High Pressure Air-Cooled Cooler

Air-Cooled Cooler

Bronswerk Heat Transfer has developed the 2.0 version of the Air-Cooled Heat Exchanger with virtually no limit to design and operating pressure, offering improved reliability and financial attractiveness throughout its lifecycle.

The special Solid Block Header Design was first applied in the 1970s and has evolved ever since.

Passionate about heat exchange.

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Benefits

Tailor-made design to withstand high pressure

Our Solid Block Header Design for High Pressure Air-Cooled Coolers allows us to tailor to project needs, whether it is an unconventional pass partition, split header or requirement for double plug.

Pressure up to 1000 bar (14500 PSI)

Solid Block Header Air-Cooled Coolers can be applied for pressures up to 1000 bar, which is sufficient for practically all applications.

Up to 30% less weight

Valuable for offshore application or retrofit and debottlenecking in existing site, this type of design can be up to 30% lighter.

All welds can be inspected 100%

The few remaining welds, such as the nozzle flange to header, can be executed as buttweld and 100% inspected by RT. Virtually no other welds are required due to our unique manufacturing method.

Air-Cooled Coolers

1.04 High pressure Air Cooled Heat Exchanger foto 04

Keeping high pressure fluids in small diameters in a weldless construction: the trick to keep the weight down

Every project starts with getting a clear picture of the specific needs of the client, both from a thermal as well as a mechanical aspect. We want to understand how the equipment operates: we do not only focus on the black box, we also go beyond the connection flanges.

For high pressure Air-Cooled Coolers, the headers are the most critical part; while they do not contribute to the actual heat transfer, they form a significant part of all materials used as well as the manufacturing effort. Traditionally, Plug Type headers are constructed from plates and are welded together into a rectangular box.

Although far from ideal with respect to containing high pressure in non-rectangular shapes and adapting material quality, the industry reluctantly accepted this means of production as the standard and described it as such in API 661. Meanwhile, new production technologies allow for different approaches and Bronswerk Heat Transfer is offering this for Plug Type Air-Cooled Heat Exchangers.

Our other Air-Cooled Coolers (ACHE)

Solid Block Header

Bronswerk Heat Transfer has developed the Solid Block Header Air-Cooled Cooler, a design that eliminates up to 90% of all header welds. For the operator this brings huge benefits, both during project execution as well as during its operating lifetime.

As we like to say: the best weld is not a weld, a fact that most of our customers and welding engineers agree on. Due to heat input, the quality of the base metal degrades, which is particularly an issue with dual phase materials such as Duplex or when a high alloy is selected for corrosion protection. Non-Destructive Examination needs to be applied on header welds with a risk of finding non-conformities and unexpected delays. Finally, the end product is a compromise as the weld and HAZ quality is lower than that of the base material. That is why Bronswerk Heat Transfer applies a header with virtually no welds, which is a much better controlled manufacturing process and delivers a higher quality end product.

During its lifetime, Air-Cooled Coolers are subject to regular inspections. Depending on the service, these could include NDE on the various welds and checks for delamination, in particular for Hydrogen Service. For the Solid Block Header, the base material is often a forging providing much better material quality and no risk for delamination or HIC (Hydrogen Induced Cracking). The significantly reduced number of welds will ease the workload during Turn-Around and in particular eliminates the risk for repair work.

From a Health and Safety Perspective, the pressurized fluid in our High Pressure Air-Cooled Cooler is contained in a much smaller diameter and volume than in conventional designs. This ensures less potential energy in case something goes wrong.

Bronswerk Heat Transfer has been working on innovative, custom-made new products since 1940 and assists in improving the efficiency of existing plants.