Dealing with EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) contractors in the oil and gas industry requires a combination of project management skills, technical expertise, and effective communication. Here are some tips to help you manage your relationship with EPC contractors effectively: Clearly define your project objectives and expectations: Before engaging an EPC contractor, it's essential to have a clear understanding of your project objectives and expectations. This includes the scope of work, budget, timeline, and any specific requirements. Clearly communicating these de ..read more

  Plate heat exchangers (PHEs) are commonly used in oil and gas refineries for a variety of applications, including heat recovery, preheating of feedstock, cooling of product streams, and intercooling of gases. PHEs consist of a series of thin plates that are corrugated to increase the surface area available for heat transfer. The plates are typically made of stainless steel or titanium, which are resistant to the corrosive effects of oil and gas. The plates are stacked together and separated by gaskets to form a series of channels through which the process fluids flow. One of the prima ..read more

  Fouling is the formation of unwanted material deposits on heat transfer surfaces during process heating and cooling. It occurs in all industries and most heat exchanger designs, with impacts ranging from heat transfer degradation to flow resistance and pressure drops. By forming a kind of insulation on heat-transfer surfaces and reducing heat transfer, fouling undermines heat exchange efficiency. In this article, we will outline: The costs, types, and causes of fouling How to detect fouling How to clean your heat exchanger How to prevent fouling COSTS OF ..read more

Dr Giuseppe Tommasone has been working with Plate Heat Exchangers (PHEs) since 1979. Over the years, he has collected commonly asked questions about the equipment. Here you can find all of the answers to those frequently asked questions in one place, put together over 40+ years of experience.  link to the digital magazine: https://sample.kci-world.com/hew-mag/07tqmad5(You can find article on page 39 ..read more

  Dead Zones Baffling Using Continuous Helical flow to reduce fouling It would not be an understatement to say that fouling is one of the most costly recurring problems in hydrocarbon processing and that it hits process heaters and heat exchangers the hardest. Fouling can have a significant impact on heat transfer across the heat exchanger surface, and so likewise on both overall operational performance and total cost of maintenance ..read more

  If you work in the food & beverage industry, you've learned that not all process fluids are created equal. Say, for example, that you own a small, niche producer of specialty flavored ketchups and barbecue sauces. You just installed a new 316L stainless steel line in your plant less than two years ago, and it's already developing pit corrosion. 6% moly alloys offer vastly improved corrosion resistance against certain types of abrasive fluids, including those with high acid and high salt concentrations. FIVE DIFFERENT CLASSES OF STAINLESS STEEL. 1. AUSTENITIC STAINLESS ST ..read more

   Degraded heat exchanger performance from fouling or aging results in extra operating and energy costs to compensate for gaps in the target temperature. Cleaning and maintenance of heat exchangers is therefore important to keeping systems running efficiently. Regular maintenance ensures equipment is in working condition and helps prevent emergency repairs. The cost of cleaning a heat exchanger is small compared to the cost of lost production should a heat exchanger require an unscheduled shutdown. Product or chemical deposits on heat-transfer surfaces weaken an exchange ..read more

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  3. REDUCED MAINTENANCE High-quality plate-and-frame heat exchangers can operate efficiently for ten years without maintenance. Plates are easy to access for inspection or cleaning in place. Cleaning intervals depend on amounts of fouling or scaling. Plate heat exchangers are much easier to maintain and operate than shell-and-tube because they’re easier to take apart and inspect. You can easily remove plates for service or repair, whereas shell-and-tube models are more labor-intensive and harder to access internally. Product buildup or scale coating on su ..read more

  As the two most common heat exchangers, plate-and-frame and shell-and-tube designs, both have a lot to offer when you want to heat or cool a product during processing. Heat exchangers work by transferring heat from one media to another via tubes or plates. In some applications, however, plate heat exchangers (PHE) have several advantages over shell-and-tube designs.  In this post, we discuss application requirements that make PHE the right choice. In the following sections, we will show you how a plate heat exchange is the P.E.R ..read more