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Packinox Applications
Listed below are some of the applications
for which Packinox has commercial
references. (See the Packinox reference
list for further information.) For other
applications, please contact us for a
feasibility/cost study.
Photo : R. Quatrain / Framatome

1 - Feed / Effluent Technology

• Catalytic reforming (continuous regeneration and fixed bed)
• Hydrotreating / Hydrodesulfurization
A Standard Combined Feed / Effluent Heat Exchanger en route for a catalytic (gasoil, naphtha and kerosene feeds, pyrolysis gasoline)
reforming unit
• Paraxylene plants (xylene isomerization, toluene
disproportionation units)
• Paraffin dehydrogenation for LAB plants
• Methanol synthesis loop (feed/effluent Converter Preheater)

2 - Non Feed / Effluent Technology

• Stripper Bottoms Heat Exchanger for hydrotreating
• Ziepack Heat Exchangers for distillation and gas
desulfurization
• Multi-stream applications (MTBE Reactor Effluent Chiller)
• ProserPack heat exchanger plus gas-liquid separator for
condensate recovery loops/dew point control units

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 Guide to Packinox Heat Exchangers

Overview
Packinox custom-designed heat
exchangers offer higher thermal
efficiency, lower pressure drop and
superior compactness to meet customer
demand for:
• Less capital outlay
- lower installation costs (potentially
fewer exchangers, less spending on
associated piping and valves,
transportation, etc.)
- downsizing of surrounding equipment
(fired heaters, compressors, air coolers,
etc.)
• Lower operating costs
- energy savings, for example on fired
heaters, compressors, and air (or water)
coolers
- possibility of improving reaction yield
by optimizing conditions at the reactor
• Less spending on upkeep
- high fluid turbulence means less fouling
and fewer cleaning requirements
- accessibility for maintenance is
facilitated by top and bottom end
manholes
- fewer flanges means fewer potential
points of leakage to inspect
• Clean, safe operation
- double-containment design minimizes
the risk of leakage and attendant fire
hazard
- by allowing other equipment to burn
Photo : Mitsui Chemicals / Mitsui Sekka Engineering
Process optimization via improved heat
recovery integration is one solution to
trimming a unit’s overall costs. In
general, Packinox heat exchangers are
effective solutions when the process
requires at least one of the following:
- High thermal efficiency
- Low pressure drop (∆P)
Total ∆P usually ranges from 0.35 bar to
1.5 bar (total flange-to-flange, both
sides).
For applications where lower ∆P has a
major impact on costs, total ∆P design
value can be as low as 0.35 bar.
- Extensive heat exchange area in a
single compact unit
To achieve maximum savings, it is best to
consider Packinox heat exchangers at the
earliest stages of the basic engineering
design.
Packinox offers this guide for
preliminary information only. Overall
financial balance should be analyzed
in terms of capital and operating
costs of the unit as a whole, site and
equipment constraints (revamps or
new units), and overall process
optimization.

less fuel, Packinox keeps harmful

emissions to the atmosphere in check

• Quick payback
- Packinox can replace existing tubulars
for economical debottlenecking revamps
with no costly change to other main
components such as furnaces,
A Packinox heat exchanger for pyrolysis gasoline compressors, air / water coolers.
hydrogenation
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 Feed outlet

Effluent inlet

Vent

Hot bellows

Manhole

Feed header

Effluent header

Bundle support

Pressure vessel

Welded plate bundle

Brackets (or skirt)

Effluent header

Venturi

Cold bellows

Spray bar

Liquid feed inlet

Drain

Recycled gas inlet

Effluent outlet
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 Guide to Packinox Heat Exchangers
Technology for Feed/Effluent
Applications
Description: Installation:
Packinox combined feed / effluent plate In general, Packinox heat exchangers are
heat exchangers comprise a welded installed in an upright position (the
bundle block and a pressure vessel. pressure vessel is fitted with a skirt or
brackets) within minimal footprint.
Heat transfer takes place exclusively
within the bundle block so that no Current size range:
process fluids circulate inside the shell. Shell diameter: 1 m to 4 m (3 to 12 ft.)
The pressure vessel is filled with higher Shell total length: 10 m to 20 m (30 to
pressure fluid for compression of the 65 ft.)
bundle block. Bundle plates are exposed Total weight: 30 to 200 metric tons
only to the differential pressure of the (60,000 lb. to 450,000 lb.)
flowing fluids; thus Packinox heat Equivalent S&T surface area: 1000 to
exchangers operate safety even in high 20000 m2 (11,000 to 220,000 sq. ft.) in
pressure applications. a single shell.
Moreover, the mechanical design of Construction materials:
Packinox heat exchangers ensures safe Bundle: Stainless steel (SS 321, SS 316,
operation for plant personnel and the SS 304, etc.) and carbon steel; qualified
environment. With its double construction materials include all types of
containment feature and few flanges, austenitic stainless steel in addition to
chances of leaks are marginal and the risk titanium and highly corrosion resistant
of fire or harmful emissions to the 6 Mo austenitic SS
atmosphere almost non-existent. Vessel: 1.25 Cr - 0.5 Mo, 2.25 Cr - 1.0
Mo, stainless steel, carbon steel or other
as per customer requirements
Bellows: Inconel, Incoloy or other,
subject to demand
Photo : R. Quatrain / Framatome
Welding of the effluent header to the plate bundle
Pressure & temperature operating
limits:
Temperature:
Typical design temperature range is
300°C - 550°C (1,000°F).
Design temperature as high as 650°C
(1,200°F) has been achieved.
Note: internal bellows compensate for
thermal differential expansion.
Pressure:
The pressure vessel is designed to
withstand operating pressure; design
pressure is no obstacle for Packinox heat
exchangers. Our reference list includes
exchangers with design pressure ranging
from 3 bar to 120 bar.
Differential pressure between feed and
effluent is the bundle’s only mechanical
limitation. As a conservative measure, we
currently limit this value to 40 bar.
Detailed analysis is underway to
determine accurate limits for
temperature / differential pressure.
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 Technology for Other Applications
This section presents alternative mechanical designs that have been
successfully applied in specific processes.

The fundamentals of Packinox heat exchangers (materials, surface area, thermal and
hydraulic efficiency, pressure constraints, dimensions, etc.) remain unchanged, but the
A Ziepack gas-gas heat exchanger designs are adapted to process conditions in the interest of providing the best technical
for gas desulfurization service and cost-effective solution.

Ziepack heat exchangers Bundle & thick plate design ProserPack

Ziepack compact in-column condensers,
stab-in reboilers and gas-gas heat
exchangers are designed for high
condensation or evaporation duty
primarily in the petrochemicals
industry.
The construction of Ziepack plate
bundles combines plate and welding
technology with “hydroforming”, the
use of high pressure water to shape
plates. “Double-plate channels” for the
process cooling or heating medium are
hydroformed between the welds of two
laser-welded stainless steel plates.
Process fluid boils or condenses in
“interplate channels”, i.e. the passages
between two sets of double-plate
channels.
When design temperature, pressure and
fluid properties allow safe operation
without a pressure vessel, the bundle can
be compressed with thick plates and tie
rods like a conventional plate and frame
heat exchanger.
Packinox Stripper Bottoms Heat
Exchangers for hydrodesulfurization
and Packinox Reactor Effluent Chillers
are manufactured according to this
principle.
ProserPack integrates a gas-liquid
separator and a large-scale compact
Packinox welded plate heat exchanger
into a single pressure vessel for service
in gas processing units.
This combined separator / Packinox heat
exchanger can serve in various gas
processing schemes (turbo expander,
mechanical refrigeration or Joule-
Thompson loops), and are particularly
attractive solutions for offshore platforms,
where footprint and weight are crucial.
Condensate outlets Treated gas
Inlet-effluent

Their unique design makes Ziepack heat

exchangers ideal where low pressure drop
and compactness are essential, particularly
in vacuum distillation columns. For
Gas outlet
revamps, Ziepack presents the added
advantages of fitting available column
space and accommodating existing
Mist eliminator
equipment.
Separated
gas

Liquid level

Condensate inlet Gas from LTS

Stripper Bottoms Heat Exchanger
for hydrotreating ProserPack for gas processing
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Guide to Packinox Heat Exchangers

Packinox Environmental Policy

The welded plate heat exchangers designed and fabricated by Packinox offer the
advantages of their large size and excellent thermal performance; they enable our
Clients throughout the world to achieve substantial energy savings and avoid
burning hydrocarbons. Packinox heat exchangers thus make a direct contribution
to environmental protection by conserving fossil fuels and curbing the production
of greenhouse gases.

Packinox heat exchangers also help to optimize refining processes that produce
"clean" fuels in accordance with new European and US regulations on lead and
sulfur emissions to the atmosphere.

In addition to the advantages of Packinox products, efforts have been made over
the past ten years on behalf of the environment, particularly at the Saint Marcel
forming facility. On this basis, the Management has now decided to move forward
in 2001 by engaging the company in an ongoing process to improve environmental
performance at its production sites in Chalon-sur-Saône and Saint Marcel, with a
view to ISO 14001 certification in early 2002.

As part of this undertaking, we hereby pledge to implement the following

environmental policy which calls for:

● compliance with current legislation

● preventing and controlling risks of accidental pollution

● limiting the amount of waste generated and contributing to its

reprocessing

● controlling consumption of fluids and energy

● promoting internal and external awareness about environmental

performance

To this end, we are establishing and requiring the application of an

Environment Management System to support continuous improvement
of environmental performance through objectives and action plans consistent
with the above policy.

Thierry Daffos Gilles Perrault

Managing Director Plant Director
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 Graphic design: Pierre Finot - Inspiration: Medicis consultants

Packinox
Tour Framatome - 92084 Paris La Défense Cedex (France)
Phone: (33) 1 47 96 50 19 - Fax: (33) 1 47 96 34 40 - contact@packinox.com
Packinox, Inc.
3033 Chimney Rock Road - Suite 430 - Houston, TX 77056 (USA)
Phone: 1 (713) 840-1151 - Fax: 1 (713) 840-1165 - freverdy@packinoxinc.com
Packinox - Moscow
Mamonovsky Pereoulok 4, Apt. 4 - 103001 Moscow (Russia)
Phone: (7) 095-209 28 38 - Fax: (7) 095-243 72 62 - framo@ntd.co.ru
Packinox - Shanghai
Room 9009, Novel Building - 887 Huai Hai Road (M) - Shanghai 200020 (China)
Phone: (86) 21-6474 7210 - Fax: (86) 21-6474 7211 - frashg@uninet.com.cn
www.packinox.com
Guide to
Packinox Heat Exchangers