Case study: A Barriquand heat exchanger in a CETIM test bed

CETIM has chosen Barriquand’s Platular® heat exchanger to equip a test bed dedicated to evaluate Eureka pumps on viscous fluids for the oil industry. Here’s the feedback on this research project.

Created in 1965, the Technical Centre for Mechanical Industry (Cetim in French) is a research center whose main missions are Research & Development, technological and strategic observation, innovation and standardization of quality processes for all actors of the mechanical engineering industry.

For reliable test results, the fluid must be mastered
The CETIM was mandated by Eureka Pumps AS to validate the operation of pumps currently being developed and designed to carry petroleum fluids with very high flow rates.

In such applications; we create a closed loop. The fluid flowing through the pump is subject to the force of friction and tends to warm up. During this heating process, its physicochemical features (viscosity in particular) change, and this does not allow researchers to characterize the pump with enough stability.

This is where the heat exchanger intervenes, within the closed loop, to stabilize the temperature and the viscosity of the oil in order to ensure its characteristics and guarantee reliable measures of the test bed.

A design of exchanger complex
Our thermic specialists have faced three major difficulties choosing and calculating the heat exchanger:
– The variability of flows, due to the notion of test
– The high viscosity of fluids
– The important flows implemented.

Furthermore, within a test bed situation, we are also faced with constraints such as compactness, cost and the need for an increased reactivity in the design and provision of the unit.

Platular®, the best techno-economic answer
Very performant with loaded fluids, the heat exchanger developed by Barriquand’s exclusive and patented technology has imposed itself as the best choice. Indeed, thanks to its large channels free of contact points, the Platular® smart hybrid welded plate heat exchanger is able to process particularly viscous fluids, while limiting pressure drops.

Much more compact than a tubular exchanger, it also offers advantages in terms of space needed for its installation and operation.

Platular® is manufactured in Roanne, France, which enabled us to provide the client with a customized solution, respecting all of the test requirements as well as short conception, manufacturing and delivery deadlines, all with a lower budget plan than what would have been possible with a conventional tubular exchanger.

The field trial was successfully completed by the CETIM center; they were able to provide a reliable and characterized study to their client.