Article: Tube to tubesheet leakage in shell & tube heat exchangers

[amitss_sam]

You can view the page at

[link Point to another website Only the registered members can access]

[ECH1]

Dear amitss_sam
Heat exchanger failure could happen due to lot of causes.
I think in a couple considering that you did the tests after final installation.
1) Abnormal operation, since you have steam in one side, some operations could create vacuum, and differential pressure could be higher than design pressure.
2) There is an installation arrangement of heat exchangers with one over other. In this arrangement there is not flexibility for interconneting piping and, maybe, a high stress could be induced in heat exchanger.
Last I copy a text from ASM
Causes of Failures in Heat Exchangers
Failures in heat exchangers are commonly associated with methods of manufacturing pipe and tubing, handling methods during fabrication, testing methods in the shop and in the field, and the total environment to which the unit is exposed after fabrication—including conditions during shipment, storage, start-up, normal operation, and shutdown.
Regards
ECH1