Looking into plate heat exchanger for recovering butane after corken t91
Problem I keep running into ua copper brazing. Do I need 100% stainless?
I’ve recently seen Summits new closed loop and from what I can see they are using a copper brazed heat exchanger
use full stainless if you can.
You can get full stainless from alfa laval. Of course it’s more expensive.
Tranter also makes full welded steel plate exchangers. I can’t think of an issue with using copper but if that’s a hold up you could look at getting a gasketed plate heat exchanger with an appropriate gasket material for your solvent
https://www.tranter.com/products/maxchanger-mini-welded-heat-exchanger/
Spoiler alert: beaucoup money
I bet this seller would take $350:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tranter-Maxchanger-MX-05-Plate-Heat-Exchanger/223492377314?hash=item34092f0ae2:g:9-cAAOSw5npcv3s2
Was hoping someone would say copper shouldn’t be an issue, I’ll probably test a few sizes with a copper brazed and bite the bullet and buy a welded stainless when I find the right part
Just run stainless . I don’t like cooper for solvent touching product personally.
Generally copper is an issue with acidic process materials but should be pretty inert if all you’re using is organic solvents. An abundance of caution is never a bad thing though
Copper is fine. It’s a non issue unless it’s corroded.
I’m currently in the early stages of changing out coils (which are copper except for the recovery coil) for plate exchangers. My goal is to eliminate dry ice and switch to liquid nitrogen. I was unaware you could use a plate exchanger in-line
Any recommendations on suppliers
Alfa and Swep are the best. Duda diesel has very reasonably priced options
bumping this old conversation…
Have any of you tried using a plate heat exchanger just upstream of your recovery tank/collection vessel to pre-heat your butane miscella? Can you comment on how it has affected your recovery rates overall? I am considering purchasing one, but would love some anecdotal reports before committing to buy.
Thank you!
you wouldnt wanna use a plate for saturated solvent. ideally a tube and shell or a tube in tube. something that will naturally drain and not collect extract.
We flush every run with a kilo or so of fresh solvent to clear the lines - depending on the hold up volume in the plate, I think this would alleviate this concern, right?
Any other reason to suggest tube and shell/tube over a plate?
Thanks for the response
I just use a jacketed tank to warm up a solution. Ideally you build up pressure on the whole solution rather than hoping it heats up as you inject it through a heat x.
that does work, however i think an inline solution would be superior and it will save time and space and hassle dealing with a secondary vessel.
@PolyC that may work, but it also may still build up extract overtime. tube and shell is usually more square ft of surface area vs a similar sized plate heat ex-changer, plus you can put a tube and shell right on the top of your collection vessel.
I already use a secondary vessel as I try to get all of the solution off of the biomass immediately with nitrogen. Then build pressure in tank and send through crc. I guess it depends on the goal and what the process flow is looking like. I like @cyclopath 's “blowing hot smoke up it’s ass” technique as well if you’re in a rush to heat up the solution as the hot water runs through the jacket. Just how I do it. I only do 1 run a day ever so my techniques are different from some people looking to turn over runs fast
Do you use one? Do you have one in mind that you would recommend?
Thanks for all the help.
You can use the plate exchanger to recover solvents but imo it’s only good for a first stage condenser. It has a large surface area which is good for turning a lot of vapor into liquid but if you want your solvent cold, I’d still go with a tube and shell or coil afterwards.