Heat Exchanger Testing Can Prevent Costly Downtime

Plate heat exchanger maintenance

By the time you realize there is a leak in your Plate Heat Exchangers, it could be too late. The first indication of a leak is typically impurities in products or transfer media. At that point, you have no choice but to shut down your line, scrap the contaminated products or media, find and repair the leak, and clean the entire system. All of this hassle calls for a lot of downtime and lost profit.

 

Of course, leaks in plate heat exchangers start long before they rise to the level of an unplanned shutdown. You need a system for finding those leaks as soon as they begin in order to fix them during a scheduled maintenance window. By doing this, you can avoid losing valuable products and even more importantly, valuable production time. Fortunately, Rodem has a system in place for detecting leaks before this can occur.

 

ACCUSENSE PHE TESTING

Accusense is the premier system for detecting leaks in heat exchange systems. Their process is non-destructive, fast, and highly reliable. Using their PHE testing process, leaks in an average plate heat exchange system can be found in as little as 45 minutes. That’s 45 minutes of testing time during a maintenance window, as opposed to an emergency shutdown and hours of cleaning.

 

HOW ACCUSENSE WORKS

Accusense uses helium to test for leaks in your plate heat exchanger system. Helium is an inert, non-toxic gas that won’t react with your equipment or contaminate your system. This is the same helium that is put in balloons for children’s parties—so you know it’s safe.

 

To perform the PHE testing, helium is pumped into one circuit of the PHE system while the other circuit has a low volume of air pushed through it. The air coming out of that second system is monitored by state of the art equipment that will detect even trace amounts of helium. If any helium is detected, you know there is a leak somewhere in the first circuit.

 

Helium is an extremely small element, which is why it leaks out of balloons so quickly. The same principle allows Accusense to find leaks as small as 5 microns. To give a sense of scale, an average human hair is about 70 microns in diameter. Helium is so small that it passes through liquids, so any remaining media or fluid in the system won’t affect test accuracy.

 

PHE TESTING AND RODEM SERVICES

No matter which product you are running through your system, it is critical for you to keep it free of contaminants. A leaking PHE system can shut down your line and cost you a small fortune in time and materials. With Accusense PHE leak testing, Rodem offers a fast, affordable way to incorporate leak testing into your existing maintenance windows. With this service, you can deal with leaks on your own terms, rather than allowing pesky leaks to dictate your timeline.

 

Contact us to schedule your PHE leak test today!