Good Maintenance Habits For Plate Heat Exchangers In A Brewery

The performance of the PHE typically degrades due to a lack of consistent setup maintenance. A direct contributor to this is plate fouling – as the problem develops in the plate slots, 

the heat transfer capability of the plate is reduced (since fouling has much less heat transfer 

capability than the motherboard itself). The more scaling on the plate, the faster the scaling will occur, making it necessary to identify the problem early to prevent extended downtime and high maintenance prices.
Various other components of the plate heat exchanger may stop working, but are much less likely to do so. Whenever a heat exchanger is opened for any type of maintenance,

 it is necessary to perform an aesthetic inspection of the gaskets, structure and rods. A casual act of aesthetic inspection can save a lot of money and time in the future.

Records

These need to include the brand and design number, the type of maintenance you are actually currently performing and when you performed it, additional components readily available in your inventory, and the number of plates and gaskets in the unit. 

You also need to identify the manufacturer-defined measurements of the plate assembly (the PHE is not tightened to torque specifications, 

but to the dimensions of the plate assembly), so you can occasionally check its stiffness, as well as return it to its initial state after setting up maintenance.

Scheduled Maintenance

One of the most critical types of maintenance is routine, scheduled maintenance, which you can also do if the system is running well. This is done by converting the car’s oil match before the check engine light comes on, or if you don’t have cavities (which is to say, you should!) , 

the dentist may do this as well. Do this maintenance at least once every 6 months.
As mentioned above, a routine aesthetic evaluation is essential – make sure the main plate assembly is tightened to the requirement, the traction 

and overview bars are lubricated, and the gaskets are intact. Check the stress assessment on both ends of the plate heat exchanger to ensure that the stress reduction is within the expected limits.
If the pressure drop is very severe after performing normal maintenance operations as

 described above, fouling problems may occur afterwards and you must perform unscheduled maintenance, which indicates a shutdown. If every other little thing seems to be working properly, then it is time to clean your PHE.

Clean in Place

Regular cleaning is one of the most effective forms of maintenance and is the most important part of your maintenance program. Many PHEs can be saved through the Clean-In-Place (CIP) process, and you do not need to open the motherboard package. 

The most important goal of cleaning is to gradually remove the large amount of particles that accumulate in the PHE, which will of course vary depending on your operation.

To clean the plate heat exchanger, first clean the drains on both sides and separate them from the system fluid (usually with isolation closure). However, if too much stress continues to fall after putting the PHE back into solution, 

or if you really don’t see too many particles, then you need something more harmful than water.
Specifically, you must make sure that the cleanliness represents the plates and gaskets that apply to the PHE. For example, if the plates are 

made of stainless steel (most are), the chlorides will definitely rust the plates. If the PHE is still functioning properly after you put it back into solution, you will need to open the plate assembly and clean it manually.