MECS®Acid Coolers

As a world leader with decades of experience in the design and construction of sulfuric acid plants, MECS® offers a full range of leading acid coolers to meet your organization’s needs. We design each unit to optimize performance and reliability, selecting materials that satisfy your environmental and process requirements. Our solutions meet or exceed the standards set forth in TEMA “C” and ASME for heat exchanger and pressure vessels. Meanwhile, our proprietary technologies combat corrosion, employing unique MECS® ZeCor® engineered alloys or our FILMGARD® 5 system for anodic protection. Our Acid Coolers are custom-built to meet your specific application needs, unique concerns, and budget, and deliver the highest quality and reliability for your critical processes.

MECS® Anodically Protected (AP) Coolers

Our AP Coolers are custom-designed to each plant’s process, economic and technical requirements. Typically constructed with 300 series stainless steel and carbon steel, our AP Coolers are manufactured to our highest quality standards, meeting or exceeding ASME VIII Div. I. To significantly reduce corrosion, our proprietary MECS® FILMGARD® Anodic Protection System is included. With FILMGARD®-5, the acid-wetted surfaces (the shell and tubes) are maintained at the proper voltage potential. This creates a passive film that reduces corrosion rates and increases the effective total life of our Acid Coolers. FILMGARD®-5 is available with an Allen-Bradley PLC for high reliability in heavy-duty use, or it can be easily integrated into a site Distributed Control System (DCS).

FILMGARD®-5 is also available as a direct replacement for any brand or type of AP system, to significantly reduce the corrosion rate on ferrous metal acid coolers.

MECS® ZeCor®-Z Coolers

ZeCor®-Z Coolers offer superior corrosion resistance without any need of an anodic protection system — or its costs. All acid-wetted surfaces are constructed with our unique, corrosion-resistant ZeCor®-Z high-performance alloys. These specialized alloys lengthen cooler life and eliminate the need for an AP system, thanks to their proven corrosion rates demonstrated at less than 1 mpy (0.025 mm/year). ZeCor®-Z Coolers are manufactured to our highest quality standards, meeting or exceeding ASME VIII Div. I Code Case 2450. Tested and proven in numerous applications, ZeCor® shell and tube cooler components are also virtually maintenance-free, for simple operations and lower lifecycle costs, with less downtime for inspections and repairs. 

MECS® Seawater Coolers with AP

To use high-chloride cooling water (commonly referred to as seawater) for acid cooling in sulfuric acid plants, several challenges must be avoided, from pitting to stress corrosion cracking and crevice corrosion. Seawater Coolers are a perfect fit for any high-chloride acid-cooling application. Designed with proprietary materials such as ZeCor®-CL and ZeCor®-C, our unique Seawater Coolers offer outstanding resistance to sulfuric acid and the high chlorides in seawater. Tube-to-tube sheet stress corrosion cracking, due to high chlorides, is virtually eliminated. Our Seawater Coolers are manufactured to our highest quality standards, meeting or exceeding ASME VIII Div. I. They are also available with the FILMGARD®-5 AP system, to provide additional protection against the special hazards of seawater.

Expert Solutions, Customized to Your Needs

MECS® engineering consultants can help you choose among our proven and reliable ZeCor®, AP, and FILMGARD® technologies, identifying which MECS® Acid Coolers are best suited to your needs. We offer technical service to all our clients, as well as assistance for start-ups and turnarounds, training, and maintenance service. To ensure optimum uptime for your plant over time, spare parts for our Acid Coolers and FILMGARD® systems are shipped with short lead times, and critical parts are stocked for immediate shipment.

MECS® has a long and successful history in providing the latest technology to the sulfuric acid industry. We’re known around the world as premier designers and builders of sulfuric acid plants. Our dedicated staff of engineers can customize solutions that help your organization meet stringent pollution requirements, as well as provide technology to increase the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of operating your plant.