Metaullics CPE (Chemical Process Equipment) is in the process of revising and updating their website. However, in the meantime, their site is not functioning. The new site will be operational about Janunary 1999, and will include lots of useful catalog information ans well as interactive areas such as message boards, success stories, and links to their representatives.
Metaullics CPE manufactures extremely corrosion-resistant heat exchangers in three main types:
Shell and Tube
The most common is the impervious graphite shell and tube exchanger. Metaullics' trade neme for this material is Impervite. This exchanger has graphite tubes, tubesheets, and heads (called "domes" in the graphite business). Every component in contact with the process fluid (on the tubeside) is impervious graphite. Impervious graphite, by the way, is different from ordinary graphite in that it has been impregnated with a phenolic resin which fills in the tiny voids in the normally porous graphite. This not only makes it stronger, but improves its thermal conductivity to approximately the same as brass, making it a very good conductor of heat.
Multi-Blox Cylindrical Block Exchangers
The second type of exchanger they make is the cylindrical block type. These are similar to the shell and tube exchangers in that the process fluid is always on the tube side. The primary difference is that, instead of individual tubes, they have solid blocks of impervious graphite which are cross-drilled to provide passages for both the process and service fluids. The process holes are always drilled longitudinally, and the service holes are drilled in the transverse direction. These can be used for cooling or
heating, and are the preferred style for steam heating applications due to their sturdiness. While other manufacturers make similar looking block type exchangers, they are just not as sturdy. Metaullics' Multi-Blox Exchangers have up to three times the web thickness between the holes as those of the competition, substantially reducing the chance of block failure due to process erosion. These exchangers have proved to be the most maintenance-free block units on the market.
Advanced Ceramic Heat Exchangers
The impervious graphite exchangers described above are really good in some applications where the process fluid is not an oxidizing agent. However, for really corrosive applications, Metaullics offers the Advanced Ceramic Heat Exchanger. This is a very good alternative to the really expensive alloys such as tantalum or zirconium, or the other non-metallic materials such as glass or teflon(r), which are not very heat conductive. The Advanced Ceramic Exchanger has sintered silicon-carbide tubes which are extremely strong, highly conductive, and virtually untouchable by chemical attack. We have not yet found a chemical which could corrode this material. It has been tested and used successfully with hydroflouric acid, bromine, and nitric acids. These exchangers have encapsulated tubesheets and a special O-ring system to permit differential thermal expansion between the shell and the tubes. This may be the exchanger you have been looking for to handle an extremely difficult problem.
Contact Information
Metaullics CPE Group
6161 Cochran Road - Suite D
Solon, OH 44139
Phone (440) 349-8800
Toll Free (800) METAULX
Or Toll Free for the Alphabetically Challenged (800) 638-2859
Fax (440) 349-8802