Heat exchangers, mixers, agitators, and the workhorse equipment that performs the core processes of chemical, food, and pharmaceutical plants.
A heat exchanger that is fouled is not broken in the mechanical sense. It is asking a question about feed composition, cleaning cycles, and temperature history that you and the process operator need to answer together. Process equipment troubleshooting is where mechanical and process knowledge have to meet.
Every fouling mode leaves a signature on the temperature profile.
Agitator seals fail more often than impellers. Usually from dry-run, contamination, or a process upset that changed what the seal was chosen for. If you keep replacing the same seal, the answer is not in the seal. It is in the operating conditions. Document what the process was doing in the hours leading up to each failure. A pattern usually emerges.
Reactor and vessel integrity is regulated. Never repair anything that affects the code stamp without a qualified inspector. Periodic inspections (hydrostatic, ultrasonic, visual per the plan) are not paperwork exercises. They are the reason your vessel does not become the news. If your vessel is past its original design life and you are still running it, have a specialist tell you whether it is still fit for service.
Never enter a vessel without a permit, continuous air monitoring, and a trained attendant. Purge per the cleaning SOP before entry. Residual solvents and reactive chemistries have killed people in places that looked clean. Do not be the next story.
Deeper explainers and background reading for technicians working in process equipment.
Preventive maintenance replaces the 'run it until it breaks' approach with scheduled inspections and part replacements. Plants that run a solid PM program see 25-30% fewer emergency work orders within the first year. Here is how to build one that sticks.
Predictive maintenance uses sensor data to spot problems before they cause downtime. A vibration sensor catching a bearing defect two weeks early costs you a $200 part swap instead of a $15,000 emergency rebuild. This guide explains the tech, the math, and where to start.
Poor lubrication causes up to 40% of bearing failures. Wrong grease, wrong amount, wrong interval, or contaminated supply are the usual culprits. Getting lubrication right is the single highest-ROI maintenance improvement most plants can make.
The essential maintenance KPIs with formulas, benchmarks, and improvement strategies. OEE, MTTR, MTBF, PM compliance, schedule compliance, and more.
Images on this page sourced from Freepik. Credits: user11877524, vershinin89, volodymyrshtun89.
