Product Description

Compabloc is an unrivalled champion that stands out among other heat exchangers – including other bloc-type designs. These features enable more reliable and efficient performance, helping you to save energy and improve your sustainability

Applications

Liquid-to-liquid heating and cooling applications
Performing at 3 to 5 times the efficiency of shell-and-tubes, Compabloc is perfectly placed as a liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger (heater, cooler or interchanger).
With the ability to handle crossing temperatures in a single unit, and a temperature approach as close as 3°C (5.4°F), Compabloc offers significant energy saving possibilities.
Compabloc also handles asymmetric flows with ease thanks to its flexible flow configuration. Since this lightweight unit is installed vertically, installation problems are instantly solved.

Compabloc as a reboiler
High thermal efficiency, compact size, low static head, minimum fouling and easy cleaning make Compabloc the perfect reboiler. It can be used as a thermosiphon or forced circulation reboiler.
Compabloc makes it easy to increase reboiler capacity, offering up to double the capacity of a traditional heat exchanger of the same size, and reducing the installation costs of the distillation tower.
The compact size means the hold-up volume, and residence time, is very low compared to a traditional heat exchanger, reducing thermal degradation of the fluid. This makes starting the process quicker, with lower cost for out-of-spec process fluid.

Working principles

Sitting at the core of every Compabloc is a stack of corrugated heat-transfer plates made of stainless steel or other corrosion-resistant materials, laser welded alternately to form channels.
The hot and the cold streams flow through alternate channels. Corrugated plates cause high turbulence, resulting in substantially higher heat transfer efficiency with a 50–80% smaller heat transfer area than comparable shell-and-tubes. Flow turbulence also reduces the build-up of fouling. The Compabloc’s unique plate design eliminates dead zones in the heat exchanger.
The two flows in a Compabloc can be configured as single pass, or as multiple pass by using baffles. The number of passes on the hot and cold side can be chosen independently, making it possible to optimize heat transfer even if flow rates on the different sides differ greatly. This unique flexibility means the Compabloc is always optimized for exactly the required duty. The baffles are made to withstand full vacuum, and can be rearranged if design conditions are changed in the future.
Compabloc units have a counter-current flow and can operate with a crossing temperature program (in a single unit), where the temperature approach is as close as 3°C (5.4°F), maximizing energy recovery. The small size and light weight makes it possible to install Compablocs anywhere, for instance at the top of distillation columns or suspended from support structures.