PLATE EXCHANGER SERVICE CENTER
PETRO-CHEM INDUSTRIES in Chicago, Illinois, is a full service center for the cleaning, re-gasketing, inspecting, and testing of plate and frame heat exchangers. Letting your plate and frame heat exchanger go too long without maintenance can lead to substantial heat transfer loss. This major problem can be easily avoided through regular refurbishment. We offer on-site field service and in-house repairs in our 15,000 sq. ft. workshop. There are six important steps that go into refurbishing heat exchangers.
Step One: Disassembly & Initial Inspection
Our expert technicians disassemble and inspect every single component of your plate heat exchanger. Years of experience give our mechanics insight into every detail of your system. Any evidence of gasket surface distortion is noted and marked.
Step Two: Remove Existing Gaskets & Clean Plates
We remove all gaskets and clean any glue residue with special procedures developed in-house to preserve the integrity of each plate. The plates are then submerged into cleaning solutions specifically designed to remove all contamination, fouling, and residue on each plate, including water scale, oil residue, and rust. We then use high-pressure hydro-blasting to remove the cleaning solution and any remnants of contamination.
Step Three: Inspect Plates for Cracks & Pinholes
After being cleaned, each plate is inspected for cracks and pinholes that could cause leakage and under-deposit corrosion, which could cause future plate failure. We then inspect gasket surfaces for distortion or rounding, which are usually the result of over-tightening in the past.
Step Four: Gaskets Attached
We prep the gaskets and the gasket surfaces, making sure that the correct material and adhesive is chosen for each particular exchanger service and process condition. No detail is overlooked before reattachment.
Step Five: Repair & Clean Frame
Frames are thoroughly inspected for erosion, missing or broken bolts, and damaged port inserts. We then repair all damage and hydro-blast and clean each frame with acetone. If necessary, we repaint the surface of the frame.
