Heat Exchanger Challenges
Heat exchangers in chemical, petrochemical, and marine applications face the dual challenge of maintaining thermal transfer efficiency while resisting corrosion from process fluids on both the tube and shell sides. Corrosion-induced tube failures cause process contamination, unplanned shutdowns, and safety hazards. Inconel 625 is specified for heat exchanger service when process fluids contain chlorides, reducing acids, or mixed corrosive species that would attack stainless steels, particularly at elevated temperatures where corrosion rates accelerate dramatically.
Components and Capabilities
CastAlloy manufactures Inconel 625 heat exchanger components including forged tube sheets (the most critical structural component, carrying the pressure load and providing the tube-to-shell seal), cast and machined baffles, channel heads and bonnets, shell flanges and nozzles, and expansion joint bellows for accommodating differential thermal growth. Our forging capabilities produce tube sheets with the refined grain structure that resists stress corrosion cracking at tube-to-tubesheet weld joints—the most common failure location in heat exchanger service.
Engineering Support
Our engineering team supports heat exchanger projects from material selection through final delivery, including ASME BPVC compliance for pressure-retaining components, weld procedure qualification for Inconel 625, and NDE per ASME and customer specifications. Contact CastAlloy for your heat exchanger component requirements.