannot go down the cooling tower... She can't afford to see the ground. She don't want to go down from the cooling tower. She's shivering. She's crying. She's holding my hand, not wanting me to leave her.
OMG...what should I do?
Anybody want to guess what happen next?
Labels: Chemical Engineer, Chemical Engineering, Chemical Plant, Cooling Tower, Heat Exchanger, Learning Curve
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 5:33 PM,
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Steam-Heat Exchanger from Schlumberger
Sunday, March 07, 2010
Steam-Heat Exchanger is a product from Schlumberger which is useful and suitable for offshore refinery operation.
It is used to raise the temperature of well effluents to prevent hydrate formation, reduce viscosity, and break down emulsions for efficient separation of oil and water. Because the steam heat exchangers virtually eliminates fire risk, they are used on offshore platforms and other work conditions where safety regulation do not permit the use of indirect fir heaters.
The fire heat exchanger requires an adequate steam supply for operation. Some rigs have sufficient heat supply, but usually a steam generator is required.
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For more information, please kindly download the article which is provided from Schlumberger: Steam Heat Exchanger (0.18 MB PDF)
The information is obtained from: http://www.slb.com/services/testing/surface_testing/steam_heat_exchanger.aspx
Labels: Chemical Engineering, Heat Exchanger, Oil and Gas
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 9:33 PM,
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Use of Brazed Plate Heat Exchangers in Solar Heating Applications
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Do you know about brazed plate heat exchanger? It is like a normal type of other plate heat exchanger, but the way the metals or materials are joined is the main difference. It can't be mechanically dismantled or opened. The metals are actually brazed and/or soldered together.
Owing to its advantages, brazed plate heat exchangers have become extremely popular in domestic heating applications. Especially in domestic solar heating setups owing to it low cost, low maintenance and high efficiency.
One of the most important factors in determining the viability of a solar heater is its heat transfer efficiency. In simple terms, a good solar heater is one, which is able to transfer maximum amount of heat from the captured sunlight to the inner loop. A brazed plate heat exchanger is ideally suited for this purpose since it occupies much less space, is far more efficient and cost effective than other heat exchangers and is easy to maintain and clean.
Brazed plate heat exchangers in combination with domestic solar panels can be used for:
1. Supplying hot water
2. Heating radiant floors
3. Heating radiant walls
4. Heating water in swimming pools and spas
In all of these applications, solar energy is trapped by a solar panel that transfers the heat to the outer loop. This heat is then collected by a brazed plate heat exchanger where heat is transferred from the outer loop (from the panel) to the inner loop. The heated liquid of the inner loop can now be circulated through a water heater to heat water for domestic supply or passed through radiant walls and/or floors for domestic heating or passed through a swimming pool or spa for heating the water.
Brazed plate heat exchangers can easily handle high temperatures and pressures associated with the latest solar system designs and also keep the domestic water loop in complete isolation with the solar loop. This ensures complete safety of the system as well as long life.
To have better comprehension, it is better to visualize the brazed plate heat exchanger in this video... See also heat exchanger tubing.
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This article is contributed by a friend who call himself - Heat treansfer pro. He just started a blog titled brazedplateheatexchangers.blogspot.com. He can be contacted at cbeta200283@mail.ru.
Labels: Heat Exchanger
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 11:59 AM,
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Heat Exchanger Cleaning Issues
Sunday, August 17, 2008
369 days ago, I made entitled "Learning Process From Cleaning Plate Heat Exchanger" which was a follow up entry from "Some Updates". You can refer to the 2 posts for reference. From that post, I received some interesting response and questions from few engineers asking more detail about the cleaning of heat exchangers. The questions are taken from the comment section of that Learning Process From Cleaning Plate Heat Exchanger post without any editing. I answered the questions but I add more of my answers here after thinking about it...
Questions:
I'm a process engineer and your article is very useful and interesting. Could you say (if it possible) how long time did this plate heat exchanger work good without cleaning? And was the concentration of caustic solution high?
Answer:
Thanks for your kind words Olga.
How long time did this plate heat exchanger work good without cleaning?
That depends on how you use the plate heat exchanger and the types and quality of fluid that passes the plate heat exchanger. From my experiences, the plate heat exchanger can operate effectively up to 1.5 years without cleaning, but that is because the feed oil is clean and other combining parameters are good. There are also cases where we have to clean the heat exchanger after 4-5 months... There's no straight answer to this. It depends on a lot of factors. You need to really sit down and monitor the processing parameters and the quality / condition of fluid entering it. I have about 16 plate heat exchangers which I monitored and all of them have different records. Those who belong at the same section in the plant will have almost similar cleaning track record. All of them have different classification of problems too. So, we need to really look at the heat exchanger(s) and make a proper inspection, evaluation and analysis.
The caustic concentration was 3-5%. This also depends on how severe the scale build up is inside the plates. You can have lower concentration if the scale is lesser. You can add up more of the caustic concentration, but it may be not good for your plates (of the plate heat exchanger) or the tubes (of the shell and tube heat exchanger).
Questions:
How heavy and fooling is that oil?
Does it really worth the trouble to use a plate exchanger respect to a shell and tube for such fluids? After all a shell and tube is much easier to clean.
Answer:
It depends on your process and application. What is the type of flow? what is the pressure and temperature? You have to use a shell and tube heat exchanger if you have a high pressure and high temperature. A shell and tube heat exchanger is more expensive. A plate heat exchanger is cheaper and can be used for lower temperature and lower pressure. The main constraint of the plate heat exchanger is because of the gasket used cannot cope with temperature higher then 200oC. so, it's a matter of the effect of process parameters and not the easiness to clean the heat exchanger. A shell and tube heat exchanger 2 pass (or U tube) is also sometimes very difficult to clear especially at the U bend. You need a special equipment with high pressure of jet water to clear the scale, fouling. In worse cases, you need to introduce a small drill combined with the high jet water, preferably up to 20,000 psi to ensure you eliminate the stubborn scale.
Hmmm...maybe those of you who have other experiences on dealing with heat exchanger cleaning can share it with us here...TQ!
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Labels: Heat Exchanger, Learning Curve
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 12:20 PM,
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Some Problems We Find in A Processing & Production Plant
Saturday, April 05, 2008
As a process engineer or production executive, we shall always hope and wish that the plant will be smooth. A processing or production plant will always have a problem whether we like it or not. What will the problem be? Are they thought in the university? Can you get them in the text books? I bet you would not get those valuable informations anywhere there?
So, how can you get them? You'll actually get them when you work and experience those problems yourself. Another way of getting those precious information is by asking and learning it from experience executives and engineers.
I've been working for almost three years in my current work place and I observed all these problems. I think it might be useful if I share all those plant problems with you guys. There are a lot of problems and I shall post it in this blog from time to time. The problems varies and comes from various angles and areas such as (without any particular arrangement):
1. Utilities problems :
power, natural gas, steam, water, chemicals, LFO, diesel, processing aid, air etc. Processing cost can increase the overall production cost.
2. Maintenance & Equipment problems :
Pump, piping, instrumentation, pressure transmitter, level transmitter, temperature indicator, NPSH, cavitation, control valve, steam trap, leakage, insulation.
3. Human resource problems :
Disciplinary, Late coming, absent, failure to obey instruction, negligence, psychology.
4. Report & Documentation problems :
Daily report, monthly report, quarterly report, yearly report, ISO & GMP related documents.
5. Communication problems :
Miscommunication, instruction, network, PC, server, bad relationship with up line, down line and colleagues.
6. Quality problems :
Laboratory, lab checking, quality control, testing error, solution/chemical contamination.
7. Supplier problems :
Raw material - product - goods out of spec, cheating.
8. Supporting equipment problems :
Deterioration of cooling tower performance, heat exchanger performance.
9. Planning problems :
Administration interruption, supply demand, market, margin.
10. Control system problems :
Supervisor Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), Human machine interface (HMI) and PC, IT, network, softwares.
11. Stock, raw material, storage tank problems :
Network, false information, over flow, insufficient storage tank, contamination.
12. Stress, Pressure & Health Problems :
Meeting deadline, lack of time, inadequate knowledge, 24 hours alert and standby, meetings, reports, various crisis, inability to manage pressure from top management.
OK. That would be some very general and surface introduction on what problems we can expect from running a plant. I'll try to update and add more on those details from time to time. I welcome anybody who want to share problems that they faced in their plant. We can discuss it here and share it with the rest of the readers.
Labels: Chemical Plant, Control System, Cooling Tower, Energy, Environmental, Heat Exchanger, Learning Curve, Process Parameters, Study, Training
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 9:23 PM,
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Plate Heat Exchanger Cleaning
Friday, March 28, 2008
This video is soda blasting a sugar mill heat exchanger plate removing heavy scale new SS range Soda Blaster from Australian Soda Blasting Supplies. Notice how they can remove the scale without any damage or removal of the rubber seal on the outer edge. ASBS are the only design and manufacturer of Soda Blasting machines and Soda in Australia. See the new SS4, SS2 and the small SS09 in action. Visit www.asbsupplies.com for further details.
Labels: Heat Exchanger
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 7:09 AM,
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Various Heat Exchanger News and Updates
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Here are some links related to heat exchanger updates around the globe. Check it out:
Wigwam Mills is keeping it green
City water that comes into the plant at a temperature between 40 and 50 degrees is sent to the heat exchanger, and the hotter the water in the holding tanks
Continue reading...
Green Line: answers to readers' environmental questions
This is a system where a fluid runs through the solar panels and through a heat exchanger in my special solar water tank. The solar panels do not convert ...
Continue Reading...
Energy upgrades
When the stagnant and fresh air pass one another in the system, they are pushed over a heat exchanger, which transfers about 70 percent of the heat from the ...
Continue Reading...
Super Soaker Inventor Invents New Thermoelectric Generator
An important efficiency-boosting design element is the regenerative heat exchanger located between the hot and cool zones. This allows the hydrogen gas ...
Continue Reading...
Heat scheme not just a pipe dream
The idea would need the backing of building owners and the infrastructure would need to be installed in shops and the tunnel. heat exchanger...
Continue Reading...
Ionia revisits wood as fuel
Water comes from one of Ionia's two independent wells and, when heated, circulates past a five-pass heat exchanger contained within the Garn boiler vessel. ...
Continue Reading...
Georgia Tech Implements a Cool Solution for Green HPC with IBM
Georgia Tech designed a unique cooling solution incorporating both standard air conditioning and IBM Rear Door Heat exchanger, enabling a compact solution ...
Continue Reading...
CADWorx Plant Design Suite 2008 to Be Featured at COADE Discovery ...
Future tour events featuring CAESAR II for pipe stress analysis and PV Elite for pressure vessel and heat exchanger design and analysis are scheduled for ...
Continue Reading...
Personal Daq data acquisition systems available from Scientific ...
Finally we measure the oil temperature going into the engine and another at the output to the heat exchanger.” On the plane, engineers also monitor static ...
Continue Reading...
Some Engineering Define
Vaporizer of Evaporator, Vaporizer of Evaporator is heat exchanger for the purpose of using steam that is generated by fluid evaporation caused by heating and latent heat given. Condenser, Condenser is a heat exchanger that condense ...
Continue Reading...
Malt to Mouth Part 3
Yeast transfer heat exchanger. Pumps the yeast from the fermenters to the yeast tanks, while lowering the temperature using glycol for best storage practices. Fermenter transfer heat exchanger. Pumps and cools the “green beer” from the ...
Continue Reading...
Brightsource FAQs
Utilize long rows of curved glass mirrors to heat synthetic oil, which is piped to a heat exchanger to produce steam at about 375° C. This steam is used to drive a steam turbine to produce electricity.
Continue Reading...
Richard Rogers National Assembly Building for Wales, Cardiff
The ground is used as a heat source/sink in the form of earth heat exchangers, coupled with heat pumps to reduce the size of conventional boilers and dispense with the need for chillers. The ground source heat pump system (GSHP) will ...
Continue Reading...
Sunshine solutions
A working fluid (thermal oil, water or molten salt) passes through the tube, being heated as it does so, this is then passed through a heat exchanger ...
Continue Reading...
Labels: Heat Exchanger
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 10:16 PM,
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Plate Heat Exchanger at Lonsdale Energy Corporation
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
The following photos of equipments (which include plate heat exchangers) and information are taken/supplied by Mr. Douglas Dunn from BCExplorer.org. Thanks for contributing/sharing.
It is about a system operated by Lonsdale Energy Corporation, a subsidiary of the City of North Vancouver BC, Canada. Lonsdale Energy Corporation or LEC is a wholly owned city of North Vancouver corporation working in partnership with Terasen Utility Services to deliver energy services to the Lower Lonsdale area of North Vancouver.
In 2004, the City retained the services of the Lonsdale Energy Corporation and their operating partners to provide a district energy service as part of its ongoing commitment to sustainability. The Lonsdale Energy Corporation (LEC) is a state-of-the-art heating system that delivers high efficiency energy to its customers. It uses a series of boiler mini-plants to circulate hot water and heat the buildings that are connected to the LEC system.
There are several units of plate heat exchangers in the company. All of the plate and frame units are manufactured by a Canadian based company called Armstrong. Armstrong also have branches in UK, USA, Australia, India and China. Check out the equipments utilized by LEC:
These 4 units provide Domestic Heating for Commercial and Residential buildings in the complex, they are equipped with flow monitors used to bill the customers for usage. The plate and frame heat exchangers are very clean and well managed.
This unit is connected to the primary loop for the boilers, as well as the district distribution network. The boilers are designed to use a variety of clean-burning fuels allowing LEC the opportunity to switch to more economical fuel sources.
Pictures of the boilers that feed these heat exchangers (Viessmann Vertomat Condensing Boiler).
System pumps (centrifugal) utilized in the project
Large Plate and Frame Exchanger (Orange hard hat covering pipe connection)Check out the a video explaining the system...
Labels: Equipments, Heat Exchanger, Learning Curve, Pump
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 9:34 PM,
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Compact Plate Heat Exchangers for Refinery Heat Recovery
I stumbled upon an interesting article about compact plate heat exchanger which was published in engineeringnews.co.za. The article was about Compact Plate Heat Exchangers used for Refinery Heat Recovery:
The use of compact-plate heat exchangers (CPHEs) enables refiners to tackle the increasing emphasis on reducing energy consumption while maintaining a positive environmental profile, indicates a report by industrial process technologies supplier Alfa Laval.
CPHEs properties make them more efficient than, and provide a compact solution to, traditional
shell-and-tube (S and T) heat exchangers.
CPHEs, which are much smaller in size than traditional heat exchangers and can be fitted in the footprint of existing installations, can increase capacity and recover more heat by using fewer heat exchangers.
Savings in fuel consumption and reductions in emissions, owing to greater energy recovery, give attractive investment payback periods.
Continue reading the entire article here.
You can subscribe to Engineering News here.
Labels: Heat Exchanger, Learning Curve
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 7:31 PM,
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Plate Heat Exchanger Is My Favourite Equipment
Friday, February 08, 2008
For this one month period, I'm going to focus my post more towards my favourite equipment in a processing / production plant - plate heat exchanger. I am very passionate and possess high interest in this equipment. A plate heat exchanger do not uses electricity and that's why it is also called economizer. The heat energy is exchanged from the hot fluid to the cold fluid in a very well and carefully arranged plates (between plate heat exchanger frame). How much kilocalaries or kW energy transferred really depends on the fluid inlet properties and the plate heat exchanger design.
For a start, I list out all of my previous plate heat exchanger related entries for your references. Then in future entries, I will slowly and progressively share my experiences dealing this interesting equipment.
Heat Exchangers: Introduction and Basic Concepts
Chemical Engineering Related Photo Sharing
Learning Process From Cleaning Plate Heat Exchanger
Preparation Work For New Plate Heat Exchanger
My New Baby Plate Heat Exchanger
Disappointing New Plate Heat Exchanger
Disappointing New Plate Heat Exchanger Is Now OK...
How Do You Analyze Your Heat Exchanger Performance?
Fixing Plate Heat Exchanger Gasket
High-Temperature Heat-Transfer-Fluid Systems
Sometimes, I feel like switching my job and work for a heat exchanger company and make myself a plate heat exchanger specialist. But that position is very limited. Well, if you are still a student and plant to work with a heat exchanger related companies upon graduating, hold on to my blog for one month. I'll try my best to discuss about it (my version, my scope)....
I'm also working out to make a list of all plate heat exchanger companies, manufacturers, agents, distributors (all around the world) for easy reference. If you are one of them, please contact me and provide details of your products and company. I'll be very happy to include you in the list.
Labels: Heat Exchanger, Learning Curve
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 2:52 PM,
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Chemical Engineering Related Photo Sharing
Sunday, January 13, 2008
I'm going to share some interesting photos with you. I'll first let you see, observe and analyzed what those photos are. Just imagine and think what are the equipments or situations... It's better if you figure out what the photos shows before I provide you with some answers and brief informations at the end of the photos. If you are a student, you will find this a good learning curve, I hope so. If you already work in a processing or production plant, you may already know about these photos.
(a) What is happening?
(b) Another view on what is happening in photo a.
(c) Another clue on what is happening in photo a. If you're tired guessing, check out the answer at the end of the post.
(d) What is this?
(e) Another close up on photo d.
(f) What is this?
(g) Another clue on what is photo fAnswers & brief explanations.
Photo a: A plate heat exchanger is leaking.
Photo b: You can see traces of fluid leaking/pouring out from the bottom of the plate heat exchanger.
Photo c: An example of plate heat exchangers' plate where fluid may come out when the incoming hot and cold fluid are not balance. Or, if the gaskets are no longer functioning due to damage, torn, not perfectly attached or various other reasons.
Photo d: This is the ball which originated from a 4" 3 piece body ball valve. It is made of stainless steel SS316.
Photo e: This ball was taken out from a damaged 4" 3 piece body ball valve. This type of ball valve is imperative in processing plant. It is more reliable than a gate valve and butterfly valve but is more expansive. To learn more about ball valve, check the following links:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_valve
flow-control.globalspec.com/learnmore/flow_control_flow_transfer/valves/ball_valves
wisegeek.com/what-is-a-ball-valve.htm
Photo f: These are sight glasses. It is use to view and observe physically the flowing fluid in a pipeline or stream.
Photo g: This photo is an example on where the sight glass will be installed. By having a sight glass, it is easier to monitor and observe the condition and physical appearance of a fluid.
To learn more about sight glass and the types available in the market, check the following links:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sight_glass
visilume.co.uk/products.shtml?gclid=CNShy_rX8pACFQIsewodazLhqw
us.schott.com/special_applications/english/products/maxos.html
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Labels: Chemical Engineering, Chemical Plant, Equipments, Experience, Heat Exchanger, Leak, Learning Curve, Processing., Study
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 2:53 PM,
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Disappointing New Plate Heat Exchanger Is Now OK...
Monday, October 08, 2007
This post is the continuation of the "Disappointing New Plate Heat Exchanger” post.
After installing and using the new plate heat exchanger (PHE), we could not get the flow rate and temperature. This was really a problem because we were expecting the new PHE to perform excellently.
I called the PHE supplier and asked what’s wrong with the PHE? What should we do? Should we tightened it some more? The leaking is only at the end plate. Should we dismantle and check the end plate? Maybe the gasket is not evenly glued on the end plate? Maybe the gasket is damage or distorted!
The technical engineer came the following day and we performed an air test to show him the leaking points. He noticed the leaking point and agreed to dismantle the PHE to check what it wrong.
After dismantling the PHE, we found out that one plate is not arranged correctly. That was very surprising and it was not supposed to happen for a branded and reliable heat exchanger from
The technical manager then guided our maintenance fitters to fix back the plate heat exchanger. Carefully they checked the plate’s arrangement. Diversion plates, flow pates and end plates must be in correct order. We don’t want to repeat the same mistake. If not, we are just going to waste our time and energy.
After completed fixing the PHE, we conducted air test and hold the pressure at 2 bars. We used soap liquid to check for any possible leakages. The pressure maintained for nearly one hour and that was good sign that the plate heat exchanger is not leaking.
We then gradually used the PHE and finally we get the desired temperature and flow rate. I’m so happy and glad that the new PHE is working perfectly as we plan. Now, we are focusing on other improvement and maintenance job such as cleaning in place (CIP), insulation, spare pipeline, and others. We’re taking it one by one.
Moral of the story:
1. Don’t expect a product or service to be perfect. Hope it to be perfect! If not, trouble shoot as soon as possible.
2. Be extra careful while arranging and dealing with plate heat exchanger. Once your arrangement is wrong, the entire effort is a waste.
Labels: Heat Exchanger, Learning Curve, Problem
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 12:39 AM,
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Disappointing New Plate Heat Exchanger
Monday, September 17, 2007
We have waited for the new heat exchanger for more than 6 months. It safely arrived last month. We managed to installed the heat exchanger and connect the pipeline. Thanks to the hard work by the maintenance fitters. The insulation work for the pipeline is in progress. That is important to avoid heat and energy lost. Everybody was eager to use the new heat exchanger. We installed pressure gauges, pressure transmitters, RTDs and temperature gauges along the new line. We fixed ball valves and bellow seal globe valves. We performed air test. Everything seems good and promising. We finally used the heat exchanger few days ago. Unfortunately it leaks and we have to stop it. We tightened the plate heat exchanger. Run it again, but it still leaks. We stop it and retightened it again, and run the heat exchanger. It still leaks. It leaked at the end of the plate next to the frame. We suspected the end plate is leaking and it don't look good. Maybe the gasket is glued unevenly to the plate surface. We were so furious because a new plate heat exchanger that just arrived from Germany is leaking. Is this a manufacturing defect? Lets see what's going to happen tomorrow.
Labels: Equipments, Heat Exchanger, Problem
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 10:53 PM,
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My New Baby Plate Heat Exchanger
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Since I've work as a process engineer, I continuously learn a lot in the plant. The learning never stops. However, when it comes to heat exchanger I get very excited. I don't know why. Maybe because it is such a very important piece of equipment. Maybe because I have a lot of them in my plant. Maybe because it deserved such attention from a person like me!!! Well, there are hundreds of reason if I have to list it down.
Sometimes, I thought I already know and understand heat exchanger. I thought my knowledge and comprehension on a heat exchanger is good enough. I'm wrong!!! Yes, maybe I know about it, but there are still more to learn and explore.
I have justified and ordered one set of plate heat exchanger (2 in series) from Schmidt Breten earlier this year to be used in my plant. I nearly ordered the wrong set of heat exchanger. I checked and checked the details and specifications of the plate heat exchanger. The purchase requirement reached the procurement department and they asked tonnes of questions. I understood why they asked a lot and requested me to thoroughly justify the reason of the purchase - because the plate heat exchanger is very expansive (almost similar to a brand new E-Class Mercedes Benz). I never expected the procurement executives to go line by line reading the heat exchanger specifications. After a series of discussion, I realized something was not right. I called the supplier, asked for more explanations. I discussed with my superior and found that we just ordered a wrong heat exchanger. I was scolded for ordering the wrong heat exchanger. I swiftly canceled the order and corrected the purchase requisition.
Last week, the plate heat exchanger set arrived from German. I have patiently waited for its arrival. I have to wait for almost half a year after my request. I was so excited and happy after being informed that the heat exchanger has safely landed in the store at my work place. I immediately went to the store and looked at the new shiny plate heat exchanger. I touched it and embraced it (i looked like an idiot that time!!!).
Today, the plate heat exchanger have been positioned at the installation point. It's not easy to mobilize the heat exchanger as it is very heavy. 6-8 maintenance fitters work together to erect one of the heat exchangers. I took some photos to record the historical moment. I knew this is not a very big deal to other people, but to me, I'm totally responsible for the entire purchase, justification, planning, coordination, and most importantly plant process.
This new set of heat exchanger will improve my plant production back to our maximum capacity. Our old heat exchangers have suffered severe scale and fouling and resulted in slower flow rate and poor heat transfer. The overall heat transfer coefficient is very bad. The older plates need to be dismantled and replaced. Well, that's in the process. I hope everything will be silky smooth. I shall update the progress later.
Ops....don't forget to check out the new www.chemical-engineering-forum.com.
Labels: Equipments, Heat Exchanger
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 8:53 PM,
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How To Build Cooling System For Your PC
Monday, August 20, 2007
This is a very interesting video teaches us how to make a cooling system for our PC. We need small and cute heat exchanger, tubing, cooling water, cooling elements, cooling fan, thermal paste, flow meter, pump, cable, elbow, cable holders, header tank, and hard drive cooler. All of these items are related and can be associated with our chemical and process engineering field. Check it out and try it at your PC.
Labels: Chemical Plant, Cooling Tower, Equipments, Heat Exchanger, Learning Curve, Process Parameters
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 9:00 PM,
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Learning Process From Cleaning Plate Heat Exchanger
Monday, August 13, 2007
In my previous post "Some Updates", I mentioned about Process Plant - Heat Recovery View. The plate heat exchanger that has been thoroughly cleaned via "cleaning in place" (CIP) could not produced the desired output temperature (but we got the flow rate). I blamed the RTD for the output temperature not correct. Although the RTD has been serviced, it still shows the same reading.
Today, we realized what was wrong with the plate heat exchanger (or cleaning program). We only conducted (CIP) for one side only (cold oil 1) i.e. the side which we assumed dirty, contained scale and fouling. The other side (hot oil 2) which we thought was clean (free from scale and fouling) was not cleaned with hot caustic (main ingredient for CIP). We found out from the newly installed vortex flow meter that the 'hot oil 2' side flow rate is low i.e. about only 54m3/hr. The 'cold oil 1' flow rate can reached up to 105 m3/hr. This shows that the 'hot oil 2' side in the plate heat exchanger is partially blocked with probably scale and fouling. The heat transfer is therefore not efficient and effective. The 'cold oil 1' temperature should reached 240oC from 105oC. However, it only managed to reached 210oC which is not sufficient for the process.
Now that we know the problem, we are doing CIP for the 'hot oil 2' side. After 6 hours of CIP, the flow rate has became 76m3/hr which shows some sign of improvement. We'll circulate the hot caustic until the flow rate reaches at least 90m3/hr. I'm glad that we learned and experienced this. At least our understanding and comprehension, tricks and technique of handling the plate heat exchanger improved. Thanks to one of my supervisor who informed us about the slow flow rate of 'hot oil 2' which as a result could not heat up the 'cold oil 1'.
I hope this post provide some valuable infos for you. If you're confused or do not understand what I'm discussing here, feel free to ask.
Labels: Equipments, Heat Exchanger, Learning Curve
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 11:05 PM,
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Photo of the Day - Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger
Sunday, August 05, 2007
This is a photo of a very big shell and tube heat exchangers. "Outokumpu Stainless Tubular Products" (OSTP) unit in Fagersta produces heat exchanger tubes for heat exchanger evaporators, condensers and other equipment. I don't bother counting how many tubes they are in the shell and tube heat exchanger, but I'm guessing there are almost 1000 tubes. Do you want to count? Photo adopted from Chemicals-Technology.com.
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Or you can also Subscribe to CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WORLD by RSS.Labels: Heat Exchanger, Picture of the day
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 10:07 PM,
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How To Make A Shell and Tube Heat Exhchanger
Saturday, August 04, 2007
I would like to share a very good video on how to make a shell and tube heat exchanger. Before, this I never know how a shell and tube heat exchanger was made. I have 2 big shell and tube heat exchangers in my plant and it is very interesting for me to know how it they are created. The video is 2.58 minutes length and it shows a small shell and tube heat exchangers. It is a straight tube heat exchanger (one pass tube-side) and it has 2 baffles. Check it out...
Labels: Heat Exchanger, Learning Curve
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 9:36 PM,
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The Author
I’m Zaki. I used to be a project, process and chemical engineer. Few years ago I successfully became a Chartered Engineer (IChemE) and Professional Engineer (BEM). I'm now employed as a chemical engineering educator/researcher/consultant. Hope you like reading my blog. I welcome any feedback from you. My email: zaki.yz[alias]gmail.com. TQ!
