Kelvion’s North American Service Team Reaches Farther Than The Continental U.S. With a 2 Step Solution for an ACHE Repair! Recently, the U.S. Kelvion Field Service Team, spent a month completing the repairs on three Air Cooled Heat Exchangers (“ACHE”) that were originally produced in 2016 by Kelvion in Catoosa, Oklahoma. Since installation, the ACHEs, owned by Coastal Petroleum in the Dominican Republic, have been continually in service. Typically, an ACHE does not need a complete overhaul this soon, but since these are installed in a saltwater environment, their lifespan is compromised and repair/replacement is often much sooner, as in this case.

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Coastal Petroleum’s main goal of the repair/replacement was to safeguard the reliability of their operations, as continued operation is critical to the island’s daily workings. Coastal Petroleum is the only producer of Liquefied Petroleum Gas for the island, which is used by the islanders in their everyday business and home life, so it was imperative to have the units repaired and running as quickly as possible.  The ACHE Bundles were leaking in several areas, so Coastal Petroleum needed short and long term repair strategies. Kelvion’s short term solution was to install tube liners using the technology of CTI Industries, a Kelvion company, while awaiting delivery of replacement tubes from our Catoosa manufacturing location.  Once the replacement tubes were delivered, Kelvion technicians coordinated with Admiral LPG Panama C.A. to remove the 1,356 tubes, clean and inspect the headers, reinstall, and mechanically seal the new tubes.  Due to the condition of the ACHE units and the narrow turnaround time during the shutdown, this 2 step process was the only viable option to ensure that Coastal Petroleum met their start-up date.

The U.S. Kelvion Field Service Team coordinated structured training with the Admiral LPG Panama C.A. team, the General Contractor overseeing the work, to get everyone into a steady workflow allowing the work to move fluidly and finish on time. Admiral LPG removed and positioned the bundles, assisted with the cutting and removal of the tubes, and positioning the new tubes. Kelvion technicians performed the header inspection & preparation, as well as, the mechanical sealing of the tubes.

“Kelvion was contracted for a major job that was not a simple repair but a complete re-tubing of three heat exchangers. Kelvion technicians rose to the occasion and performed as expected. All of this happened while the plant needed to continue to operate so the work on the three units was staged one unit at a time. Kelvion managed to get all three units back in service within the allotted window. I only hope that I do not have to do this again but if I do, I want Kelvion there!” Jose Morales, President, Admiral LPG Services, Inc.