Leaking Heat Exchanger

Problem: Customer had a leaking MX Miller Heat Exchanger in their DHT unit that had continuously leaked since installation.  They had tried to stop the leak by installing a $250,000.00 clamp but the Heat Exchanger still leaked.

Summary: The customer removed the clamp and we carried out an engineering analysis and flange stress calculations.  From the analysis we concluded that the gasket was not centered and not getting total compression, the partition plate on the channel head was rippled and distorted, bolt holes contained debris and the flanges were not parallel, all contributing to the heat exchanger leaking.

INTEGRA recommended that the customer machine all the flanges so they were flat and true, install a new gasket and tension the bolts.  The customer took INTEGRA's advice and we selected and installed a new gasket, ensured the correct bolt material was used, witnessed and signed off on the machining, tensioned the bolts and ultrasonically verified the load in each bolt.

Result: The Heat Exchanger started up for the first time LEAK FREE and continues to run LEAK FREE.