Corrosive media
Alloy plate and shell materials can be selected independently to manage asymmetric corrosion conditions.
CHEMICAL PROCESSING
Reliable heat transfer for complex chemical process duties
Compact welded exchangers for corrosive fluids, solvents, phase-change duties, high pressure and repeated thermal cycling.
Contact EngineeringProcess challenges
Designed around the actual chemistry and operating envelope
Chemical process exchangers must balance heat transfer, pressure drop, corrosion resistance, phase distribution, cleanability and mechanical integrity. ARO reviews the complete duty rather than selecting from temperature and flow alone.
Phase change
Channel geometry, flow direction and separation outlets are configured for evaporation or condensation.
Vacuum service
Low pressure drop and large vapor nozzles help protect upstream process pressure.
Thermal cycling
Flexible circular plate packs resist temperature changes during startup, shutdown and batch operation.
Typical duties
Where plate and shell exchangers are applied
Process heaterSteam, hot water, thermal oil or hot process stream heating.
Process coolerCooling water, chilled water or refrigerant-based process cooling.
CondenserSolvent, exhaust vapor, overhead vapor and mixed-gas condensation.
Reboiler / evaporatorPartial evaporation, vapor generation and concentration duties.
Feed-effluent exchangerHeat integration between hot product and cold feed streams.
Waste heat recoveryRecovery of usable energy from process liquid, vapor or condensate.
Amine regenerationLean/rich solution heat exchange, reboiling and overhead condensation.
Refrigeration interfaceProcess fluid cooling or condensation against ammonia, CO₂ or HFC systems.
Engineering workflow
From process data to validated design
Duty definition
Confirm composition, physical properties, phase condition and operating cases.
Thermal sizing
Optimize plate pattern, pass arrangement and heat-transfer area.
Pressure-drop check
Verify channels, ports and nozzles against system limits.
Material review
Select plate, shell and weld materials using corrosion data.
Mechanical validation
Apply pressure-vessel code, testing and documentation requirements.
Typical media
Process streams handled
Important
Material compatibility must be confirmed from complete fluid composition, including trace contaminants, concentration, temperature, cleaning regime and upset conditions.
REPRESENTATIVE APPLICATION
Vacuum mixed-solvent condenser for pharmaceutical process
A welded plate and shell condenser was configured for a mixed stream containing butanol vapor, ethyl acetate vapor and air under deep vacuum. The design emphasized low pressure drop, controlled vapor velocity and separate drainage of condensate and non-condensable gas.
Send us your chemical process duty
Include composition, flow, phase, temperatures, pressures, pressure-drop limit and material specification.