Solex Thermal Science > Solex Products > SIGMA 400 Cooler > How It Works > Polymers

Sigma400 Series Bulk Solids Cooler

1 SLOW & CONTROLLED PRODUCT FLOW
Polymer pellets pass slowly downward between a series of vertical hollow stainless steel plates.
Why It's Better

2 INDIRECT PLATE COOLING
Cooling water flows through the plates to cool the material by conduction.
Why It's Better

3 MASS FLOW TECHNOLOGY
The mass flow discharge feeder creates uniform product velocity through the heat exchanger and regulates the product flow rate.
Why It's Better

4 VERTICAL CONFIGURATION 
Polymer pellets pass through the vertical heat exchanger by gravity.
Why It's Better

Sigma 400: How It Works

Why It's Better

The slow and controlled movement of polymers through the heat exchanger produces a superior final product. It prevents product abrasion and degradation and ensures that the pellet characteristics are not changed in the cooling or heating process.

Why It's Better

Polymer Energy ChartThe indirect plate heat exchanger design means air is not used in the cooling or heating process.  This design is superior resulting in many important benefits for cooling and heating polymers.

  • It is ultra efficient, using up to 90% less energy than technologies requiring the use of air.
  • Air emissions (VOC, NOX), dust, fines and odors are eliminated because air is not used to directly cool or heat the product.
  • Installed capital costs are reduced due to the elimination of costly and unnecessary air handling equipment such as large diameter air ducting, motors, fans, scrubbers, chillers and emissions controls.
  • The indirect heat exchanger design is a sealed unit making it ideal for cooling and heating polymers of all types. It can operate with blanket gas or a purge gas stream, such as in degassing and conditioning applications.
  • The plates are configured to enable easy access for inspection and cleaning. The design also makes it possible for individual plates to be isolated or replaced.
  • Guaranteed thermal performance is made possible with Solex advanced thermal modeling software. Designed specifically for indirect heat transfer, the software provides 100% accurate calculations of product temperatures through the cooling or heating process

Why It's Better

Mass flow design means the polymers move with uniform velocity through the heat exchanger. This feature, combined with long residence times (typically 5- 10 minutes), enables even temperature distribution as the product passes through the heat exchanger, producing remarkably stable and uniform final polymer temperatures.

Why It's Better

Solex Footprint The vertical configuration makes this design both compact and modular.

  • The compact installation footprint makes this design easy to integrate into existing plants and is ideal for de-bottlenecking, revamps and capacity increase.
  • The clever modular design means that additional heat exchanger plate banks can be stacked if increased thermal capacity is required in the future