Altum Pura
High Purity Equipment Manufacturing
Altum Fusion: Full line of High Purity Shell & Tube Heat Exchangers
What makes Altum Fusion unique?
Take a 100-year-old problem and solve it! Altum Pura introduces Altum Fusion, a full line of shell & tube heat exchangers which utilize a special fusion alloying process to attach the tube to the tubesheet making a homogeneous joint which is virtually indestructible. Weak tube-to-tubesheet joints have long plagued the Bio/Pharmaceutical industries causing down time, loss of product, and cross contamination. The Altum Fusion line of heat exchangers eliminates this problem, safeguarding your process and maximizing your uptime.
Typical Expanded Tube Joint
Typical shell & tube heat exchangers utilize an expansion method (mechanical or hydraulic) to attach the tube to the tubesheet. The tube ends are then seal welded and polished before being electropolished. This has been the accepted method for many years knowing that there is high potential for costly failures due to the weak attachment method. Industry standards have addressed the problem by requiring double tubesheets to witness a failure to atmosphere rather than cross contaminating media with process. This method doubles the attachments which in turn doubles the potential for failure.
- Thermal expansion and contraction weakens the joint
- Weld at the tube end creates a heat affected zone (HAZ) making it susceptible to a corrosion attack
- Inner tubesheet can only be mechanically attached and cannot be welded
- Crevices on shell side which are unsanitary and susceptible to a corrosion attack
Figure 1: Cutaway view of a tube expanded and welded into tubesheet exposing issues with the process
Altum Fusions Special Alloying Process
The Altum Fusion line of high purity shell & tube heat exchangers utilize a high temperature controlled atmosphere heating process along with carefully selected alloys in a sterile environment to attach the tube to the tubesheet. The alloys used in the process are 4-5 times stronger than the base material and have greater corrosion resistance. The result is the most dependable hygienic heat exchanger available today safeguarding your process and maximizing uptime. The Altum Fusion alloying process is so strong and dependable some processes can be done in a single tubesheet configuration.
Additional benefits include:
- Stress relieves the U bend
- Greater corrosion resistance - no heat affected zone from welding
- Full tube wall thickness (tube expansion causes tube wall thinning)
- Infinite thermal cycles
Figure 2: Altum Fusion high temperature alloying process bonds the entire tube into the tubesheet making an indestructible tube-to-tubesheet attachment
Figure 3: Fusion Alloyed Tube-to-Tubesheet Joint. Special alloying process safeguards your production.
Double tubesheet Altum Fusion heat exchanger with fluid bypass for complete drainability.
Figure 4: CFD of a four pass Altum Fusion heat exchanger with bypasses
Performance
The performance of shell & tube heat exchangers is greatly understood and very predictable with today’s software. Bio/Pharma heat exchangers, on the other hand, are unique in that they require bypass circuits between channels for full drainability and these bypasses can greatly affect performance. Altum Pura has performed extensive CFD research and testing into the relationship of the bypass and performance which allows us to accurately model your process.
Testing and Documentation
Altum Pura’s Altum Fusion line of high purity shell & tube heat exchangers come with a full documentation/factory acceptance testing package. Each unit is hydrostatically tested to ASME/BPE standards using deionized water and blown dry with clean high-pressure air.
Electropolishing
Product contact surfaces SF1 through SF6. Electropolishing to 15RA.
Figure 5: Electropolished product contact surfaces