Method for the production of plate type heat exchangers and related apparatus

Abstract

A method for the production of plate type heat exchangers (10) comprising the operative steps of: juxtaposing a couple of metal plates (12, 14), welding each other said juxtaposed plates (12, 14) at least perimetrically, defining an inner chamber (16) between said metal plates (12, 14), intended to be crossed by an operating heat exchange fluid, said operative welding step of the juxtaposed plates (12, 14) being carried out by supplying heat directly to each of said metal plates (12, 14).

Description

FIELD OF THE APPLICATION [0001] The present invention refers, in its most general aspect, to a method for the production of so-called plate type heat exchangers, in other words heat exchangers consisting of box-shaped, parallelepiped, flattened bodies formed from two juxtaposed rectangular plates, joined each other in an appropriate spaced relationship, so as to define an inner chamber, intended to be crossed by an operating heat exchange fluid. [0002] Heat exchangers of the aforementioned type have advantageous use in the formation of heat exchange units of chemical reactors, where they are necessary for optimal completion of exothermal or endothermic chemical reactions: for example, in synthesis reactions of ammonia, methanol, formaldehyde or, respectively, styrene, to remove or, respectively, to provide heat from / to a reaction environment, generally a catalytic bed, so as to control its temperature within a narrow range around a precalculated theoretical value. [0003] In particul...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0025] The technical problem underlying the present invention is that of devising and providing a method for the production of plate type heat exchangers capable of overcoming the drawbacks quoted with reference to the prior art, in a simple and effective manner.

Problems solved by technology

The main one is that one is faced with a progressive deformation and / or distortion of the plates during the welding operations, caused by the shrinkage tensions that occur during the cooling of the weldings themselves, i.e. during the cooling of the heated metal areas.

Such a situation makes it very difficult, if not at times impossible, to assemble a plurality of plate type heat exchangers to constitute a heat exchange unit in the reactor, and in any case leads to a disuniformity in the spacing of the plate type heat exchangers, with negative consequences at the process level (for example, in terms of performances of the reactor, in terms of generation of hot points inside the catalytic mass provided in the reactor, etc.).

Images