The Alfa Laval spiral heat exchanger solves a difficult fouling problem

One of the great features of the spiral heat exchanger (SHE) is its abilityto handle media containing suspended solids without clogging.

DATE 2023-11-28

Mitteldeutsche Erdoel-Raffinerie GmbH (MIDER) in Leuna, Germany took advantage of this feature when they replaced their existing bottoms product coolers in the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit with spiral heat exchangers, and in this way drastically reduced the down-time and maintenance cost.

At the end of 1998 the two double-pipe exchangers were replaced by two spiral heat exchangers in stainless steel. The installation in the spiral heat exchangers has turned out to be a very good investment. The saved service cost during their first year of operation alone, amounts to the whole capital cost for the two spiral exchangers. A very good payback time, indeed!

Products

The spiral heat exchanger is an extremely compact assembly where two long strips of plate are wound around a centre to form a spiral body containing two concentric channels. 

 Spiral heat exchanger

Benefits

The installation in the spiral heat exchangers has turned out to be a very good investment. The saved service cost during their first year of operation alone, amounts to the whole capital cost for the two spiral exchangers.

A very good payback time, indeed!

Customer

MIDER’s Leuna-refinery is a totally new grass-roots facility replacing an older refinery that was located on the same site.

The new refinery which is owned by Totalfina Elf, started up in 1997.