A key feature of the Westcome Heat Exchanger is the low flow rate.
As a low flow rate equals low pressure drop, and since doubling the flow rate equals quadrupling the pressure loss, low pressure drop is the key to both power savings and less equipment wear.
Due to the unique design and specialized manufacturing procedures, it is easy to customize the crosssection of the “pipes” to exactly fit the flow rate.
The design flow rate in a Westcome Heat Exchanger is as low as 0.3 to 0.5 m/s, depending on viscosity and nature of the fluid being processed.
Fouling, caused by temperature differences in the heat exchangers working viscous fluids that contain solids, is another importent issue to adress in terms of heat exchangers.
Because fouling causes both the temperature effiency to drop and raises the pressure drop, fouling should preferebly be avoided, and in case fouling is unavoidable (supersaturation), the heat exchanger must be easy and fast to clean, without sluttering the operator nor the surroundings.
The Westcome Heat Exchanger is a counter-flow system, with proven temperature effiency, resulting in overall low temperature differences and temperature differences in the heat exchanger remain the same throughout the entire heat exchanger.
Example: A sludge with a warm temperature of 53 C, cold-in at 6 C and a temperature effiency of 60%, is easily achieved in a Westcome Heat Exchanger; the cold-out would be approx. 34 C, i e. a temperature difference of only 19 C, which is well below
the limit of which fouling, caused by temperature difference, is generally known to occur.
In case fouling, caused by temperature or other circumstances, can not be avoided, cleaning must be easy. There are different ways a Westcome Heat Exchanger addresses this issue:
A system of valves can be arranged to reverse the flow direction at regular intervals,
and for heat exchangers working with the same type of fluid (i.e sludge-sludge), even circuits (warm to cold and
vise versa) can be changed; this feature often reduces the need for additional cleaning significantly.
If manual cleaning is required, the Westcome Heat Exchanger is equipped with plugs for each “pipe”, in order to attach a high pressure device and a drain anywhere on the heat exchanger, securing a fast and easy cleaning procedure, without sluttering the operator and the surroundings.
All Westcome Heat Exchangers are purpose-built and the flow is carefully simulated with appropiate software. The basic knowledge and experience from several working installations, provides sufficient data to ensure an appropiate customized design.