Metal Repair

Heat exchanger, tube sheet and water box repair

Dissimilar tube metals set up galvanic corrosion at the tube sheet and water box, attacking the steel around each tube end and opening leak paths.

The problem

The need for heat exchanger, tube sheet and water box repair

BHI Coatings performs heat exchanger, tube sheet and water box repair across Alvin and the Texas Gulf Coast. Put two dissimilar metals together at a tube-to-tube-sheet joint and you have built a galvanic cell. It eats the steel around every tube end and works out across the water box wall. Leak paths open, tubes get plugged, heat-transfer capacity falls away, and a bundle pulled for re-tubing can hold up an entire turnaround.

Our method

How BHI Coatings does heat exchanger, tube sheet and water box repair

BHI Coatings rebuilds the tube sheet and water box and electrically isolates the joint with ceramic-filled epoxy systems such as Belzona 1391T and 1321, with no hot work near the tubes. We grit-blast the face and the pits, rebuild the wasted steel, then lay down a barrier film that breaks the galvanic cell. It all cures cold, inside your turnaround window.

Typically applied with Belzona 1391T, Belzona 1321, matched to the service conditions.

The result

The bundle is back in service in days rather than the weeks a re-tube would take. With the galvanic cell broken by the barrier coating, the same corrosion does not come back on the next run.

Curved outer shell of a large steel tank with several square patch repairs bonded over pitted areas
24-hour on-call service

Contact BHI Coatings

Have equipment that needs to stay in service?

Tell us what is failing. We respond quickly, and we offer 24-hour on-call service.

Call (281) 585-1600