Lower costs. More heat recovery. Less space.
A Japanese petrochemical company began exploring options to increase capacity for the production of benzene and toluene at their plant in Japan. But they soon realized that a solution based on shell-and-tube heat exchangers would be too costly and would require difficult compromises. The company had heard about Alfa Laval’s extremely efficient, compact Compabloc heat exchanger.
DATE 2023-11-28And in fact, Alfa Laval was able to offer a better solution. Using shell-and-tube heat exchangers to increase capacity as required, while at the same time improving heat recovery levels, would have required four larger units and more than 5000 m2 of surface space. The Alfa Laval solution called for three compact Compabloc heat exchangers in parallel in the interchanger position and required only 950 m2 of surface space.
550,000 USD in estimated additional annual savings
As Compabloc is based on corrugated plate technology, it is possible to recover more heat. The new installation recovered 2.1 MW more heat compared to the original installation. Based on current natural gas prices and steam costs, Alfa Laval estimates up to 550,000 USD in additional annual savings.
The solution
Three Alfa Laval Compabloc heat exchangers in parallel are in operation in the interchanger position. At the same time, two more Compablocs are used as reboilers in the separator position.
Benefits
- Highly competitive capital and installation costs
- More capacity in a small space
- Higher heat recovery resulting in lower emissions
- Long service intervals and easy service access for low lifetime costs