A holistic approach to heat exchanger plate surface design

To develop a robust heat exchanger surface with excellent mechanical strength and outstanding resistance to fouling and corrosion, while maintaining optimal thermal performance, a series of dynamic procedures were followed. Because conventional procedures often focus on only one or two of the desired surface properties, a completely functional surface is not always achieved. In this work, a holistic approach was applied, which focused on optimizing several desired properties often observed in either metal or polymer coated heat surfaces; our goal being to combine these properties in a single surface. Exposing our heat exchanger surface to sour crude oil at 120°C over a period of more than six months confirmed the robustness of the surface, with sustained thermal performance, significantly less fouling and improved resistance to chemical attack compared to conventional surfaces.