What We Offer
Capabilities at a Glance
The CompRex Compact Heat Exchangers and Compact Heat Exchanger Reactors are custom designed for a wide range of chemical process applications where efficient heat transfer is critical.
CompRex units are designed with alternating layers of process and utility streams, where each layer is constructed of multi-channels with hydraulic diameters in the millimeter range. This design results in a high surface area-to-volume ratio with heat transfer superior to most conventional reactors and heat exchangers (see figure on left). At the same time, stream volumes are larger and more flexible than micro-reactors, especially for reactors with solid packed catalysts.
The alternating layers with multi-channel design allows for simple scale up of the exchanger and reactor system. By increasing the number of channels per layer and/or increasing the number of alternating layers, reactor scalability is easily achieved while preserving near-identical hydrodynamic and heat transfer performance of the smaller reactor. Furthermore, with current industrial trends of process intensification, the CompRex reactor can also be scaled through skid mounted reactors and delivered as part of separate modules.
With its design flexibility, the CompRex unit can be engineered to offer the desired performance of many processes that are currently heat transfer limited. The choice of materials and manufacturing methods are also critical to ensure unit integrity, especially for extreme operating conditions, such as high temperatures and high pressures. With the layered reactor design, intermittent injection into the reactor can also be achieved. Therefore, injection of reactants, fluid catalysts, or other chemical additives can be accomplished to further enhance reactor performance and product yield controllability.
CompRex specializes in the design and manufacturing of compact heat exchangers and heat exchanger reactors engineered for high temperature and pressure applications.
The CompRex compact heat exchangers and compact heat exchanger reactors can be manufactured using any of a number of manufacturing methods, the most common two being Metal Brazing and Diffusion Bonding.
FinRex (TM)
Brazed Plate-Fin Technology
ShimRex (TM)
Diffusion Bonded Technology
Each fluid layer is constructed out of pressed metal sheets forming the plate-fin design. A partition sheet is placed between each layer, resulting in a separation between the process and utility streams. This alternating structure between the streams is repeated, resulting in short heat path distances and sufficient surface area for heat transfer to occur.
Brazed material is integrated into the unit and serves to hold the CompRex unit together after curing the unit in a braze furnace.
The dimensions and materials for the fins of each stream are custom picked to provide the strength and heat transfer properties required for the application. Fins can be designed from a variety of shape options such as straight, serrated, and wavy fins; each shape having its own set of properties of heat transfer and pressure drop.
Straight fins are especially useful for reactors where catalyst packing is required. Small catalyst particles are packed into the channels, converting the CompRex unit into a Fixed Bed Compact Heat Exchanger Reactor. Such a reactor has the ease of operation of a shell-and-tube reactor, but with a superior heat transfer coefficient that allows it to be used in applications where S&T reactors had failed.
Another manufacturing method used for CompRex reactors and heat exchangers is diffusion bonding, where high temperature and pressure are used to fuse the reactor parts into one extra strong, single-piece reactor block.
Thin sheets of metal are chemically etched to produce custom designed, intricate, and precise dimensioned channels. These sheets of metal are then stacked to produce a single stream layer. Layers of different streams are separated by a thin solid sheet of metal. All the sheets of the reactor are properly stacked before being placed into a high temperature furnace. With sufficient pressure applied to the layers, the metal of the separate sheets are fused together, producing a reactor made of a single metal block. This reactor can be designed to withstand extreme operational temperatures and pressures that most other heat-exchanger reactors cannot withstand.
The flexible design of each sheet of metal allows for a wide flexibility in the reactor performance, including highly tortuous flow patterns to improve mass and heat transfer, intermittent injection of reactants or fluid catalyst at multiple points within the reactor block, and incorporation of other features into the reactor such as metal membranes.
HydroRex Wastewater Treatment
CompRex offers an innovative solution for wastewater treatment with PFAS removal in a supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) process using compact heat exchanger reactors and compact heat exchangers. Our solution addresses issues that challenge the use of SCWO in wastewater treatment.
Certifications
CompRex has received ASME certification to manufacture pressure vessels under the “U” and “R” stamps.
Construction of pressure vessels and pressure vessel parts in accordance with Section VIII, Division 1 of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (ASME “U” Certificate)
Repair and alteration of pressure retaining items in accordance with the rules of the Jurisdiction and the National Board Inspection Code (National Board “R” Certificates)
