The vital link

THE GASKET
The operational cycle and hence the availability of a
plate heat exchanger is highly dependent on the gaskets.
Which makes the choice of gaskets decisive. This folder
tells you more about materials, lifetime and applications.
 Gaskets for conventional plate heat exchangers
are made of various elastic and formable
materials, such as rubber.
Experts can testify that rubber is a complex,
high-molecular material composed of a number
of different substances.

T he main component of rubber is rubber polymer,

which occurs in various forms. The most com-
mon types of polymer are pure hydrocarbons
such as EPDM, IIR or NR, which are not oil-
resistant, substituted hydrocarbons in which a
hydrogen atom is replaced by e.g. a chlorine or fluorine atom,
as in NBR, CR, CSM or FPM, all of which are highly oil-
resistant, or non-hydrocarbons, such as silicon or poly-
phosphazene, which have varying resistance to oil.
However, polymers do not become elastic until they
undergo vulcanization, when the chains of molecules are
and softeners, such as lampblack or various types of oils.
Cheap rubber therefore ages faster and is less effective as
a sealant.

Number of components
A number of different raw materials and chemicals are avail-
able for production of rubber. This means that the development
process demands long experience and special expertise. The
number of substances that are available for making a new type
of rubber illustrates the complexity of developing rubber:
- 100 grades of EPDM polymers
cross-linked into the three-dimensional network that is - 150 different nitrile polymers
typical of polymers. - 50 fluorocarbon polymers
- 20 butyl polymers
Structure of rubber - 600 vulcanization chemicals
In addition to polymers, rubber - 200 fillers
comprises a number of other raw - 300 anti-degradants
materials: - 300 processing aids
— Vulcanization chemicals
such as sulphur, organic resins Laboratory work
and organic peroxides. These sub- Alfa Laval Thermal maintains an
stances bind the rubber polymer to intensive and continuous develop-
a three-dimensional network ment program aimed at improving
which gives the rubber its elastic the performance of our plate heat
properties. exchangers. This program consists
—Fillers, i.e. extenders and of six primary phases:
reinforcing components that
enhances such physical proper- 1. Study of literature and previous
ties of the rubber as hardness and experiments, which can take up to
strength. Carbon black is widely 4 months.
used as a filler and also makes the rubber black.
—Anti-degradants, which delay aging of the rubber 2. The 10 rubber materials that are most promising in theory
when it comes in contact with aggressive substances such as are chosen and subjected to chemical and mechanical stress,
oxygen or ozone. e.g. oxygen and stretching. This phase may take up to 5
—Components that facilitate handling and manufac- months.
turing, e.g. those that make the rubber softer and more
pliable, and thus easier to work. 3. The materials with the best results are then tested in plate
The quality of a gasket is related to the proportions of heat exchangers in the laboratory for as long as 1 year.
the raw materials. The quantity of polymer is important and
is usually around 50%. Cheaper products often have less 4. The feasibility of producing the rubber industrially is then
rubber, sometimes no more than 20%, but more fillers evaluated, which may take up to 2 months.
 Long
lifetime
Quality means reliability.
Developing a specific gasket material calls for time and That s why it s vital to select the
money. But these resources represent an investment that right gasket for a plate heat
pays off for the user in terms of reliable operation. exchanger. The main point is to
avoid downtime!

5. The two best gasket materials are then tested in one or more Low-quality gaskets result in reduced capa-
practical applications for at least 1 year. This clarifies how the city for a plate heat exchanger. There s no ques-
materials perform in terms of operation, service, cleaning and tion about that.
other real-world parameters. And it s just as obvious that a quality gasket
means higher reliability.
6. The rubber material with the best results is approved for But over time, even a quality gasket becomes
manufacture. The compound must not be modified and in most less elastic and loses some of its capability as a
cases must not be divulged without written approval from Alfa sealant. In the end, aging leads to leaks and
Laval. downtime.
Aging results from exposure to oxygen, high
Manufacturing expertise temperatures and other factors. That s why the
In summary, rubber consists of a number of different sub- right gasket should provide maximum resistance
stances depending on the application, such as a squash ball, to these factors. And the right gasket is never a
jogging shoes or a gasket for a plate heat exchanger. question of a standard solution.
The important thing to remember is that a gasket from one
supplier is seldom identical to a gasket from another supplier, Resilience
although the gaskets may have the same designation. This A new gasket has impressive resilience, exactly
means that a nitrile gasket from one supplier does not neces- like a young person looking forward to a long
sarily have the same properties as a nitrile gasket from another life. The gasket expands and fills its groove in
source. order to seal in the media that flow through the
It takes a long time to acquire the expertise required for exchanger. This is the condition that we want to
identifying the precise requirements of various media and maintain. But since rubber is an organic material,
applications in terms of gaskets. Developing a specific gasket it is affected by its ambient environment —in
material calls for time and money. But these resources repre- other words, it ages. This is unavoidable. But
sent an investment that pays off for the user in terms of reliable there are ways to prolong the life of rubber.
operation. First of all, this calls for investing in the right
type of gasket. Since the plates have deep chan-
nels, a design such as an O-ring can t be used, as
it is best fitted to serve as a plug. Instead, the right
LADISLAV NOVAK gasket has to be capable of compression in order
to resist the stresses and forces that the flow of
Ph. D., Chemical Engineering, media can generate.
Chalmers University of Technology, Secondly, the right gasket materials must be
Gothenburg, Sweden.
selected, and this requires comprehensive exper-
Materials Laboratory Manager, tise in applications and materials.
Alfa Laval Thermal, Lund, Sweden. Some applications generate less wear, such as
 Long
lifetime
continued

water/water at low temperatures. A gasket in an

exchanger with this type of duty can last for many
years without leaking.
But there are other applications which quickly
reveal the quality of a gasket in no uncertain terms.
The process industry is one example. In this sector,
heat exchangers handle aggressive media such as
lye and acids. If the temperature of these media is
also high, the stress on the gaskets can be very great. Some applications require a plate heat exchanger
with gaskets. A quality gasket gives higher reliability.
EPDM and nitrile rubber
The two most commonly used materials for gaskets
are EPDM and nitrile rubber. One reason for choosing plate heat exchangers
EPDM is often used in the processing industry with gaskets is that specific applications require units
and shows impressive resistance to corrosive media. that must be opened in order to clean them. They can-
It is also used in heat exchangers where media tem- not be maintained in acceptable condition with CIP
peratures are high, as nitrile rubber is sensitive to alone, but must be cleaned mechanically because the
these. But this does not mean that EPDM is a channels are blocked by materials that are difficult to
general solution for difficult applications. dissolve, such as sand, clay or various types of salts. It
is possible to dislodge these materials with chemicals,
Limitations but this involves a risk of attacking the plates as well.
It s often said that lik e dissolves like , and in many Another reason is that plate heat exchangers with
cases this means that EPDM reacts with oil, swells gaskets are more flexible. They can easily be opened
and then cracks. EPDM can thus not be used in and reconfigured. They have a broad range of applica-
applications such as oil platforms. Although these tions, and investing in a gasket-free unit is not always
applications involve very high temperatures, nitrile necessary, since gasketed exchangers have enough
gaskets are used nevertheless, thanks to a specially capacity and are also compact. In addition, they are
developed variant of nitrile rubber. easy to monitor in terms of dirt, scale and blockages.
This shows that there is no standardized solution
when it comes to selecting a gasket, which in turn Gasket data base
means that each compound for gasket material also Selecting the right gasket is not easy. That s why Alfa
has to be unique. The compounds are developed Laval s gasket specialists have created a data base
with reference to the type of media in the heat comprising all available information on rubber and
exchanger and the ambient environment. gasket materials. The computerized data base has
been created in order to provide customers with infor-
Gasket-free? mation that is as precise as possible. It responds to
It could be asked why plate heat exchangers with questions regarding the media in the heat exchanger
gaskets are used in the first place. There are gasket- and the pressure and temperatures to which the gasket
free units that can be cleaned easily with CIP (Clean- will be exposed. The data base then immediately
ing-In-Place) systems. A CIP system is connected to generates recommendations for appropriate gaskets.
the heat exchanger, which is then washed with a
cleaning agent that dissolves scale, among other things.
In other words, a CIP system enables cleaning without
the need to open the heat exchanger.

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