Building the World's Largest

Continuous innovation and investment in our technology and capacity enables our customers to maximize their opportunities. Our principal design and manufacturing facility is in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Notable Chart firsts include the introduction of vacuum brazing, Core-in-Kettle®, mercury tolerant construction and Smart Layer®.

Applications

Plate fin heat exchangers are essential for cryogenic gas processing including air separation, LNG liquefaction, nitrogen rejection, natural gas liquids (NGL) recovery, propane dehydrogenation, hydrogen liquefaction and recovery and other low temperature natural gas and petrochemical processes.

Mercury Tolerant

Chart’s proprietary solution combines multiple design, material selection and fabrication features that work in tandem with guard beds to protect against attack. Since pioneering the technology in the 1980s Chart has supplied >800 mercury tolerant units with no reported field failures.

Smart Layer®

Excessive thermal gradients will weaken the unit’s integrity and can lead to external leaks developing. Typically, because these operating upsets go un-noticed, the leaks manifest without warning. With Smart Layer the leak path is contained and an emergency plant shutdown is avoided.

HETSCO®

Chart acquired Hetsco in 2017. Formed in 1982, Hetsco is synonymous with providing highly skilled, emergency, specialty welding and construction services to the natural gas processing, petrochemical and air gas separation industries. Having completed site repairs across 44 states and more than 35 countries, Hetsco has a proud heritage of getting customer plants back on-line quickly and safely.

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Cold Box Manufacture

Chart’s primary Cold Box fabrication location is a 40-acre coastal facility in New Iberia, Louisiana, USA, providing direct access to the US inter-coastal waterway and the Gulf of Mexico.

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Fronti Fabrications

With >20 years specialty cryogenic engineering and welding expertise, the acquisition of Fronti brings another cryogenic industry partner into the Chart portfolio, expands our cold box manufacturing capability and capacity, including hydrogen and helium liquefiers and creates the foundation for our mid-Atlantic flexible manufacturing location.

 
 
 

Technical and Sales Library

View and download sales literature, technical manuals and more

Brazed Aluminum Heat Exchangers

Brazed Aluminum Heat Exchangers - After Sales Support

Smart Layer

Smart Layer is a Chart patented feature that provides an early indication of fatigue damage occurring in a brazed aluminum heat exchanger (BAHX) prior to any loss of process fluid containment.

BAHX in LNG Processes

A Key to LNG was first published in Hydrocarbon Engineering in October 2017.

BAHX Reboiler Best Practice

Best practice for design and operation of reboilers with plate-fin brazed aluminum heat exchangers (BAHX). First printed in Gas Processing & LNG - March/April 2019.

Brazed Aluminum Heat Exchangers for Process Optimization

Detection vs Prediction

Chart compares fatigue damage through Smart Layer versus computer modelling that simulates the effects of changing operating conditions.

Keeping BAHX at Peak Performance Using DCS Analysis

How leveraging insights from distributed control systems can keep heat exchangers operating at peak performance. First published in Hydrocarbon Engineering (December 2019).

Scaling up LNG Brazed Aluminum Heat Exchangers for mid-scale LNG Liquefaction

First published in LNG Industry March 2016.

Smart Layer – A Smarter System

Explaining Chart's passive system for detecting end of service life for plate fin heat exchangers. First published in Hydrocarbon Engineering (December 2018).

Smart Layer Saves the Day

Two BAHX equipped with Smart Layer technology performed flawlessly when indications revealed thermal fatigue damage.

BAHX Installation, Operation, Maintenance Manual (2024)

Cold Box Installation, Operation, Maintenance Manual

BAHX & Cold Box Operations' Checklist

Brazed Aluminum Heat Exchangers Product Bulletin

General Deriming Procedure

Connect with Chart

To learn more, to optimize your next project, for new or replacement units, application advice or to discuss our aftermarket services, please don't hesitate to contact us. To connect with a specialist call us direct or click the 'Contact Us' button, complete a short form and we'll be in touch.

Telephone  +1 608 787 3333

Cryogenic Nitrogen Rejection Unit

Weighing 1376 tons and containing over 7 miles of welding, these cold boxes were built and shipped from our facility in New Iberia, LA to a natural gas processing plant in the State of Qatar.

Interesting Facts

SCF/D of natural gas processing capacity

Related Products

Brazed aluminum heat exchangers are at the heart of our standard and modular plant solutions for small- and mid-scale LNG and cryogenic nitrogen rejection.