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Galvanic corrosion is very real, although it is process-dependent. You may get away with cheap baffles/support plates with alloy tubes if your process is clean. But often times Process Engs won't know exactly how much conductive fluid (moisture, chlorides, etc.) they have inside their shellside process. The most common design error is then to install alloy tubes with carbon steel baffles/support plates inside a shell, where the CS baffles/support plates (and other bundle skeleton components) become sacrificial anodes inadvertently.Christine74 said:Assuming the galvanic corrosion concern is real (does high-temperature hydrocarbon effluent normally have electrolytes?), are you saying that you would rather have the shell acting as the anode than the baffles?
Your tubes are a pressure boundary as well, despite the fact you will not lose primary containment if they fail. Corroding out baffles/support plates from using the wrong metallurgy will put your bundle tubes at risk of tube failure. There is no need for non-metallic baffles/support plates, only correctly specified metallurgy.Christine74 said:The shell is a pressure boundary. Galvanic corrosion on the shell would be very localized so difficult to monitor while the equipment is in service. Maybe non-metallic baffles are worth considering here but I don't know of any non-metallic materials that can be used at that high of a temperature.