However, changes in the plant’s operation or in the load of the heat exchanger often mean a deviation from the original design. In these cases, a dependable assessment of the heat exchanger’s reliability and safety must be made.

With LIBAS^®, Linde has developed a system which is able to reliably calculate the lifetime of the heat exchanger on the basis of its geometry and real load data. The system is based on the combination of thermofluid-dynamic simulation with a finite-element analysis and has been extensively validated by practical tests.

The calculation – based on the defined operating scenarios – serves as a starting point to determine whether the heat exchanger meets the requirements of the changed situation, or whether it should be replaced during the next planned downtime. That way, an unplanned downtime and possible safety risks during operation are minimised, and the unnecessary replacement of a heat exchanger that meets the changed requirements can be prevented.