Heavy Wall Heat Exchanger Shell Fabrication
The shell is the primary pressure boundary of a heat exchanger or reactor. Because these components operate under extreme internal pressures and volatile temperature fluctuations, their fabrication demands flawless heavy plate rolling, zero-defect welding, and strict adherence to global pressure vessel codes.
At Openex, our 180-acre facility is perfectly equipped to manufacture massive, thick-walled heat exchanger shells. Utilizing our heavy-duty plate bending rolls, massive welding manipulators, and on-site heat treatment furnaces, we fabricate complete shell assemblies for the petrochemical, power generation, and nuclear industries.
Our Work: Heat Exchangers
Shell Fabrication Specifications
We custom manufacture heat exchanger and pressure vessel shells to your precise ASME, TEMA, or API specifications. Below are our general facility capacities:
| Maximum Diameter | Up to 10,000 mm (10 Meters) |
|---|---|
| Maximum Wall Thickness | Up to 150 mm (Cold Rolled) / Thicker for Hot Rolling |
| Maximum Length | Up to 30 Meters (Fabricated in multi-section girth seams) |
| Materials Processed | Carbon Steel (SA-516), Stainless Steel, Duplex, Inconel, Monel, and Explosion-Clad Plates. |
| Quality & Certifications | 100% RT/UT Weld Inspection, Post-Weld Heat Treatment (PWHT), ASME "U" & "U2" compliance, CE/PED. |
The Manufacturing Process
We utilize massive high-definition plasma and oxy-fuel CNC cutters to size the heavy plates. The edges are then precisely milled and bevelled to prepare for deep-penetration welding.
Our advanced 3-roll and 4-roll CNC plate bending machines cold-roll the heavy steel plates into perfect cylindrical shell courses, eliminating flat spots at the seam edges.
Using heavy-duty rotators and column-and-boom manipulators, our AWS/ASME certified welders perform Submerged Arc Welding (SAW) to fuse the longitudinal seams and join multiple shell courses together.
The entire shell is moved into our massive on-site heat treatment furnaces to relieve weld stresses. Finally, 100% Ultrasonic (UT) and Radiographic (RT) testing is conducted to guarantee the vessel is void of microscopic flaws.