Product Lines

Plate-type Heat Exchangers

CORPEX® Core Plate Heat Exchangers

Customized Heavy-duty Heat Exchangers

The proprietary design plate-type heat exchangers developed, fabricated and supplied by APEX Group are heavy-duty exchangers for handling large volumes of gases for heat recovery and gas treatment applications.

Heat Transfer Core: The core is made from smooth flat plates, which create alternating passages for the two fluids. The plates are sealed along the edges by welding, according to proprietary design and manufacturing techniques, to prevent any leakage of the higher-pressure fluids into the lower-pressure fluid inside the core.  The heat transfer core can be arranged in cross, co-current and countercurrent flow.

The fluid between the plates is uniformly distributed over the entire width of the plate. There is a minimum of flow separation and the velocity profile is well defined: a thin sub-layer adjacent to the wall and a turbulent flow core. The thin laminar sub-layer can be agitated by adding VORTI-FLEX® Technology.

Key Features
Characteristics:
  • Constructed from flat plates
  • High thermal effectiveness
  • Flexible and compact design
  • Virtually zero leakage between sides (fluid to fluid) when fully welded, up to 0.5% leakage between sides when clamped
  • Low pressure drop
  • Minimized fouling tendency
  • Easy to clean
  • Minimized heat transfer plate erosion
  • Virtually unlimited metallurgy choices
  • Good response to thermal shocks and heat cycles
  • Suitable for working with corrosive (condensing) fluids (with A-CORREX® Technology)

Fluids Handled:

  • Combustion Air
  • Flue gas from combustion of: gaseous fuels, liquid fuels, solid fuels, waste, biomass
  • Vapour, condensing or non-condensing
  • Industrial exhaust streams
Typical Services:
  • Combustion Air Preheater
  • Gas-Gas Heater
  • Flue Gas Cooler/ Condenser

Typical Technical Specifications:

  • Design Temperature: Up to 900 °C
  • Design Differential Pressure: Up to 0.5 barg
  • Duty Range: Unlimited
  • Thermal Effectiveness: ~97%
  • Pressure Drop Rates: 0-0.1 barg (max. 0.5 barg)
  • Leakage Rates: Virtually 0%
Applicable Technologies:
  • APEX® Free-flow Technology – to minimize flow separation & fouling and maximize ability to clean.
  • AIR CURTAIN® Technology – to control heat transfer surface temperature to avoid “cold corner” corrosion.
  • APEX® VariaFlow – to ensure uniform flow-field temperature profile at the fluid outlet.
  • APEX® Erosion Technology – to improve resistance of the heat transfer elements against erosion.
  • A-CORREX® Technology – to prevent acid dew point or water dew point corrosion.
  • APEX-delfino® Technology – to optimize the fluid flow distribution and temperature profile.
  • VORTI-FLEX® Technology – to enhance the heat transfer coefficient between two fluids in laminar or transient flow.
User Friendly Units

Easy Maintenance: During operation at normal capacities, the heat exchanger does not require special inspections or operator’s attention. Periodic observation at normal plant shut-down intervals is recommended to detect and correct any unusual behavior. 

Easy Cleaning: APEX® Free-Flow Technology, the primary technology for all CORPEX® Products, reduces the risk of fouling and allows access for easy cleaning inside process channels. It is recommended to water wash the unit at normal shut-down intervals. Permanent acoustic or water cleaning devices can be supplied for applications with a high fouling potential.

Flexibility in flow arrangement with modular design. Large heat exchanger units are designed as modular construction from elementary blocks. The modular construction allows designing the heat exchanger with flexibility in arranging the fluids flow direction as needed in specific installation. The elementary blocks are optimized in size for cost effective transportation and minimized fieldwork.

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