Predicting gasket lifetime with Alfa Laval Condition Audit

This major petrochemicals company and long-standing Alfa Laval customer used 39 Alfa Laval plate heat exchangers for critical cooling duties at its plant. The heat exchangers operated for many years without requiring maintenance. However, production reliability is only as good as the quality and operating condition of equipment components.

Condition Audit enables optimized maintenance

At Alfa Laval’s suggestion, the plant management agreed to conduct an Alfa Laval Condition Audit on one of the 39 heat exchangers during scheduled maintenance. The scope of work comprised internal and external inspection of the heat exchanger.

Conventional wisdom says, ‘If it’s not broken, don’t fix it’. Alfa Laval heat exchangers had delivered solid performance for so long that the customer didn’t see a need to conduct maintenance.” - Samer Tyba, Alfa Laval's Process Parts & Service Sales Manager for Saudi Arabia and Bahrain

Reconditioning secures uptime

Alfa Laval analyzed the audit data and handed over a report including the audit results and photographs of the actual condition of the plates and gaskets. To secure production uptime, Alfa Laval recommended Reconditioning of the 39 plate heat exchangers operating at the plant.

With hard facts and the ability to predict gasket lifetime, Alfa Laval is working on a preventive maintenance plan to optimize plant performance.