Plate Heat Exchanger External Leakage

Plate Heat Exchanger External Leakage
Plate heat exchangers can supply reliable operating service for years with proper
maintenance, but what about when something goes wrong? Is your plate heat exchanger
leaking? Is the leak slow or fast? How can you know what the problem is and the best way to
address it. We'll review some of the basics to help you troubleshoot problems with gaskets or
the maintenance condition of your plate exchanger.
Plate Heat Exchangers:

External Leakage External leaks in a plate heat exchanger can generally be classified
into one of two (2) categories: end plate to frame plate leaks and channel plate leaks. We
discussed end plate to frame leakage in our article entitled "Plate Heat Exchanger Frame
Corrosion". The second type of leakage, channel plate leakage, can have different causes
and solutions. Channel plate leakage will occur within the body of the plate pack rather than
near the frame plate of the heat exchanger as shown in Figure 1.
Channel plate leaks can be further classified into "general" leaks or "isolated" leaks. Generally
speaking, if you find an area of your plate pack spanning more than one plate which is leaking
badly or weeping externally, this is a "general" leak. Alternatively, if you have a single gasket
failure causing a single leak point and all of the other gaskets appear to be properly sealed,
we refer to this as an "isolated" leak.
We'll address each type of plate pack leak separately to find the cause as quickly as possible.
Troubleshooting a "General Leak" The very first step in evaluating a "general" leak on your
plate heat exchanger is to assess the age of the gaskets. While the following are not meant to
serve as strict rules, they will give you some feel for whether or not your gaskets may simply
be at the end of their service life:
NBR or Nitrile gaskets operating above 200 °F should last 4-6 years. Between 150°F and 200
°F, they may last 7-10 years. Below 150 °F, Nitrile gaskets should last in excess of 10 years.
EPDM gaskets operating above 300 °F should last 4-6 years. Between 250 °F and 300 °F,
they may last 6-8 years. Between 200 °F and 250 °F, EPDM may last 8-10 years. Below 200
°F, EPDM gaskets should last in excess of 10 years.
Fluoropolymer type gaskets will generally be somewhere in between EPDM and Nitrile in life
and operating temperature. If your process duty could use either Nitrile or EPDM gaskets
(water to water duties for example), always choice EPDM. The additional cost is virtually
negligible and you'll get better service life as you can see from the above.
At this point, even if you've determined that your gaskets may be nearing the end of their
service Figure 1: Channel Plate Leakage Visit http://www.virginiaheattransfer.com for more
articles, or call us at 804-370-3855. life, you should check the A or tightening dimension of
your plate pack. If the plate pack is not properly tightened, the gaskets will have no
opportunity to seal properly. If the plate pack is not tightened to the proper dimension at the
top, bottom, and center of the plate pack, make the appropriate adjustments.
DO NOT, HOWEVER, TIGHTEN THE PLATE PACK PAST THE MANUFACTURER'S

RECOMMENDED DIMENSION IN AN EFFORT TO STOP THE LEAKING Overtightening a
plate heat exchanger can cause damage to the plates. If your heat exchanger is properly
tightened and still experiencing general leakage, it's time for additional steps. Look at the top
and bottom of the heat exchanger and look for any misaligned plates or damage to the
hanger areas. Over time, through handling, the hanger can become bent and cause
misalignment in the gasket sealing area. If you notice some misalignment, evaluate whether
or not this misalignment corresponds to the areas of the plate pack where the leaks are
occuring.
If so, this may be the cause of the problem. During the next shut down, remove these plates
and try to fix the damaged area. If the plate alignment cannot be fixed, there are two (2)
options: remove the plates and put the unit back together, or replace the plates with new
plates.
It's important to note that you will lose heat transfer area and increase the pressure loss
through the unit by removing plates. However, if you're removing five (5) plates from a unit
with 200 plates, the impact will be minimal. However, if you're removing over 10% of the
plates in the pack, the process may be impacted adversely.
If new plates are needed, take a moment to consider replacing all of the gaskets in the heat
exchanger as well, especially if the gaskets may be reaching the end of their service life.
If, upon examination, no alignment problems are visible, then examine the plate pack for
proper hanging of the plates. Most plate heat exchangers should have a consistent
"honeycomb" pattern throughout as shown in Figure 2. If some plates are found to be hung
improperly, schedule the unit to be fixed during the next outage.
If you've followed these steps and still haven't found the problem, it's time to schedule the unit
to be taken apart at the next outage. Remove the plates from the heat exchanger and look for
any signs of corrosion under the gaskets. Examine the gaskets themselves. Do the gasket
appear brittle or show cracks when bent? If so, they need replaced and that may be the
simply answer to your leakage problem.
If the gaskets appears to be in good condition, examine the plates further and look for signs of
deformation. Again, carefully examine the hangers as well. Physically count the plates and
confirm the proper tightening dimension of the unit. Over time, plates are sometimes added or
removed and the original tightening dimension may no longer be correct.
Figure 2: Honeycomb Pattern vs. Plate Hung Improperly
Troubleshooting an "Isolated Leak" If you're problem is a single (or a couple) isolated leaks at
very specific gasket locations on the plate pack, we approach the troubleshooting a little
differently. In this scenario, we start by checking for the consistent honeycomb pattern as
shown in Figure 2. This is the most common cause of an isolated leak in plate exchangers.
You in the leak areas for a plate may be hung incorrectly in the unit. The simple fix is to
remove this plate and reinstall it correctly in the heat exchanger. Notice that you may have to
swap a plate from another location in the pack to avoid having to rotate additional plates in
the heat exchanger.
If the plates are hung correctly, take a close look in the leakage area and see if you notice a
"pinched" gasket or a gasket that has come out of the gasket groove. Sometimes, this can be
quickly repair by loosening the unit and pushing the gasket back into the groove. While the
unit is loose, look for any other gaskets that may be pinched out as well. Gaskets can be
installed in a pinched position and not leak for some time. Also, pressure surges can also
cause gaskets to unseat from their sealing area as well.
If the plates are hung properly and no gaskets appear to be pinched, the begin checking the
vertical alignment of the plates near the leak site. Are these plates sitting a little higher or
lower than the surrounding plates. This could be the cause of the leak and can be addressed
as described earlier.
Beyond these steps, we recommend removing the plate or plates causing the problems (or
install new gaskets on the plates) and putting the unit back together. The root cause in these
cases could be a quality problem with one or more of the gaskets or a simply physical defect
or damage to the gasket. Perhaps the gasket has a hole in it or was cut or punctured from the
outside.
Conclusion A leaking plate heat exchange is never a welcomed sight, but by diagnosing the
problem and following these steps, you can find the problem and have it fixed in record time.
If you need assistance in troubleshooting your plate heat exchanger or have a question,
please email us or call (804) 370-3855.

Plate Heat Exchanger External Leakage

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Plate Heat Exchangers:

DO NOT, HOWEVER, TIGHTEN THE PLATE PACK PAST THE MANUFACTURER'S

Figure 2: Honeycomb Pattern vs. Plate Hung Improperly

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