Acid resistant heat exchangers are required to handle hot corrosive acids like sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and hydrochloric acid (HCl). By nature of their function these acid resistant heat exchangers are exposed to the hottest and most corrosive acids within a process. With Ultramet CPT’s technology applied to heat exchangers, we are able to create the most corrosion resistant heat exchangers available. These heat exchangers outperform nickel, titanium, zirconium and even solid tantalum*.

Acid Resistant Plate & Frame Heat Exchangers

Corrosion resistant plate and frame heat exchangers are a compact, highly efficient and flexible design that can be made extremely acid and corrosion resistant with Ultramet CPT’s tantalum surface technology. These designs are ideal for acid interchangers or when a flexible design is needed for varying heating/cooling requirements.

Acid Resistant Shell & Tube Heat Exchangers

Acid Resistant shell & tube heat exchangers are the preferred design for hot acids. When the shell & tube design is combined with Ultramet CPT’s acid resistant technology, we are able to produce a fully welded, easy to clean, low pressure drop and extremely corrosion resistant heat exchanger.

Common Applications Include:

• Acid Heaters: Hydrochloric acid (HCl) and sulfuric acid (H2SO4) heating
• Acid Chillers: To removing heat from sulfuric acid (H2SO4) after dilution
• Overhead Condensers: Typically found in pharmaceuticals and fine chemical processing
• Acid Interchangers: To heat and cool acids or other processing fluids simultaneously

Notes*: While a solid tantalum heat exchanger will have the same corrosion resistance as Ultramet CPT’s tantalum diffusion surface, mechanically it is inferior and it is more susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement. Solid tantalum metal is nearly 50% heavier than lead yet weaker than steel. Because tantalum metal could be embrittled through a process known as hydrogen embrittlement, solid tantalum can fail due to its own weight.

As a result, Ultramet CPT’s tantalum diffusion surface on steel is superior mechanically to solid tantalum metal.

Ultra-Safe Versions: For corrosion resistant fail safe heat exchangers, Ultramet CPT can offer graphite based heat exchangers with a tantalum surface. This make for an ideal base substrate as graphite has an excellent thermal transfer coefficient and is a secondary corrosion boundry. To learn more about this as an option please contact our corrosion experts.