Vahterus Hot & Cold news 1/2016 English

VAHTERUS NEWS 1/2016

p. 10

G-Mar Plus will continue

close cooperation with Sokolovská

Uhelná

”DOORS ARE ALWAYS OPEN TO COMPANIES THAT INNOVATE”

P. 14

Vahterus won the President of Finland’sInternationalisation Award


Publisher Vahterus Oy

Editor in ChiefSari Kesälä

Lay-outMainostoimisto Tekokuu

Interviews Terhi Raumonen

Press Euraprint

On the cover Mauri Kontu, Sinikka Kontu,

President of FinlandSauli Niinistö and Matti Kontu

Vahterus OyPruukintie 7

FI-23600 KalantiFINLAND

Tel.: + 358 2 840 [email protected]

Vahterus Americas, LLCPO Box 77264

CharlotteNC 28271

USATel.: +1 704 846 5050

[email protected]

Vahterus Deutschland GmbHMagnolienweg 26

63741 AschaffenburgGERMANY

Tel.: +49 6021 181 [email protected]

Vahterus Heat Exchangers Shanghai Co. Ltd

Room 816, Enterprise SquareMei Yuan Road 228, Zha Bei District

200070 ShanghaiCHINA

Tel.: +86 21 638 00848*[email protected]

Vahterus (UK) Ltd12-14 Derby Road

MelbourneDerbyshire DE73 8FE

UKTel.: +44 1332 863175

[email protected]

More news and articles can be found at www.vahterus.com

Dear Partner

In this issue, we present case studies of the experiences our clients have had with our Plate & Shell heat exchangers. With over 25 years in the business and more than 40,000 units shipped all over the world, there are thousands of clients and end users, and probably just as many different end-user

applications. I can honestly say that, for most of our products, we have

found the best techno-economic benefi ts with the help and guidance of our clients. Our theoretical starting point was solely based on a rudimentary understanding of plate heat exchan-ging theory and applying these principles to water/water use in district heating in heat exchangers and solutions.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of our partners for a number of wonderful years working together, which have made our growth possible. I can now safely say that we are the world’s leading PSHE heat exchanger manufacturer both in terms of theoretical knowledge and client solutions.

This position is what we want to hold on with you. We believe that new ideas will spur us on to even stronger growth.

Customer satisfaction surveyThank you for all the feedback you gave us through our cus-tomer satisfaction survey. The results of the survey indicate that overall, you still hold us in high regard and that we have made clear improvements in the punctuality and quality of our ship-ments.

It was also extremely reassuring to hear that you believe that your purchases from us will increase, and that 94% of you would recommend us to your new clients. All in all, the feedback we’ve got is very encouraging! The answers gave us also clear impro-vement and development ideas, which we will start to work on immediately.

You continue to count on our ability to create innovative solutions, but as an example now you expect more communica-tion between us and more product-specifi c training for specifi c applications.

The results of this questionnaire will be used to improve our operations and development projects next year.

In order for us to fi nd new ways to work together better with all of you, we are looking into conducting these surveys every year. We hope that you will continue to answer the questions honestly, as we appreciate your transparent opinions.

Together we can achieve better results.

The spirit of this issueYear 2016Our plan for this year is to grow. Our production equipment is ready for a signifi cant increase in production capacity, so we’ll produce more products for your current applications, as well as new ones with new solutions. We’ll tell more about these developments early this year. We aim to further increase the effi -ciency of our ordering and shipping processes and to look into even more competitive solutions to benefi t our customers for years to come.

Memorable prize for our partners and employeesSauli Niinistö, the President of the Republic of Finland, gave Vah-terus the President of Finland’s Internationalisation Award in November 2015.

The annual prize is awarded to two companies and one com-munity, and among previous winners was Supercell, and the year before that Rovio. Other former winners include Kone Oy and Nokia.

The award is based on the company’s continuous profi table growth, innovative products and services, and strong drive towards global markets. In the year 2015 the award committee also took the candidates’ commitment to their operating envi-ronments into consideration.

The committee fi rst shortlisted 48 companies for further con-sideration, and in the end two companies and one community were selected as the winners.

There is not a single more prestigious prize a company could get in Finland. I give my sincerest thanks to both the President and the award committee for the recognition given to us. A very special thank you is of course in order for you, our clients, for helping us go global, and to the Vahterus staff. I couldn’t ask for a better team to work with. Thank you!

Togerher we succeed!

Mauri Kontu

CEO

32


MADE BY VACKAFINNAR

SINCE THE MIDDLE AGES SOUTHWEST FINLAND HAS BEEN AN IMPORTANT CENTER

OF INTERNATIONALITY, TRADE AND INDUSTRY. IN THESE PAGES WE WILL TELL MORE

ABOUT PRESENT PHENOMENA, COMPANIES AND INNOVATIONS OF THIS REGION.

Writer: Terhi Raumonen

Samuel af Ugglas, refused to sell charcoal to the two penniless alchemists on credit. In the end, the men were forced to source the fuel for the kiln from the Kauttua ironworks, over 50 kilo-metres away from Uusikaupunki.

After numerous twists and turns, a fi re was fi nally lit in the gold kiln at 11 am on 11 January 1787, and the men could start their project in earnest. The gold making process began by putting eight ‘gold seeds’ – tiny gold nuggets – into the kiln on a thin clay plate. The nuggets were, naturally, don-ated by King Gustav III. The seeds were then burnt in the muffl e oven day and night. The project was mostly overseen by Bergklint who turned so black from all the soot he started resembling ‘a small demon’.

The fire fadesWhile his assistant was hard at work by the kiln, August Nordenskiöld concentrated on the theory behind their work. With the help of his clerk, he wrote two hand-books about alchemy in quick succession. “Go, little booklet, to the ends of the world and erase the tyranny of money so that gold, silver and gems are no longer idols and tyrants of the people!” were the words with which Nordenskiöld fi nished his work.

In his books, Nordenskiöld described the process of alchemy. Gold was supposed to turn into a philosopher’s stone after it had been alternately melted down and annealed in a kiln for a period of 10–15 months. There were two ways to reach this goal; Nordenskiöld chose the shorter one in order to keep the angry debtors off his back.

The fi rst stage lasted seven days, after which the seeds were taken out from the kiln. In this time, a thin, glass-like shell had formed on the nuggets. After this, the seeds were burnt for three weeks. The third stage, unfortunately, did not go as planned, as an incident occurred while Nor-denskiöld was looking after the kiln: The unfortu-nate alchemist heated the kiln too much, causing the delicate layer covering the seeds to split and forcing the men to return to square one.

At the same time, the debtors grew more and more impatient with Nordenskiöld and eventually sued him, forcing Nordenskiöld to try to get another loan. In the meantime, Bergklint travelled to Stockholm to ask Count Munck and King Gustav III for help. Their attempts failed and the noblemen lost all of their possessions, right down to their furniture. The family of the gold

maker was forced to eat their meals from borrowed plates and the fi re in the kiln

died when the men ran out of charcoal. Gold making in Uusikaupunki came to an

end on 7 June 1787.

Gold and immortality remain a dream

Despite yet another setback, Count Munck and King Gustav III still believed in the skills

of Nordenskiöld and Bergklint, and the men were transferred to Stockholm to continue their gold making project under the watchful eye of

the Count. The new laboratory was set up in the same facility with a nitric acid manufac-turing plant. The project was top secret, so to hide his identity Nordenskiöld had to let his beard grow long and the alchemists were forced to sneak around in disguise.

Despite the men’s best attempts, the philosopher’s stone kept eluding them. Nordenskiöld grew frustrated with the limited freedom he was allowed, fell

out with Count Munck and to top it off , was relieved of his duties.

After leaving the Swedish court, Nordenskiöld lived in Denmark, England and France before ending up working as a mine-ralogist in Sierra Leone, where he wanted to found a utopian Swedenborgian colony.

In the end, gold and immor-tality eluded all the characters in this story. Carl Fredrik Bergklint remained in Stockholm and nearly got to make gold when Count Munck tricked him into

counterfeiting banknotes. Being an honest man, Bergklint thought he was only following the King’s orders, so when the counterfeiting case was heard in court, he was acquitted. Ever greedy for more gold, Count Munck, on the other hand, was forced to fl ee the country. Bergklint worked as the director of the nitric acid manufacturing plant and later as a teacher leading a simple life.

When August Nordenskiöld went abroad, he left his family to live in poverty in the Uusikau-punki region. His wife Anna Charlotta is believed to have passed away in the village of Hallu in Kalanti, a few years after August left the country.

The same year, August Nordenskiöld died in mysterious conditions in Freetown in Sierra Leone – some say he died after being mugged by a group of locals, whereas others say a severe illness claimed him. Today, the muffl e furnaces used by the luckless gold maker are on display at the Alikartano museum in Mäntsälä, Finland, and the Nordiska museet in Stockholm.

on his gold production process – even the recent fate of James Price could not dent his enthusiasm. In 1783, Price had attempted to demonstrate how to transmute mercury into gold to the Royal Society of London. Unfortu-nately, his attempt failed, and Prince committed suicide by ingesting hydrogen cyanide.

August Nordenskiöld’s goal of producing gold was not to become rich, but rather to free

the world from the sway of money. In his visions, alchemy would devalue gold and save people from the tyranny of wealth.

King Gustav III, on the other hand, had no such lofty ideals; his goal was to use the gold to fund the war he had started against Russia. Becoming rich was also quite likely the incentive of the Finnish-born Count Munck, the master-mind behind the project and the man who persuaded the King to back Nordenskiöld.

The seeds of gold germinate in UusikaupunkiWhen Nordenskiöld failed to make any gold in Sweden, he relocated to Uusikaupunki together with his wife Anna Charlotta, their three children and their servants. Nordenskiöld was also fol-lowed by his faithful helper Carl Fredrik Bergklint, a young surveyor and a keen Swedenborgian, who in practice was the main person in charge of the transmutation attempts.

Together the men set up an alchemy labo-ratory in a small house on the Alinenkatu street by the Vallimäki hill. A muffl e furnace was built in the lab for gold making. The iron heart of the kiln, or muffl e, stood in the furnace on gypsum feet so that air could not enter the chimney without fi rst going through the kiln. Flames licked the kiln from every side, and the muffl e only had one small hole, barely the size of a pea, through which the men could peek into the kiln.

Thanks to its small size and remote location, Uusikaupunki was an ideal place for dishonest activities such as gold making. On the other hand, the town was still close enough to the city of Turku and by extension Stockholm, where August Nordenskiöld had to go time and again to sort out his troubled fi nances. This delayed the onset of his latest gold making project. Maintaining the large family and servants did not come cheap, and to make matters worse neither Mr Nordenskiöld nor his wife were dutiful bookkeepers; after just a few months in Uusi-kaupunki, the family found themselves in debt to various collectors.

Nordenskiöld and Bergklint fi rst intended to buy charcoal for heating the kiln from the Männäinen ironworks in Kalanti, but the owner,

Alchemists attempted to turn base metals into gold as early as in the 2nd century in Alexandria and the 3rd cen-tury in China. The 8th century Persian

polymath Geber, considered by many to be the father of chemistry, is often also credited for coming up with the idea of a ‘philosopher’s stone’ that would be needed in the process.

According to the alchemists’ theories, the philosopher’s stone, also known as Urim, could be used to produce endless amounts of gold. It was also a panacea for all diseases and capable of granting immortality.

The best-known alchemist in Finland was August Nordenskiöld, a nobleman born in Sipoo in Southern Finland in 1754. He studied che-mistry and mineralogy at the Royal Academy of Turku and discussed the properties of pewter in his dissertation. Studies in Finland were not enough to quench August’s thirst for knowledge, so he continued his studies abroad where he would soon become enthralled with alchemy. In London, young August was introduced to the ideas of Emanuel Swedenborg. Sweden-borg, who had died a few years prior, was a scientist, mystic, theologian and philosopher whose theories had received a mixed response from his contemporaries. The Lutheran church of Sweden accused him of heresy, but in London he gained a group of enthusiastic followers known as the Congregation of New Jerusalem.

Rise to the title of the royal alchemistAugust Nordenskiöld became a keen Sweden-borgian, joining a multitude of people who wanted to solve the mystery that had eluded alchemists for centuries. Finland was at the time a part of Sweden, and Nordenskiöld managed to convince King Gustav III of Sweden that base metals could be transmuted into gold. Gustav III gave his blessing to Nordenskiöld’s goals and allowed him to move to the Drottningholm Palace where he set up his laboratory.

Nordenskiöld’s attempts at making gold failed one after the other. Frustrated, he returned to Finland and took up the post of director of the Finnish mining industry. In 1783–1784, however, he was back in Sweden working once more

Alchemist statue which is located in Uusikaupunki.

An alchemy laboratory in a small house on the Alinenkatu street by the Vallimäki hill.

In the spring of 1787, plans to change to world started to brew just 10 kilometres away from Kalanti, when a mys-terious nobleman moved to Uusikaupunki. The nob-leman, a royal alchemist named August Norden-skiöld, was hard at work in his laboratory attempting to make a philosopher’s stone that he believed would free the world from the sway of money.

A story about the alchemists of Uusikaupunki who wanted to revolutionise the world

Philosopher’s stone to erase poverty and death

August Nordenskiöld

54


Vahterus&World

FROM AROUND THE GLOBE

2015 proved to be a challenging year in the UK – we are seeing reasonable levels of enquiries and orders, but there has been a shift in the type of projects.

The North Sea oil & gas sector, which has historically formed a significant part of the UK business, has of course been hit by the continuing low price of oil. As a result, new projects with a realistic prospect of sanction in the short term have been very few and far between. Nevertheless, we have had success with a project that has seen us push the capability of PSHE with 1.5mm titanium plates for seawater cooling – this is currently in production.

The refrigeration market is buoyant and PSHE is very much an accepted solution in this industry – many of our customers are

now purchasing PSHE indirectly as part of complete packages.

However, it seems that the market is beco-

ming more interested in larger heat pumps, and we have recently been involved in the design of several large heat recovery pro-jects. The hope is that we will be well placed once energy prices increase and make capital investment in these projects more attractive.

The combined unit continues to be well received as a strong innovation, and more clients are now interested in looking at this as an option.

After 14 years in our old office, it was decided that the time was right for a change, so in May 2015 we relocated to new offices in Aspect Business Centre, just outside Not-tingham. The new office is part of a business complex and has a much more professional feel, benefiting from a range of meeting rooms and conference facilities.

The new site is located centrally within the UK, and close to major car, train and air transport links, making it ideally placed to service our clients throughout the UK.

Paul Button, Sales ManagerVahterus UK Ltd.

Vahterus entered the Chinese market in early 2000, as the country was just beginning its economic boom. We are one of the first western plate heat exchanger manufactu-rers to have been certified by AQSIQ (the General Administration of Quality Supervi-sion, Inspection and Quarantine of P.R.C.) for pressure vessels exporting to Chinese market.

During last decade, Vahterus welded plate and shell heat exchangers have been installed in various demanding processes throughout China. Several major EO (ethylene oxide) plants in Shanghai, Jiangsu and nort-hern China are still running with heavy duty Vahterus heat exchangers. We sincerely thank our customers for choosing Vahterus fully welded plate and shell exchanger for these demanding operating conditions. At that time, it was a brave choice from clients to adopt this relatively new heat exchanger

technology instead of traditional shell and tube heat exchangers. Ever since then, the

compact yet highly efficient and robust Vah-terus heat exchangers have won recogni-tion from more and more clients in China. It is to our great satisfaction that we have helped our Chinese clients and partners to take advantage of the booming industry and progress in their country.

Over the years, Vahterus has also made investments in the Chinese market: now we have a sales offi ce in Shanghai and a production plant in Zhangjiagang City, Jiangsu Province, about 150km northwest from Shanghai. Being a member of our family-owned business, our China team is a close-knit family too. We since-rely hope that the “Vahterus family” continues to grow strongly in the years to come!

Tracy Hakala, Managing DirectorVahterus Heat Exchangers Shanghai Co., Ltd.

ChinaUK

Germany

More than a decade’s presence in the Chinese market

News from the UK

Several major EO (ethylene oxide) plants in Shanghai, Jiangsu and northern China are still running with heavy duty Vahterus heat exchangers.

Vahterus joining forces with Edelflex S.AAs Vahterus look to expand and develop business in Central and South America, we recently signed an agreement to take us deeper into these markets. As part of Vah-terus joining forces with Edelflex S.A., wor-king from their corporate base in Buenos Aires, Argentina, an agreement has been signed between Miguel Harutiunian, Pre-sident and CEO of Edelf lex, and Jonathan Pascoe, President of Vahterus Americas. In the initial stages, Edelf lex will act as an exclusive representative for Vahterus in Mexico and Argentina, with a view to expanding into other countries in the fore-seeable future.

Founded in 2004, Edelf lex S.A. works across all industrial sectors, as a provider of components and systems for fluid-mana-gement applications. They aim to use their experience and innovative approach to bring

ideas and smart solutions to clients and industries that require the most advanced technology.

This mentality and working culture is a perfect fit with Vahterus, which is why

both Vahterus and Edelflex foresee a very bright future.

Dr. Jonathan Pascoe, President Vahterus Americas, LLC

Americas

Beside our biggest celebration 25 years of Vahterus, we also celebrated the 15th anni-versary of Vahterus subsidiary company in Germany.

Vahterus Deutchland GmbH was founded 2000 in Aschaffenburg. First employees were Daniela Amrhein, Thomas Grün and Hans Petterson. In the beginning the business was

concentrating mostly in industrial refrigera-tion and district heating and power genera-tion. Over the years the experience and the team was growing and Vahterus Heat Exchan-gers were presented for the new industries.

Since 2003 Sven Wohlgemuth is working for Vahterus subsidiary in Aschaffenburg and is now responsible for the Chemical and Process Industry in Germany and Swit-zerland. Although Vahterus products are already well known by many companies in our region but there is still many new opportunities for Vahterus heat exchanger. Therefore Vahterus GmbH team is gro-wing, and welcomes its new member Antti Aspfors to making our product more known in Energy and Oil&Gas markets.

Marko Rantala, Sven Wohlgemuth, Daniela Amrhein and Antti AspforsTeam Vahterus GmbH

Vahterus 15 years in Germany

76


Vahterus&Us

QUALITY THROUGH PEOPLE

“What I like about Vahterus is that you can ask absolutely anyone for help. Someone will always help you even if they’re not exactly an expert in the area. At Vahterus, problem solving is a joint eff ort,” welding operator Tarja Nummi says. “For me it means a lot.”Help and support from colleagues played a big part when Tarja came to Vahterus 11 years ago. After taking care of children at home, Tarja had worked at a plant manu-facturing car upholstery components and at a glass factory. Joining Vahterus meant that she had to learn the skills necessary for a totally new job.

“I was pleasantly surprised by the supportive atmosphere at Vah-terus. Now, I’d be delighted to see my colleagues turn to me with their questions!”

Welding operators are responsible for the pro-duction of plate packs, which are at the heart of heat exchangers.

“We follow the parts list and put the required plates into the machine. The robot takes care of the welding while we keep an eye on the pro-cess. We inspect the qua-lity of the welding and fix it where neces-sary,” Tarja explains.

In addition to working as a wel-ding operator, Tarja has also worked as a shift supervisor fo r ro u ghl y n i n e y e a r s . “At the begin-ning of each shift we get together and share out the tasks. We talk with

the foreman and discuss what needs to get done and if something is urgent.”

Tarja enjoys her role as a shif t manager as it brings variety to her days.“I don’t mind having to pause what I’m doing to go help out with a problem situ-ation. For example, if there’s something unclear in the designs we’re using, I’ll con-tact the design department. If we run out of components I’ll order more from the warehouse, and if something is broken I’ll ask the maintenance people to come over.”

Plate packs are manufactured in two shifts at Vahterus.

“My children have grown up so shift work

goes well with my cur-rent lifestyle. Having free time in the mor-nings allows me to run all sorts of errands,” Tarja says.

Tarja grew up in Uusikaupunki and

now lives in Kalanti. In her spare time she

enjoys exercising, and divides her free time bet-

ween walking, cycling and looking after her

two adorable gran-dchildren.

“I live close to my grand-

children so I get to spend a lot of time with them,” Tarja says warmly.

“We just enjoy each other’s company and play games. For me it’s very rewarding. Children say the funniest things, which stay with me for a long time.”

The 2- and 6-year-old boys have visited granny’s workplace during an open day at Vahterus. The elder grandson found it interesting that his granny gets to work with robots.

“It feels great to be a part of a team that manufactures the leading products in the industry.

I’m proud of what I do. Vahterus products are hugely popular, now and in the future.” The success enjoyed by Vahterus and the drive for development not only feel good, they also bring a sense of continuity and help employees feel secure during these economically unstable times.

For Tarja, the success of Vahterus moti-vates her to always do her best.

“I want to make durable, quality pro-ducts that our customers can count on. This is what I tell new employees too so that they see that, even though welding a plate pack is just another task in the pro-duction chain, it is still a vital task. A poorly made pack ruins the entire heat exchanger, making all the hard work put into it count for nothing.

Pride and passion behind top quality

“The best thing about my job is defi nitely the people I work with”, foreman Teuvo Kinnula says.

Enjoying working with people certainly comes in handy in Teuvo’s line of work, as the duties of a foreman include nume-rous meetings and negotiations, as well as staying in touch with team members and what are known as internal clients: the design, sales, purchasing, materials, quality and technology departments of Vahterus. “I get loads of phone calls and enquiries and I don’t mind it one bit. It’s impor-tant that information is passed quickly and clearly to all members of the group.”Plate packs are welded in two shifts, each of which employs over 20 people. “Working with the foreman and shift supervisor of the other shift is easy,” Teuvo says of his colleagues.

“When it comes to functionality, the welded pack of circular plates is the most important component in a heat exchanger. Together with the shift supervisor I see to it that each shift has the necessary resources for manufacturing the packs, namely designs and people,” Teuvo says, summa-rising his most important task.

“We hold production meetings three times a week, where we orga-nise a suitable schedule for the dif-

ferent tasks or, in other words, we schedule which plate

packs are manufactured when. The goal is to have

the packs and shells

fi nished at the same time at the end of the manufacturing chain. Despite the planning, coordinating the schedules can sometimes be very challenging: “A bad day for me is one when a pack is delayed for some reason or other.”

Hailing from Reisjärvi in Central Ostro-bothnia, Teuvo has worked for seven years at Vahterus. Before joining Vahterus, he had a long career at the Uusikaupunki car fac-tory. During his 23 years at the plant, Teuvo was involved in the production of cars such as Saab, Opel Calibra and Porsche.

“As production at the plant started to dwindle after the contract with Porsche expired, I fi gured that I still had time for another career. I applied to a vacancy at Vahterus and got lucky,” Teuvo says.

He has been living in the village of Kalanti since 1987, practically opposite to the Vahterus facilities. Teuvo enjoys life in the Vakka-Suomi region, which he feels particularly comes to life in the summers.

Vahterus has seen signifi-cant growth during

Teuvo’s seven years with the company;

staf f numbers have increased by 100 and the facilities have b e en expanded by

thousands of square metres. Machinery and equipment are replaced and their numbers are constantly growing.

“It’s interesting to be involved in all these processes and to brainstorm workable and successful solutions with the technology department. I like being having a say in the way we develop things. That’s what I like the most about my job in addition to working with people,” Teuvo Kinnula says.To Teuvo, continued growth and a drive for success are the cornerstones of a suc-cessful company.

“I think that Vahterus is a remarkable success story even from the employees’ point of view, and it feels great to be a part of it,” Teuvo says.

Vahterus is a family-owned company, which to Teuvo is a significant asset: “All the owners and directors work here in the same place with us which makes them easy to approach. There’s no bure-aucratic levels between us and them so we can discuss matters directly, and you will always know who to ask in diff erent situa-tions. Everyone here knows each other. The working culture might be quite diff erent if we were a listed company with faceless management,” Teuvo reckons.

Teuvo’s activity tracker wristband never beeps to tell him to exercise more; he gets plenty of that, as he enjoys running and Nordic walking in the beautiful surroun-dings of Kalanti. His other interests include equestrian sports and reading, in particular crime novels.

“I devour them! There’s always at least one book in progress. My

favourites are Swedish and Nor-wegian detective novels .”

In the summers, an impor-tant part of Teuvo’s summer

house in his birthplace in Ostrobothnia accounts

for a lot of his free time.

It’s nice to be partof development work

Teuvo Kinnula Tarja Nummi

Welding operator, shift supervisor Tarja Nummi:Foreman Teuvo Kinnula:

98


Petrochemical companies tend to be wary of adop-ting unfamiliar technologies, and Sasol is no excep-tion. At the turn of the century, an urgent process problem called for the installation of an additional

fractionation column to remove heavy hydrocarbons from a process stream. The urgency of implementation, and the lack of plot space, meant that some extraordinary measures had to be applied, and so the normal route of a column with an overhead condenser, reflux drum and reflux pumps could not be accommodated. Instead, the column was fitted with an internal overhead condenser and reflux drum with gravity reflux.

The plate-type internal condenser could not tolerate the normal cooling water available on the Sasol site, mea-ning that a tempered water system had to be applied, with the tempered water cooled by cooling water. A shell and tube exchanger was considered for the tempered water/cooling water duty but rejected because of the tem-perature approach, cost and time frame.

The proposal to use plate and shell exchangers for the tempered water to cooling water duty was very attrac-tive and was implemented. There was some uncertainty regarding the reliability of the plate and shell exchangers for use in cooling water service, and so a fully redundant spare was installed. The two exchangers installed were type PSHE 5HH-390/1/1.

Sasol´s positive experience with this fi rst application of plate and shell exchangers in a utility service improved con-fi dence in the technology and led to other applications.

The next steps were taken in the Detergent Alcohols

project. Here the constraints regarding available plot space, capital and the schedule necessitated a similar approach to the one outlined above. In one application, which illustrated the advantages of plate and shell technology, the pro-cess licensor needed a heat exchanger to cool the alde-hyde reactor effl uent stream with tempered water. While they had allowed for a shell and tube heat exchanger with dimensions of 7m long by φ2,5m, Vahterus was able to do the job with a PSHE a fraction of the size, measuring just 1,087m long by φ0,61m. The heat exchanger model was PSHE 5HH-204/1/1. It has been in operation for over 12 years without any need for maintenance.

Another significant process/process application is in the ethylene plant where cracked gas, with a hydrogen partial pressure of 900kPa, is cooled by liquid propylene in a thermosyphon arrangement. Again, site constraints prevented other more conventional approaches to solve the problem. Vahterus was tasked with the design and manufacture of the complete package. This consisted of a thermosyphon drum (φ1120mm with a tangent length of 2000mm) and the plate and shell exchanger (shell φ860mm with an overall length of 1775mm designated as PSHE 7LL-450/1/1).

Over a period of some 15 years, the applications Sasol has entrusted to Vahterus have progressed from a simple utility service to critical process applications. Vahterus has stepped up every time and Sasol now has scores of Vah-terus exchangers installed.

Writer: Laurie Leviton, Siricon Engineering Consultants

Our relationship with Soko-lovská Uhelná has been built through Vahterus distributor G-Mar Plus and its chemical

specialist David Váňa, who has been working there since 2001. G-Mar Plus has been the official distributor for Vahterus Plate & Shell heat exchan-gers (PSHE) in the Czech Republic and Slovakia for over 10 years, and they have been in contact with Sokolovská Uhelná’s operations engineer Emil Holub throughout this time.

PSHE was first introduced to Soko-lovská Uhelná at the International Engineering Fair in 2002 in Brno, Czech Republic. Even at first glance, it was clear that this was the product that Sokolovská Uhelná needed, combining the good points of traditional plate heat exchangers on the one hand, and shell and tube heat exchangers on the other. “Right from the start, PSHE seemed to be a great solution,” says Holub

Before PSHE was installed, the client

used shell and tube heat exchangers. The units were in poor condition and the high cost for maintenance and certification of the unit forced Soko-lovská Uhelná to find alternatives. The compact size of the new equipment was one of the key advantages: the old shell and tube heat exchangers were four times bigger than PSHE. Another key factor was that PSHE can be used in high temperatures.

Holub has also noticed a further major advantage of PSHE: mainte-nance-free operation. There has been no need for maintenance or cleaning, and both units have been working non-stop since they were installed (in 2002 and 2004). Once every two years, the whole system is shut down for two weeks. Holub comments “When David asks about how well the PSHE are wor-king, my answer is always the same – I’m happy to say that I don’t know anything about them because I have been able to forget them completely!”

The first unit was ordered soon after

the Brno exhibition, at the end of 2002. The heat exchanger worked flawlessly and, during the following maintenance shut down in 2004, another identical unit was installed to replace a second old shell and tube heat exchanger.

The PSHE units use 2-bar steam to heat about 350,000 kg/h of deminera-lised water from 60–120°C. Both PSHE units are part of the system for supp-lying heat to Karlovy Vary and the sur-rounding towns and villages.

One of the key factors in the project was a successful relationship between the parties, which has continued even after these deliveri es. “We are very satisfied with the 10 other PSHE that we have, mainly in steam and water app-lications,” declares Holub. Sokolovská Uhelná works with aggressive chemi-cals, and they were happy to hear that PSHE can be used for this kind of task as well. They have two heat exchan-gers in special applications with Has-telloy (C276) plates. The 1200 kW heat exchanger is used in the pressure gasifi-cation of coal for cooling of a chemical mixture of ammonia water and organic compounds. The units have been wor-king well and have been in continuous operation since 2003.

G-Mar Plus will be continuing close cooperation with Sokolovská Uhelná over the coming years as well. “We are happy to have Sokolovská Uhelná as one of our key clients, and we are cur-rently working on some PSHE projects with them,” says David Váňa.

Writer: David Váňa, G-Mar Plus

Vahterus&CaseStory

G-Mar Sokolov Sokolovská Uhelná is one of the largest producers of electricity from brown coal in the Czech Republic. It has a total annual capacity of around 3 500 GWh, which it transmits to the town of Karlovy Vary and other smaller towns in the region. Sokolovská Uhelná is also a coal mining company, producing thermal coal and chemical products derived from brown coal. The company mines about 6.5 million tons of brown coal each year.

The first unit was ordered soon after the Brno exhibition, at the end of 2002. The heat exchanger worked flaw-lessly and, during the following maintenance shut down in 2004, another identical unit was installed to replace a second old shell and tube heat exchanger.

SASOL TIMELINEFrom a simple utility service to critical process applications

10 11


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Aggreko plc is the world’s largest temporary power generation company, and a major supplier of tempera-ture control equipment. It is headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. Aggreko provides power

generation and temperature control solutions to customers who need them either very quickly, or for a short length of time.

With increasing ambient temperatures during the summer, the process operation conditions are changing for many industries. The fi rst eff ects of the high ambient temperatures are seen mainly in the cooling water systems and feed/product tanks, which can aff ect the production rates signifi cantly.

One of the refi neries in Europe is cooling one of the hydro-carbon rundown stream with fi rst feed effl uent heat exchanger and after with a water cooled heat exchanger. To remain in safe operating conditions during the hot seasons and not reduce the production capacities, the refi ner contacted Aggreko’s Process Services Department (APS) to design and implement a temporary cooling solution system.

Aggreko commissioned in one week a temporary cooling system using heat exchangers, chillers and control system to maintain the required product temperatures. The temperature bottleneck of the production was solved and the refi ner could continue their operations with the same operating conditions like in winter. Heat transfer engineering was realised in partner-ship with KAPP Nederland B.V, offi cial representative of Vahterus in Benelux countries.

On projects with place constrains and/or demanding process conditions, APS-Europe can take the advantage of PSHE type Vahterus heat exchangers when implementing heating/cooling solutions. Aggreko has an experience of using Vahterus Plate & Shell heat exchangers in their solutions for more than ten years.

Writer: Fuat Ayar, Process Design Engineer, Aggreko

Vahterus making refrigeration industry history

Vahterus&CaseStory

When the Vahterus Plate & Shell® heat exchangers (PSHE) entered the market in the early 1990s, the refrigeration industry was in

the process of slowly taking a new direction. Previously considered rather conservative by some, the industry started seeing an increa-sing demand for components compatible with natural refrigerants. The promotion of the use of natural refrigerants was spurred by the need to phase out ozone-depleting freons, which cause climate change.

In the late 1990s, Vahterus was accepted into the C-Dig development group, joining many multinational enterprises in looking for solutions for utilising CO, among other goals. Information produced in the project was freely distributed for refrigeration busi-nesses to use. One of the key goals on the project was to put a stop to the use of the R22 refrigerant, which is very harmful to the ozone layer.

The use of natural refrigerants, such as ammonia and carbon dioxide, created a need for products that can handle higher levels of pressure. Leakproofi ng was also an important factor to consider, as ammonia and carbon dioxide are hazardous com-pounds. Due to their safety and ability to tolerate high pressures, Vahterus heat exchangers were perfect for natural refri-gerants. Working with the client, Vahterus was able to meet the demand with pro-ducts that could be used under even higher pressures than before.

“In R&D, the starting point should always be the client’s future needs. It’s not enough for the client to just be happy with the solu-tions available at the time, and for this reason we have to keep our eyes open for signs of changes in the market and take them seriously. Vahterus was in the right place at the right time when its clients started to need more and more products that could be used under conditions suited to PSHE heat exchangers,” says John Wijbenga, who has worked with Vahterus for over 20 years.

Vahterus heat exchangers are well suited to demanding conditions. In the early 2000s, energy effi ciency and heat recovery created

fresh demand for heat pump applications. These applications require high pressures (40 or 60 bar), so manufacturers began to develop new components to meet the inc-reased demand. Thanks to suitable compo-nents becoming more widely available, the sales of heat pumps have been on the rise for the past decade or so.

The early 2000s also marked the start of the work to develop the Combined product both within Vahterus and at external labo-ratories, which sped up the R&D process. In the Combined model, the evaporator and droplet separator are mounted on the same shell. This structure allows for the unit requi-ring droplet separation to be compact, while also decreasing refrigerant consumption. For this reason, the Combined model is an ideal choice for fl uid power unit manufacturers. Later on, the Combined model was used as a basis for the Vahterus PSHE & VES, the external droplet separator.

A heat pump solution developed by a Vah-terus client has been considered an important factor in meeting the energy saving require-ments of industry end users. The pump uses only ammonia as a refrigerant and employs the same heat recovery features that refrigeration unites use. The equipment developed by the client achieves high effi ciency, and the heat generated by the condenser can be harnessed to heat water even up to 90 degrees. The heat pump is designed to be used in applications such as processing the waste heat generated in industrial applications, and heating systems based on natural heat sources. The client uses Vahterus heat exchangers in the machinery for subcooling, condensing, superheat removal and oil cooling.

Japan

PSHE in a cold storeJoint R&D eff orts by Vahterus and one of their clients have resulted in over 200 PSHE heat exchangers being supplied to numerous cold store applications over a period of more than 10 years. The Vahterus NH/CO heat exchangers have reduced the volume of the units by approximately 20% and their ammonia loads by 75%. The compressor unit deve-loped by the client and equipped with a PSHE heat exchanger has been met with a very positive response in the market, and the demand for these units is still rising. Most of all, clients appreciate the unit’s low leak risk and the ease of preven-tive maintenance.

World’s largest temporary power generation company

Denmark

The key component in a heat pump unit

Switzerland From ammonia to CO2NH/CO cascades are popular solutions in applications such as ice rink cooling plants. A few years ago in Bern, Swit-zerland, the owners of a local ice rink complex decided to upgrade the old pump-fed ammonia cooling system to partly run on carbon dioxide. The cooling plant utilises one PSHE9 cascade installed between two circuits. The upgrade was made with Vahterus heat exchangers, bringing the total number of these in the complex to 20. Their key benefi t com-pared to the previous units was their compact size, while the new system also decreased the volume of ammonia used in the plant from 7000 kg to 500 kg.

Switzerland Green heatIn the early 2000s, Vahterus heat exchan-gers were installed in the heat pump unit of a busy hotel. The hotel wanted the system to be as green as possible, so the only refrigerant chosen for the system was ammonia, while the system’s heat source was water pumped from a nearby lake.

aggreko

Writer: Elina Seikola,Senior Designer, Vahterus Oy

Mr. Hideyo Asano, Mayekawa Mtg Co., Ltd and Mr. Akira Shibata, Inscope Japan Co., Ltd.

12 13


Vahterus representatives accepted the prize from Sauli Niinistö, the President of Finland, at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki in November 2015. Other victorious companies were the startup event coordinator Slush,

and Serres, a medical devices manufacturer.The President gave a speech in honour of the winners, in which

he mentioned the sorry state of Finland’s economy. “What you do, of course, tells a completely diff erent story. It shows

that doors are always open to companies that innovate,” stated the President.

The President awards the prize based on the shortlist proposed by the board of directors of Team Finland, a network helping Finnish co mpanies go global.

“The success of the winners is based on top-tier know-how, the ability to seize chances in the changing markets, and their willing-ness to take risks. The key thing that all of these companies have in common, however, is their hunger for growth and success,” said Jorma Korhonen, Chairman of the board of directors of Team Finland and member of the Prime Minister’s Offi ce.

In the footsteps of Nokia and Supercell

The award is based on the company’s success in foreign markets, profi table growth, development of Finnish know-how and sustai-nable operations. Previous award winners include mobile phone manufacturer Nokia, game developers Supercell and Rovio, and power source manufacturer Wärtsilä.

Slush, one of last year’s award winners, has developed into one of the leading and best-known startup events in Europe in just a few years. Since 2008, the event has gathered an impressive group of star-tups, international investors and public organisations to Helsinki every November. Last year Slush expanded its operations to Asia and, accor-ding to Mäkelä, Slush Tokyo was a real success in the spring. Slush China, organised in Beijing in October, also sold out.Hospital technology company Serres, on the other hand, has grown to

become the second largest company worldwide within its sector while maintaining its profi ts. The company specialises in suction systems used in operation theatres, combining cost-eff ectiveness, patient safety and high standards of hygiene. What’s more, the company is also the leading fl oor drain systems manufacturer in the Nordic countries.

“The success of all of Finland depends more and more on the ability of SMEs to grow internationally and create new jobs. Finland’s exports still rely heavily on 20 large Finnish companies, and for this reason we strongly support the international growth of promising SMEs. The majority of future jobs will be created in these companies,” explains Markus Suomi, the CEO of Finpro.

Finpro is a government-funded organisation founded by Finnish companies, with the aim of helping Finnish SMEs go global.

“We are all very proud of this award.”

Vahterus CEO Mauri Kontu says that, for the entrepreneurs and the companies, the Internationalisation Award is extremely important.

“This award makes me humble and grateful. A big ‘thank you’ is in order for our staff , clients and family members. For me, the help and support of my family has been very important,” says Mauri.The feelings of the Vahterus employees were relayed by Tuula Mäki-Arvela, the Chief Union Representative, who believes that a company actively seeking to grow and develop is a secure employer.

“Today, the reliability of an employer is hugely important.” It not only motivates employees to commit to their job, but in this case we were also recognised for our perseverance and tenacity, and we are all very proud of this achievement,” says Tuula.

Vahterus CEO Kontu emphasised the importance of theemployees in the continuous development of Vahterus.

“Technologically, our heat exchangers are the market leaders, but holding onto our lead requires hard work. All of our 230 employees are very much involved in the development of our products andproduction systems, and this is what our success relies on,” says Mauri, thanking his employees.

Vahterus won the President of Finland’s Internationalisation Award

Doors are always open to companies that innovate

The Internationalisation Award given by the President of Finland

is a prize awarded to globally successful

Finnish companies and organisations and their

employees. Vahterus is proud to announce

that it was chosen asone of the three

award winners in 2015

The o

ffice of th

e Presiden

t of th

e Rep

ub

lic of Fin

lan

d

Vahterus staff gather to celebrate a significant milestoneThe staff of Vahterus gathered at the Kalanti sports centre on 5th September 2015 to celebrate the company’s 25th anniversary. The merry par-tygoers spent the evening dancing and enjoying good music and good food. All the Vahterus staff members and their partners were invited to the party, and they were joined by their colleagues from subsidiaries as far afi eld as the USA and China.Among the attendees was Timo Ritakallio, the CEO of Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company, who gave a speech congratulating Vahterus. Timo played a key role in the early history of Vahterus as he was the CEO of the Uusikaupunki region OP banking group when Vahterus was getting started. The company’s products and hunger for growth made an impression on the young bank manager, who granted funding for it.

“Vahterus is company led with Fin-nish integrity”, said Ritakallio in his speech.

In the ceremonies, long-term employees of

Vahterus were presented with medals. A total of 28 staff members were recognised for their service to the

company: four for being with the company for 20 years, and the rest for having worked at

Vahterus for 10 years.Vahterus CEO Mauri Kontu was

decorated for 20 years’ service, also receiving the golden cross from The

Federation of Finnish Enterprises. Marketing manager Sari Kesälä

took to the stage to give a speech on behalf of all those who had won awards.

“Even though I ’ve tho-roughly enjoyed the signifi-cant growth we’ve experienced each year, what’s been even more enjoyable has been wit-

nessing how the company takes care of the Vahterus family even

during hard times. The success of the company and the well-being of

the employees all stem from a mutual goal. By joining our forces and working

hard towards the targets we’ve set, we can achieve things that none of us could achieve

on their own”, Sari concluded.

Vahterus News & EventsVahterus

20 years: Rami Anttila, Production Manager, Mauri Kontu, Managing Director, Olli Sainala, Welder, Heikki Siloranta, Welder. 10 years: Lasse Ala-Pietilä, Automatic line operator, Daniela Amrhein, Prokurist, Sales, Phil Chesters, Technical Manager, Jan Haapala, Plate maker, Toni Heinonen, Welder, Risto Hirvanen, Machinist, Kaisa Häyrinen, Warehouse worker, Sari Kesälä, Marketing Manager, Juha Kuusinen, Welder, Mikko Lehtola, Principal Designer, Katja Lind, Welding Operator, Tarja Nummi, Welding Operator, Jouni Määttä, Welding Operator, Birgitta Pahikka-Aho, Qua-lity control operator, Jonathan Pascoe, President, Hanna Pellilä, Welding Operator, Sari Ritvonen, Key Account Manager, Yrjö Roininen, Metal worker, Juha Taiminen, Designer, Kalevi Tyni, Mechanic, Jonne Uotila, Welder, Veijo Virtanen, Welder, Sven Wohlgemuth, Key Account Manager, Risto Ylitalo, Automatic line operator.

achieve things that none of us could achieve nish integrity”, said Ritakallio in his speech.

1514

Vahterus Oy designs and

manufactures fully welded

Plate&Shell Heat Exchangers in

Kalanti, Southwest Finland.

Over 90% of the production is

exported all over the world,

mainly to energy technology,

process and chemical industry

and refrigeration industry.

Vahterus’ turnover is 40 million

euros and the number of

personnel is 230.

Subsidiaries

Vahterus LLC, America

Vahterus GmbH

Vahterus Heat Exchangers

Shanghai Co., Ltd

Vahterus UK Ltd

www.vahterus.com

Documents

Vahterus Hot & Cold news 1/2016 English