Coolant cooling

Coolants

A great number of industrial processes such as grinding, milling and turning create heat and particles. Coolants are used to keep the work surface cool and to carry away chips and particles. The liquid is typically 90 to 95% water and 5 to 10% coolant (emulsion type coolant). The liquid runs over the work area and then down the machine where it collects in a sump at the bottom of the machine. The liquid is pumped out of the sump and constantly re-circulated. Normally the temperature should be between 20-35 degrees Celsius. 

Wash liquid/Surface treatment

With extensive experience from surface finishing operations, Alfa Laval offers a wide range of plate heat exchangers to complete the process. In most cases there is a need for controlling the temperature of the bath with submerged heating coils, but the need varies.

Different methods for surface treatments are for instance:

• Degreasing
• Washing
• Anodizing
• Chromium plating
• Copper plating
• Nickel plating
• Passivating
• Phosphatizing
• Pickling
• Zink plating

Alfa Laval offers a complete range of heat transfer solutions for accurate process temperature control in surface treatment processes. Plate heat exchangers offer major cost advantages over more traditional technology. Most notable advantages are:

• High thermal efficiency for effective heat transfer
• Compact design resulting in small quantities of materials used for heat transfer surfaces
• Low installation cost
• Easy dismantling and easy, rapid cleaning
• High performance with low hold-up volume
• Versatile, modular design
• Environmentally efficient solution

Being smaller and lighter, they require less space and less cooling media than the traditional shell-and-tube. And with Alfa Laval putting massive efforts into R&D every year, you can rest assured that an Alfa Laval product is state-of-the-art. 

Quenching

Alfa Laval offers a wide range of plate heat exchangers to help you to control the temperature of the quenching bath, continuous or batch. With long-term experience from the metallurgical, metal working and mechanical industries, Alfa Laval is your perfect partner when choosing a solution for cooling of quenching fluid.

The characteristics of the quenching fluid and its desired temperature vary according to the material and the type of work pieces that need to be quenched. Usually, baths are kept at a temperature in the range of 50-80°C, in the manufacturing process. 

Alfa Laval provides a comprehensive range of plate heat exchangers of the traditional type, featuring gaskets between the plates, including the double wall for extra safety.

Alfa Laval plate heat exchangers require 20-50 % less space than a comparable shell-and-tube installation. Since it requires up to 80 % less cooling media, you can use smaller pumps, thereby reducing energy consumption.

Depending on the fouling problem, (caused by steel flakes or other particles) you might need a spiral heat exchanger, SHE. In these cases, Alfa Laval offers SHEs with exceptional compactness and self-cleaning design.