GEA Aircooled Systems Heat Exchangers for the Petrochemical Industry

GEA Aircooled Systems has been in operation in South Africa since the early 1970s. Our products include air-cooled heat exchangers, shell and tube heat exchangers, air-cooled condensers, pressure vessels, columns and cooling towers.

Air-cooled heat exchangers

We offer a range of different air-cooled heat exchanger configurations in order to meet the specific requirements of both the process and the site location. These air-cooled heat exchangers typically consist of finned tube bundles, plenum chambers, axial flow fans, drives, electric motors, structural steel support and access systems.

GEA Aircooled Systems manufactures various types of aluminium, copper, stainless-steel and galvanised carbon-steel finned tubes, according to customer specifications in terms of working temperature, ambient temperatures, corrosive atmospheres, etc.

Shell and tube heat exchangers

GEA Aircooled Systems has the in-house capability to design and manufacture shell and tube heat exchangers for the petrochemical industry, mining industry and power generation industry. Heat exchangers for the petrochemical industry are typically built to comply with international codes such as ASME VIII, PD5500 and AD-2000. We also supply tubesheet-type feedwater heaters and vacuum steam condensers.

Air-cooled condensers for vacuum steam condensing

GEA has been supplying air-cooled condensers for vacuum steam condensing since the 1930s. We have supplied some of the largest air-cooled condensers in the world in South Africa; for example, Matimba (6 x 665MWe) and Medupi (6 x 800MWe).

Two different tube technologies are available: a robust two-tube-row galvanised steel finned tube solution and a modern single-tube-row solution utilising aluminium fins.

Pressure vessels and distillation columns

GEA Aircooled Systems has the in-house capabilities to design and manufacture pressure vessels and distillation columns for the petrochemical industry. We can handle up to 100t with a maximum diameter of around 3.5m in our manufacturing facility.

Mechanical draught cooling towers

We offer large field-erected cell-type mechanical draught cooling towers to the southern African market. The cooling tower structures are typically made of in-situ cast concrete. Mechanical draft cooling towers use fans to generate air flow through the tower. Fan diameters of up to 30ft and more are commonly used. Depending on the cooling load, multiple cells, each with its own fan, can be employed. We use film, trickle and splash-type fill materials depending on the application, the ambient conditions and the make-up water quality.