Confidential (as requested by customer)
Description:
The Visual Condition Assessment (VCA) and the elaboration of Technical Report on the condition of plate and gasket heat exchangers is one of the many tasks Sulca Trading Corporation provides to its customers. In this case, a five-star hotel needed to verify the operational condition of four heat exchangers utilized to cool down the close loop water for their chillers. For this process they have sea water running against the chiller water and they had some cooling problems.
After the inspection the thermal images showed considerable accumulation and deposition of sand and other particles within the plates, and also deformation of the plate package due to uneven tightening of the bolts. The external evaluation provided evidence of aging and wear in the gaskets and corrosion damage on the frames. The recommendation from Sulca/Alfa Laval was to substitute the frames, damaged plates and worn gaskets in order to improve the efficiency of the equipment.