Alfa Laval is calling on the marine industry to prioritise proactive heat exchanger maintenance as the sector faces energy uncertainty, rising costs and tightening decarbonisation targets.
The company’s new whitepaper, ‘Ask the HEXperts’, highlights heat exchanger servicing as an opportunity for marine businesses to improve efficiency and resilience. According to the report, a single fouled heat exchanger can generate losses of more than €12,000 over a two-month period, while producing an additional 175 tons of CO2.
The whitepaper states that heat transfer efficiency can decline significantly over time as fouling accumulates. This can increase operating costs and carbon emissions while also raising the risk of equipment failure.
Regular servicing can restore heat transfer efficiency through cleaning, reconditioning and the repair or replacement of components such as gaskets. The report positions proactive servicing as an approach that can help marine businesses manage operating costs and carbon emissions simultaneously.
Alessandro Bracco, Managing Director for Alfa Laval UK and Ireland, said: “In a market that is being buffeted by external factors that are out of the sector’s control, it makes sense to turn inwards and find efficiencies through factors that you do have influence over.
“There is no better example of this than heat exchangers. They can be found in vast quantities in nearly every single process line, yet many businesses still choose to run them to failure – a false economy. Servicing heat exchangers proactively not only allows you to control when downtime is undertaken but delivers efficiency savings that can be genuinely revolutionary for businesses operating in this environment.”
Report Examines Proactive and Reactive Maintenance
‘Ask the HEXperts’ provides an analysis of the energy market in which the marine industry operates, alongside a comparison of reactive and proactive maintenance approaches.
The report also includes a step-by-step overview of the heat exchanger servicing process and real-life case studies from Alfa Laval partners.
The focus on servicing also includes inspection activities used to identify potential equipment issues. Alfa Laval maintains service centres in nearly 100 countries, including a 5,000m² facility in Camberley, Surrey.
According to the company, heat exchangers serviced at the Camberley facility undergo a 10-step servicing process, including processes that are unique to Alfa Laval. Its non-destructive testing (NDT) process uses dye penetrant testing to detect invisible cracks that might be missed by third-party services.
NDT Supports Heat Exchanger Servicing
The inclusion of NDT in the servicing process highlights the role of inspection in identifying cracks that may not be visible during conventional examination. For marine operators, the approach forms part of the wider servicing process outlined in the ‘Ask the HEXperts’ report.
Alessandro concluded: “Servicing can be the lifeline that the marine industry never knew it needed. In the wake of tightening decarbonisation targets, rising energy costs and growing overseas competition, now is the time to ‘Ask the HEXperts’, and see what heat exchanger servicing can do for your business.”
Reference: https://www.shipmanagementinternational.com/news/wj2hc8yt9ff2w98
