SPX APV ParaFlow User manual

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Read and understand this manual prior
to operating or servicing this product.
Gasketed Plate Heat Exchangers
ParaFlow Instruction Manual

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Always observe the Safety Notes
designated by the Warning symbol:Ì!
Listed throughout this manual.
Ì!Leakage from a DuoSafety plate is always
the early warning for the user to act. (See page
12)
Ì!APV Paraweld PHE - Care must be
exercised in connecting the fluids correctly. (See
page 13)
Ì!APV Paraweld PHE is not suitable for
hygienic duties. (See page 13)
Ì!Some general safety precautions must be
followed in order to avoid personal injury or
equipment damage. (See page 14)
Ì!Lifting equipment must be in good condition
and should always be used in full compliance
with the specifications and limitations given for
the equipment. (See page 17)
Ì!Always maintain the minimum angle
between the lifting wires in order not to exceed
the allowable wire tension. The angle should
not exceed 120°at any time. (See page 17)
Ì!Always observe proper procedures for lifting
and/or moving equipment and qualified
personnel for the lifting and moving. (See page
17)
Ì!Ensure sufficient space around the plate
heat exchanger. (See page 18)
Ì!Ozone-producing equipment, salt air and
other corrosive atmospheres must be avoided
at all times. (See page 19)
Ì!Start-up of the plate heat exchanger. (See
page 20)
Ì!Exceeding the design temperatures and
pressures can be harmful. (See page 20)
Ì!Sudden changes in the operating pressures
and temperatures should be avoided. (See page
21)
Ì!Never open the APV plate heat exchanger
until the unit has cooled below 40°C (105°F).
(See page 23)
Ì!Never open an APV heat exchanger, which
is under pressure from any source. (See page
23)
Ì!Never open an APV plate heat exchanger
with piping connected to the follower or
connector grids. (See page 23)
Ì! Bolts must not be slackened or tightened
indiscriminately. (See page 23)
Ì! For large units, block the follower into
position, for example by tying it to the end
support, to provide extra safety against
accidental rolling of the follower during
maintenance. (See page 23)
Ì!Always wear protective gloves when
handling plates. (See page 23)
Ì!Cleaning agents must not be aggressive or
corrosive to the plates or the gaskets. If in
doubt, contact the cleaning agent supplier. (See
page 25)
Ì!Do not use chlorine-containing agents such
as hydrochloric acid (HCI). (See page 26)
Ì!Excess Nitric acid can seriously damage
NBR and other types of rubber gaskets. (See
page 26)
Ì!Do not permanently bend or scratch the
plates or damage the gaskets during the
installation. Some plates must be carefully bent
to install them. (See page 29)
Ì!Always tighten to full plate to plate contact,
demonstrated by sufficient force and within the
dimensions permitted. On the nameplate or the
assembly drawing, you will find the minimum
and maximum compressed dimension of the
plate pack. (See page 31)
Ì!Insufficient clamping force can cause
leaking. (See page 32)
Ì!For best rigidity of plate pack, tighten used
plates to the same dimension again. (See page
32)
Ì!Never over tighten without written consent
from APV as this can damage the flow plates.
(See page 32)
Issued: 1000E-GB Copyright © 2009 SPX Corporation

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Index
Index............................................................................................................................................. 2
Index............................................................................................................................................. 3
1. Main components.................................................................................................................... 6
2. Operating Principle.................................................................................................................. 9
2.1 Standard design .................................................................................................................. 9
2.2 Frame .................................................................................................................................. 9
2.3 Sanitary plate heat exchangers ........................................................................................ 10
2.3.1 Grids and bosses ........................................................................................................ 10
2.3.2 Spray screen ............................................................................................................... 11
2.3.3 Divider plates .............................................................................................................. 11
2.4 APV DuoSafety – double wall plates ................................................................................ 12
2.5 APV ParaWeld – welded plate pairs................................................................................. 13
2.6 Inline Filters....................................................................................................................... 13
3. General safety precautions ................................................................................................... 14
4. Receiving of equipment ........................................................................................................ 15
4.1 Receiving check ................................................................................................................ 15
4.2 Documents ........................................................................................................................ 15
4.2.1 Assembly drawing....................................................................................................... 15
4.2.2 General arrangement drawing .................................................................................... 16
4.2.3 PHE Plate Arrangement drawing................................................................................ 16
4.3 Name plate........................................................................................................................ 16
5. Handling ................................................................................................................................ 17
5.1 Lifting................................................................................................................................. 17
6. Installation ............................................................................................................................. 18
6.1 Foundation ........................................................................................................................ 18
6.2 Space requirements..........................................................................................................18
6.3 Connections ...................................................................................................................... 18
7. Storage.................................................................................................................................. 19
7.1 Short Term Storage (less than 6 months)......................................................................... 19
7.2 Long Term Storage (more than 6 months) ....................................................................... 19
8. Start-up and operation .......................................................................................................... 20
8.1 Start up.............................................................................................................................. 20
8.2 Operation .......................................................................................................................... 20
8.2.1 Corrosion resistance ......................................................................................................21
8.3 Shutting down ................................................................................................................... 21
9. Maintenance.......................................................................................................................... 23
9.1 Disassembly...................................................................................................................... 23
9.2 Cleaning ............................................................................................................................ 25
9.2.1 Manual Cleaning ......................................................................................................... 25
9.2.2 Cleaning-In-Place ....................................................................................................... 26
9.3 Regular DuoSafety internal inspection ............................................................................. 28
9.4 Gasket replacement..........................................................................................................29

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9.5 Re-assembly ..................................................................................................................... 29
9.6 Maintenance of in-line filter ...............................................................................................33
10. Spare Parts – Identification and Ordering........................................................................... 34
10.1 Identification of spare parts............................................................................................. 34
11. Troubleshooting ................................................................................................................... 35

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Note: Illustrations of ParaFlow heat exchangers and equipment presented in this manual serve as
example illustrations only in support of the instructions. Your actual equipment may look different.
Important!
In addition to this instruction manual, the following key documents are included with your APV
ParaFlow plate heat exchanger. In case of conflict between this instruction manual and the order and
product documents, the order and product specific documents take precedence.
•APV PHE Plate Arrangement Drawing
•APV Assembly Drawing which may be integrated with the plate arrangement drawing
•Other Order-specific documentation
•Supplementary Instruction manuals dealing with specific topics
Further details can be found in Section 4: “Receiving equipment”.
How to contact APV:
Your nearest APV office is listed on our website www.apv.com. Please also go to apv.com to
find information regarding our Service and Spare Parts offerings.

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Dear Customer.
Thank you for choosing APV equipment!
The purpose of this manual is to provide you with important information on operating your APV Plate
Heat Exchanger.
This manual covers the APV ParaFlow gasketed plate heat exchangers. Separate publications describe
other APV equipment.
Read this manual carefully before unpacking the equipment.
1. Main components
A typical small APV ParaFlow PHE

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A typical large APV ParaFlow PHE
Figure 1: Main components of APV gasketed plate heat exchanger, industrial
design
1. Head for connections and clamping the plate pack
2. Follower for clamping the plate pack and any additional connections
3. End support for supporting the top and bottom bars
4. Top bar for carrying and guiding the follower and plate pack
5. Bottom bar for guiding the follower and plate pack
6. Tie bars for clamping the plate pack between head and follower
7. Flow plate
8. Flow gasket
9. Nut for tie bar
10. Footplate for securing the plate heat exchanger to the base.

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Figure 2: Main components of typical APV sanitary / hygienic plate heat exchanger.
1. Head for connections and clamping the plate pack
2. Follower for clamping the plate pack
3. End support for supporting the top and bottom bars
4. Top bar for carrying and guiding the follower and plate pack
5. Bottom bar for guiding the follower and plate pack
6. Tie bars for clamping the plate pack between head and follower
7. Flow plate (Figure 1)
8. Flow gasket (Figure 1)
9. Nut for tie bar
10. Adjustable or fixed legs
11. Connector grid for additional fluid connector bosses
12. Connector bosses

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2. Operating Principle
2.1 Standard design
The plate heat exchanger consists of a
number of thin corrugated metal plates.
The plate corrugations form flow channels for
the heat exchanging fluids and provide
strength to the compressed plate pack.
The plates contain ports for fluid inlets,
outlets and interconnect passages as
required.
Gaskets are attached to the plates, forming a
seal between the heat exchanging fluids and
the surroundings.
In the example shown here, the cold fluid
(blue) enters at the bottom and the hot fluid
(red) at the top.
2.2 Frame
The plates are clamped together to a
predetermined dimension by the tie bars
between two thick metal slabs: a stationary
slab (head) and a moveable slab (follower).
Connections for the fluid inlets and outlets
can be made on either slab. The plates are
hung on the top bar and guided by the
bottom bar. An end column supports the top
and bottom bar ends.

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2.3 Sanitary plate heat exchangers
Frames used for sanitary or hygienic duties
are fabricated in solid stainless steel or
carbon steel with stainless steel covering.
Standard connections are usually sanitary
tube fittings. Industrial fittings may be
supplied when required.
Plates may be either parallel flow or diagonal
flow.
LNote: The type of plate, whether parallel
or diagonal, affects the position of the fluid
inlet and outlet connections, left/right.
Parallel plates have both flow inlet and outlet
ports on the same side, e.g. left side for the
hot medium and right side for the cold
medium.
For diagonal plates, however, if the fluid
enters the channel in the left corner, then it
leaves the channel in the right corner
Parallel plates require only one type of plate,
while diagonal plates require two different
plates to form a flow channel.
2.3.1 Grids and bosses
The intermediate grid divides the plate heat
exchanger into separate sections that may
operate independently. The connector grids
are equipped with removable connector
bosses made from stainless steel.

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The connector bosses can also form the
connections between sections of the plate
heat exchanger and provide external
connections to and from these sections.
2.3.2 Spray screen
A spray screen can be mounted on the plate
pack for protection. The spray screen is
made from folded stainless steel and it is
hung on the top bar or tie bars of the plate
heat exchanger for easy installation and
removal.
LNote: Use of a spray screen is
recommended whenever corrosive liquids or
high temperatures present a safety hazard to
personnel.
A spray screen may be supplied for new or
existing plate heat exchangers.
2.3.3 Divider plates
A divider plate is typically a solid steel plate
between 6 and 10 mm thick. The divider
plate has the same outer shape as the flow
plates.
Divider plates are used to divide a heat
exchanger into two separate operating
sections. Divider plates have no external
connections but do allow flow from one
section to the next through their ports.
Divider plate

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2.4 APV DuoSafety – double wall plates
The APV DuoSafety heat exchanger plate is
a double wall plate manufactured from two
loose plates pressed together to form a
DuoSafety plate. Each APV DuoSafety plate
pair is equipped with a non-glue gasket,
which seals and holds the plates together.
The two plates can be made of the same or
different materials.
The space between the two plates of the
APV DuoSafety plate pair serves as a safety
zone in case of through-plate leaks. Should a
leak occur in this safety zone (i.e. because of
corrosion, wear or age of seals), this space
provides an extra security against mixing of
the two liquids. The liquid will be discharged
from the space between the two walls into
the atmosphere and avoid cross-
contamination.
When leakage from a plate heat exchanger
containing DuoSafety plates is observed,
immediate action must be taken to detect
and replace the defective items before
corrosion or wear can proceed through both
plate walls and pose a risk of contamination.
If a DuoSafety heat exchanger is fitted with a
spray screen, it may be necessary to
regularly remove the screen to observe that
the plate pack edges have no tell-tale sign of
leakage. A visual check should be made at
least every 3 months.
Ì! Leakage from a DuoSafety plate is
always the early warning for the user to act.
LNote!: DuoSafety plates often use special
gaskets which can be confused with gaskets
meant for single plates which look similar.
Please confirm with APV that you have the
correct gaskets

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2.5 APV ParaWeld – welded plate pairs
APV ParaWeld plate pair is a right- and left-
hand plate laser welded together to form a
pair. This welded plate pair system is
particularly suitable for use with refrigerants
such as ammonia and Freon or with other
aggressive liquids that could otherwise attack
the gaskets in a conventional heat exchanger
plate.
When the welded pairs are installed in a
frame, each pair is sealed by elastomeric
seals.
LNote: An APV ParaWeld plate pair cannot
be separated for inspection and cleaning. It is,
therefore, important to prevent fouling and
clogging of the welded passage.
If fouling in the welded passage cannot be
prevented, then cleaning must be done by
circulating a cleaning solution. It is
recommended that you contact a supplier of
cleaning agents for advice.
Ì!The two sides of APV Paraweld PHE
may have different pressure and fluid
compatibility and therefore care must be
exercised in connecting the fluids correctly.
Ì!APV Paraweld PHE is not suitable for
hygienic duties where organic fouling is
expected, for example, dairy products.
2.6 Inline Filters
For industrial applications involving fibres or
particles which might foul the heat exchanger
plates or block the heat exchanger passages,
an APV in-line filter is recommended.

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The APV in-line filter is inserted in the fluid inlet port
of the heat exchanger through an opening in the
follower and closed with a full-faced gasket blind
cover.
The in-line filter mesh size is 2.5 mm (0.1 inch).
Where an in-line filter is purchased for an existing
APV PHE, please check whether the follower is
prepared for the installation of an in-line filter. A
replacement follower or machining may become
necessary.
3. General safety precautions
Always observe the Safety Notes designated by
the Warning symbol:Ì!Listed throughout this
manual.
APV Plate Heat Exchangers are designed and
manufactured with due consideration and care for
generally accepted safety standards. As with any
mechanical device, the proper and safe performance
of the equipment depends on safe handling,
operation, and maintenance.
Ì! The following general safety precautions must
be followed in order to avoid personal injury or
equipment damage:
1. Always observe any applicable local and
national safety codes.
2. Always use appropriate protective gear, such
as safety gloves and safety shoes when
touching and handling the equipment.
3. Follow proper lifting procedures while
handling the equipment.
4. Never expose the equipment to heat,
aggressive chemicals or mechanical impact
that can damage the equipment.
5. Only qualified persons should handle and
operate the equipment.

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4. Receiving of equipment
4.1 Receiving check
APV Plate Heat Exchangers may be shipped
fully assembled and skid mounted. The PHE
is normally mounted on pallets and wrapped
in protective plastic. Other wrappings could
be in open box or seaworthy packaging.
Prior to unpacking, check the packing for any
defects and the equipment for possible
damage that might have occurred during
transportation. Any damage as a result of
shipping must be reported immediately.
Check the equipment according to the
documentation provided with the shipment.
Any deviations must be reported
immediately.
4.2 Documents
The following documents are included with
the equipment: including the following
drawings that can be separate or integrated
into one (customer drawing):
•Assembly drawing or General
arrangement drawing
•PHE Plate Arrangement drawing
including part list
•Other order or product specific
documents
4.2.1 Assembly drawing
This drawing provides information
concerning overall dimensions, bolt-down
positions and a connection diagram showing
where external piping will be connected.

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4.2.2 General arrangement drawing
This general arrangement drawing provides
the same detailed information, as the
assembly drawing plus other customer
specified details.
4.2.3 PHE Plate Arrangement drawing
The plate heat exchanger is designed to
perform a duty (or duties) by arranging the
number and type of plates required in a
specific sequence. This arrangement is
represented schematically by the plate
diagram shown on the arrangement drawing.
The drawing summarizes the plates and
gaskets in the plate heat exchanger design.
The summary includes plate types, angles,
thickness and material, along with gasket
type, material and attachment method (glued
or clip in) and part no.
The assembly drawing summarizes
compressed plate pack dimension, total
weight and hold-up volume.
4.3 Name plate
Identification of the equipment is printed on
the nameplate (mounted on the head or
follower). When contacting APV for service
or spare parts, always refer to the serial
number on the nameplate.

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5. Handling
5.1 Lifting
If the plate heat exchanger is packed and
transported lying flat on the head, great care
must be taken during raising it, to avoid
sliding and impact of bending forces to the
equipment base or feet.
APV Plate Heat Exchangers are provided
with lifting lugs or holes for safe lifting and
transportation of the unpacked equipment.
When lifting an assembled heat exchanger
frame, ensure that the lifting point is above
the centre of gravity of the equipment.
Ì!The lifting equipment must be in good
condition and should always be used in full
compliance with the specifications and
limitations given for the equipment.
Ì!Always maintain the minimum angle
between the lifting wires in order not to
exceed the allowable wire tension. The angle
should not exceed 120°at any time
If the ceiling height does not allow for safe
lifting angle, dollies or creepers can be used
for moving the equipment.
Ì!Always observe proper procedures for
lifting and/or moving equipment and qualified
personnel for the lifting and moving.
Personnel must follow safe rigging practices.
Indiscriminate use of fork lift trucks may
damage the PHE in critical areas.
Ì! Warning: Lifting from the follower shown
above is not acceptable for some models and
plate damage may result. Check for warning signs
on the follower supplied. Use alternative lifting
eyes for example as shown below in those cases
Ì! See warning
concerning lifting
from follower

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6. Installation
6.1 Foundation
The APV Plate Heat Exchanger should be
placed on a solid foundation floor. If the unit
is provided with feet, the dimensions and
placement of these are stated on the
assembly drawing.
6.2 Space requirements
Ensure that there is sufficient space around
the plate heat exchanger to separate the
plate pack and to remove or insert plates.
The amount of free space required is stated
on the assembly drawing.
Ì! Ensure sufficient space around the plate
heat exchanger.
6.3 Connections
If the plate heat exchanger has liquid
connections on the follower, it is important
that the compressed dimension is checked
against the drawing before the pipes are
connected. For easy disassembly and
reassembly of the plate heat exchanger, a
pipe elbow should be used at all follower
connections.
The plate heat exchanger connections on the
follower and connector grids have little
strength against pipe work or nozzle loads.
Such loads can arise for example from
thermal expansion. Proper care must be
taken to avoid transfer of such pipe forces
and moments to the PHE.

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7. Storage
7.1 Short Term Storage (less than 6 months)
The plate heat exchanger must be stored in
a cool and dry environment away from
sunlight. It must be protected from water and
debris with a waterproof cover, while also
allowing for air circulation.
7.2 Long Term Storage (more than 6 months)
The heat exchanger must be stored in a cool
and dry environment away from sunlight. It
must be protected by a waterproof cover
against water and debris, however still
allowing for air circulation.
Ì!Ozone-producing equipment, salt air and
other corrosive atmospheres must be
avoided at all times.
All connections must be closed to prevent
water or debris to enter the heat exchanger.
Factory installed plugs or covers may be
used.
To extend gasket service lifetime, it is
recommended to relax the gaskets by
loosening the tie bars by approximately 10%
of the compressed plate pack dimensions.