Welding plate heat exchanger inspection service

Welding Plate Heat Exchanger Inspection Service – Accredited Pressure Integrity, Weld Quality and Thermal Performance Testing for Global Markets

Our internationally accredited laboratory delivers a specialist welding plate heat exchanger inspection service that provides manufacturers of fully‑welded and semi‑welded compact heat exchangers, chemical‑process equipment fabricators, refrigeration‑system builders, power‑generation plant operators and food‑processing engineers worldwide with the independent, traceable data they need to verify the pressure‑retaining capacity, the weld‑seam integrity, the leak‑tightness, the thermal performance and the long‑term corrosion resistance of their welded‑plate heat exchanger cores and shells. Every test is conducted under the rigorous framework of ISO/IEC 17025, and each report bearing the ILAC mark is unconditionally accepted by notified bodies, regulatory authorities and supply‑chain partners in all major economies. The welding plate heat exchanger inspection service subjects the complete unit, the individual cassettes and the laser‑welded, the plasma‑welded or the resistance‑seam‑welded joints to a comprehensive suite of hydrostatic and pneumatic pressure tests, helium‑mass‑spectrometer leak‑detection, radiographic and microscopic weld‑examination, thermal‑efficiency measurement and environmental‑durability evaluations, providing the legally robust, defensible engineering data that underpin the CE marking under the Pressure Equipment Directive, the ASME code stamping, the process‑safety assurance and the guarantee of the reliable, leak‑free operation over the entire design life of the heat exchanger.

Product Samples We Regularly Inspect Under Our Welding Plate Heat Exchanger Inspection Service

The hydrostatic‑pressure test benches, the pneumatic‑pressure decay analysers, the helium‑leak‑detection mass spectrometers, the industrial X‑ray and the digital‑radiography bays, the metallurgical‑microscope laboratories, the positive‑material‑identification spectrometers, the thermal‑imaging cameras and the chemical‑immersion tanks in our facility accommodate a wide range of welded‑plate heat exchanger designs and their individual pressure‑containing sub‑assemblies. The following categories represent the most frequently tested items:

Fully‑welded plate‑and‑shell heat exchangers – the circular and the rectangular‑plate packs that are welded into a cylindrical or a rectangular pressure‑shell, designed for the high‑pressure, the high‑temperature and the aggressive‑media services such as the steam, the thermal‑oil, the refrigerant and the corrosive chemical heating and cooling
Semi‑welded and the laser‑welded plate‑pack cassettes – the plate pairs that are welded together on the product‑side while the service‑side remains gasketed, used in the refrigeration, the heat‑pump and the chemical‑process applications where the complete isolation of the aggressive or the high‑pressure fluid is required
Fusion‑bonded and the diffusion‑bonded micro‑channel heat‑exchanger cores – the compact, the high‑efficiency printed‑circuit‑type or the plate‑fin‑type exchangers that are manufactured by the solid‑state diffusion bonding or the vacuum‑brazing, evaluated for the internal‑channel integrity and the freedom from the blockage and the cross‑leakage
Welded plate‑pack assemblies that are intended for the immersion and the tank‑heating or the cooling applications – the grid‑coil and the pillow‑plate assemblies that are submerged in the process liquid, tested for the external‑pressure collapse and the coating‑adhesion
Prototype, field‑returned and the service‑aged welded‑plate heat exchanger units – the complete exchangers or the individual plates that have been subjected to the thermal‑cycling, the pressure‑pulsation, the fouling or the corrosion in the service, submitted for the residual‑strength assessment, the leak‑localisation and the root‑cause failure analysis
Removable gasketed‑plate heat exchangers that are retrofitted with the welded‑plate inserts – the hybrid units where the original gasketed plates are replaced by the laser‑welded cassettes, evaluated for the compatibility with the existing frame and the pressure‑drop characteristic

Pressure Integrity, Weld Quality and Non‑Destructive Examination – The Core of the Welding Plate Heat Exchanger Inspection Service

Hydrostatic pressure and the proof‑pressure testing according to the ASME BPVC Section VIII Div. 1 (Rules for Construction of Pressure Vessels), the EN 13445‑5 (Unfired pressure vessels – Part 5: Inspection and testing) and the customer‑specified test pressures: the complete welded‑plate heat exchanger or the individual plate‑pack cassette is filled with the water or a suitable test‑liquid and pressurised to the specified proof‑pressure—typically 1.3 to 1.5 times the maximum allowable working pressure—and held for the defined duration. The pressure gauge is monitored for the any decay, and the external surfaces of the welds, the nozzles and the shell‑joints are visually inspected for the weeping, the seepage and the permanent deformation. This welding plate heat exchanger inspection service is the mandatory, legally required final acceptance test for every pressure‑containing component before it is placed into the service.
Pneumatic leak‑testing and the pressure‑decay measurement according to the internal validated protocol and the principles of the ASME BPVC Section V Article 10 (Leak Testing) and the EN 1779 (Non‑destructive testing – Leak testing – Criteria for method and technique selection): for the heat exchangers that cannot be wetted or where the hydrostatic test is not feasible, the unit is pressurised with the clean, dry compressed air or the nitrogen, and the rate of the pressure decay over the time is measured by a high‑precision pressure transducer, providing the quantitative leak‑rate in the pascal‑cubic‑metres per second or the standard cubic centimetres per minute.
Helium‑mass‑spectrometer leak‑detection and the localisation of the micro‑leaks according to the internal validated protocol and the principles of the EN 1779 and the ASTM E499 (Standard Practice for Leaks Using the Mass Spectrometer Leak Detector in the Detector Probe Mode): the heat exchanger is evacuated or pressurised with a helium‑air mixture, and the sniffer‑probe or the vacuum‑chamber method is used to detect the helium that escapes through the fine‑weld‑cracks, the pinholes and the plate‑perforations, achieving a detection limit as low as 10⁻⁷ mbar·L/s, which is the most sensitive method for the certification of the high‑reliability and the toxic‑service heat exchangers.
Radiographic and the digital‑X‑ray inspection of the plate‑pack welds and the shell‑nozzle connections according to the ISO 17636‑1 (Non‑destructive testing of welds – Radiographic testing – Part 1: X‑ and gamma‑ray techniques with film) and the ASME BPVC Section V Article 2: the welded joints are exposed to the X‑ray or the gamma‑ray radiation, and the resulting radiographic film or the digital image is evaluated for the internal volumetric defects—the porosity, the lack‑of‑fusion, the slag‑inclusions, the tungsten‑inclusions and the undercut—and the acceptance is based on the criteria of the ASME BPVC Section VIII Div. 1 UW‑51 or the ISO 5817 (Welding – Fusion‑welded joints in steel, nickel, titanium and their alloys – Quality levels for imperfections).
Dye‑penetrant and the magnetic‑particle inspection of the weld‑surface and the heat‑affected zone according to the ISO 3452‑1 (Penetrant testing) and the ISO 17638 (Magnetic particle testing): the accessible external welds of the heat exchanger are examined for the surface‑breaking cracks, the laps, the seams and the porosity, providing the rapid, the sensitive and the cost‑effective detection of the defects that could initiate the fatigue‑cracking or the stress‑corrosion‑cracking during the cyclic operation.
Metallographic and the microscopic examination of the weld‑cross‑sections according to the ISO 17639 (Destructive tests on welds in metallic materials – Macroscopic and microscopic examination of welds) and the internal procedures: the representative weld‑coupons that are cut from the production‑samples or the qualification‑test‑pieces are polished, etched and examined under the optical or the scanning‑electron microscope, and the weld‑penetration depth, the fusion‑zone geometry, the heat‑affected‑zone microstructure and the presence of the inter‑metallic phases or the micro‑cracks are reported, providing the essential metallurgical‑quality data for the welding‑procedure qualification and the production‑process control.

Thermal Performance and Hydraulic Characterisation – Welding Plate Heat Exchanger Inspection Service for the Process Efficiency Guarantee

Determination of the overall heat‑transfer coefficient and the thermal effectiveness according to the internal validated protocol and the principles of the ASME PTC 12.5 (Single Phase Heat Exchangers) and the ARI 400 (Standard for Liquid‑to‑Liquid Heat Exchangers): the welded‑plate heat exchanger is installed on a calibrated hot‑water and cold‑water test‑loop, and the inlet and the outlet temperatures and the flow‑rates on both the sides are measured under the steady‑state conditions. The heat‑transfer rate in the kilowatts, the logarithmic‑mean‑temperature‑difference, the overall heat‑transfer coefficient U in the watts per square‑metre‑kelvin, and the thermal effectiveness are calculated and compared with the manufacturer's design prediction, providing the objective performance data that the process‑engineer uses to validate the thermal guarantee and to detect the fouling, the channelling or the flow‑maldistribution within the plate‑pack. This welding plate heat exchanger inspection service is the definitive test for the acceptance of the new and the cleaned heat exchangers.
Measurement of the pressure‑drop on the hot‑side and the cold‑side as a function of the flow‑rate according to the internal validated protocol: the differential‑pressure transmitters are connected across the inlet and the outlet nozzles, and the pressure‑drop in the kilopascals is recorded at the multiple flow‑rates, providing the hydraulic‑characteristic curve that is used to verify the conformance to the design specification and to detect the excessive fouling, the blockage or the mechanical deformation of the narrow channels.
Thermal‑imaging and the infrared‑thermography inspection of the heat‑exchanger shell and the plate‑pack under the operating conditions: the external surface of the exchanger is scanned by a calibrated infrared camera, and the temperature‑distribution map and the identification of the hotspots, the cold‑spots and the thermal‑anomalies are used to diagnose the internal flow‑maldistribution, the weld‑blockage, the plate‑delamination and the bypass‑leakage without the disassembly of the unit.
Fouling‑resistance and the accelerated‑fouling testing according to the internal validated protocol: the heat exchanger is operated with a test‑fluid that contains a controlled concentration of the fouling‑agent—such as the calcium‑carbonate, the iron‑oxide or the biological‑slime—and the degradation of the thermal performance and the increase in the pressure‑drop over the time are monitored, providing the data that the plant‑operator uses to schedule the cleaning‑in‑place or the mechanical disassembly and the cleaning of the welded‑plate heat exchanger.

Material Verification, Corrosion Resistance and Environmental Durability – Welding Plate Heat Exchanger Inspection for the Long‑Term Service Life

Positive‑material‑identification and the verification of the plate‑and‑weld‑metal chemical composition by the hand‑held X‑ray‑fluorescence and the optical‑emission spectrometry according to ASTM E1476 (Standard Guide for Metals Identification, Grade Verification, and Sorting) and the internal procedures: the alloy grade of the stainless‑steel, the nickel‑alloy, the titanium or the other corrosion‑resistant plate material and the matching weld‑filler is confirmed, providing the essential data that the correct material has been used for the specified corrosive environment. This welding plate heat exchanger inspection service is the routine incoming‑goods and the final‑inspection check for every heat exchanger that is destined for the chemical, the offshore and the nuclear applications.
Resistance to the intergranular corrosion, the pitting and the stress‑corrosion cracking according to the ASTM G48 (Standard Test Methods for Pitting and Crevice Corrosion Resistance of Stainless Steels and Related Alloys by the Use of Ferric Chloride Solution), the ASTM A262 (Standard Practices for Detecting Susceptibility to Intergranular Attack in Austenitic Stainless Steels) and the internal procedures: the specimen that is cut from the plate or the weld is exposed to the standardised aggressive test‑solution, and the mass‑loss, the pit‑depth, the crack‑formation and the microstructural‑examination are reported, certifying that the material and the welding procedure have produced the required corrosion‑resistant microstructure for the sour‑gas, the chloride‑containing and the high‑temperature aqueous services.
Thermal‑cycling and the pressure‑pulsation endurance testing according to the internal validated protocol: the welded‑plate heat exchanger is subjected to the repeated cycles of the alternating hot‑and‑cold fluid injection, or to the cyclic internal pressure, and the post‑cycling leak‑tightness, the weld‑integrity and the thermal performance are measured, providing the accelerated‑life data that are used to predict the fatigue‑life and to set the safe design‑life of the exchanger under the intermittent and the batch‑process operation.
Resistance to the chemical cleaning and the de‑scaling solutions according to the internal procedures: the plate and the weld materials are exposed to the representative acid‑based, the alkaline‑based and the chelant‑based cleaning solutions that are used for the removal of the fouling deposits, and the corrosion‑rate and the post‑cleaning surface‑condition are reported, ensuring that the recommended cleaning procedure will not cause the unacceptable material‑loss or the localised corrosion of the welded‑plate heat exchanger.

Report Acceptance and Global Regulatory Compliance for Welding Plate Heat Exchanger Inspection

All measurements performed within our welding plate heat exchanger inspection service are executed under the fully accredited scope of our ISO/IEC 17025 quality management system. Each test report that carries the ILAC mark is therefore automatically recognised by regulatory authorities, notified bodies, customs offices and supply‑chain partners in all major economies. For manufacturers of fully‑welded and semi‑welded plate heat exchangers, chemical‑process equipment fabricators, refrigeration‑system builders and power‑generation plant operators anywhere in the world, the report constitutes legally robust, internationally accepted evidence that the pressure‑holding capacity, the weld‑seam integrity, the helium‑leak‑tightness, the thermal performance, the alloy‑grade verification, the corrosion resistance and the long‑term fatigue‑durability of the heat exchanger have been determined in accordance with the applicable ASME, ISO, ASTM, EN and customer‑specified methods. The documentation can be directly used to support the CE marking under the Pressure Equipment Directive 2014/68/EU, the ASME code stamping, the issue of inspection certificates according to EN 10204 or equivalent national standards, and the resolution of commercial and technical disputes concerning the safety, the performance and the reliability of any welded‑plate heat exchanger.