Summary for teflon coating for heat exchanger plates Discussion
Teflon coating for heat exchanger plates is the core question here: Gowri Sankar asked whether a coating could slow heavy deposits of calcium, magnesium, iron, and silicon on copper and stainless steel plates, noting that copper plates foul faster and that treating incoming water for hardness is not an option. In the only answer shown, an unnamed respondent did not recommend a coating first; instead, they suggested trying electropolishing on some of the stainless parts to see whether it improves deposit resistance enough. If it does, they said copper parts could also be electropolished. The thread excerpt does not provide confirmation that Teflon, titanium nitride, or boron nitride would work, so the practical advice is to test surface finishing before assuming a coating will solve the fouling problem.
Q. We make heat exchangers using Copper and Stainless Steel. We are experiencing accelerated deposits forming on the heat exchanger plates. Major constituents of the deposit are Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Silicon. We notice faster deposit formation on Copper plateds and somewhat less on Stainless steel.
Can any of the readers suggest a coating that will retard the deposit formation? Will coating such as Teflon work? How about inorganic coatings such as Titanium Nitride or Boron Nitride work? Treating the incoming water for hardness is not an option for us. Thanks in advance for your help.
Gowri Sankar
– Nashua, New Hampshire
2003
A. The first thing I’d do is get some of the stainless parts electropolished and see if that makes a big enough improvement. If so, copper can be electropolished too.
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com – Pine Beach, New Jersey
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2003
A. You can coat these areas with one of teflon brands as PFA or ETFE. This means you have to heat the coat and the system for curing. You have to worry about system leaks . I think it maybe is easier to put the aggressive environment in the outside, for the purpose of easier coating. The benefit is a coating with higher molecular bond and less surface tension.
Yours
Ahmed Agamieh
– Cairo, Egypt
2004