Plate and Frame Heat Exchanger Services

The traditional dye penetrant leak detection is an off-site leak detection system that requires the heat exchanges to be stripped and sent to Beeco. Once at Beeco, we provide a 6-step service.

We follow factory requirements for all steps of the process, starting with the:

• Cleaning of Both Product and Service Side
• Removal of the Old Gasket
• Cleaning Gasket Grooves
• Adhering of Gaskets
• Oven Curing . . . which is a Vital Step!
• Quality Control

1. CLEANING Cleaning is an essential part of dye checking. We thoroughly clean all dirt and food deposits before we begin.

2. GASKET REMOVAL & DESCALING A hot caustic bath is used to break the adhesive bond. An acid bath is then used to remove scale and rust deposits. We also add inhibitors to the acid to prevent any damage to the plates.

4. GASKET APPLICATION Proper amounts of glue are applied to the grooves to ensure a good bond.

5. OVEN CURING Time and temperature controlled oven curing is used. Gaskets are compressed to factory approved dimension during curing.

Dye Circulation Leak Detection technology is an on-site circulatory test that is only used if a failure is identified in the helium gas test. Our special formulated dye is circulated through your heat exchanger at a given pressure, and if there are any cracks the dye will permeate through. To complete the test, we open the press and at your facility inspect each plate one by one using ultra-violet technology.

Dye Circulation Leak Detection is non-destructive, water soluble, environmentally friendly and does not require any developer.

Unlike conventional methods, (i.e. dye penetrant) the helium gas testing does not require the heat exchanger to be stripped or opened and can find holes down to 5 microns.

This proven method uses helium gas, which not only has the second smallest atom size, but is also easily detectable.

This unique non-destructive testing method allows the discovery of faults before they become problematic and therefore enables planned preventive maintenance. Unlike other test methods, the use of helium has additional benefits in that it is safely dispersed, leaves no residue, is
non toxic and does not stress the plate pack with high pressures.

This method is very quick and efficient. On average, it only takes 30 minutes a section to test a standard plate heat exchanger. Therefore, it is a very cost effective solution for inspection requirements within many industries.

Non-Destructive Safe in Operation No Residual Contamination Minimum Disruption to Production On-Site Testing with Prompt Conclusions Pinhole Detection Recommended by Large Retailers and Clients

The simple investment of a small amount of production time will enable you to benefit from the continual and reliable operation of your manufacturing facility.

How the test works:

The process we use involves pressuring the primary side of any heat exchanger with Helium gas to a pressure no greater than 20 psi. Gas is then bled through the section to ensure complete coverage of the plates, Helium permeates through water so any remaining water is not considered a problem. Helium is a highly mobile gas that will easily pass through small pin holes and cracks in heat exchanger plates. It is an inert gas therefore non flammable. It is also non toxic, non corrosive and leaves no residue. The secondary side of the exchanger has a low volume air circulation system fitted with a detector probe as an integral part of it. The probe detects any crossover of Helium to the primary side down to as little as 2 ppm. Any leakage from gasket rubbers will pass to the atmosphere causing no indication on our instrument.