Contherm Max
Contherm® Max is a high-performance double-wall heat exchanger designed to continuously process low to medium-viscosity and crystalline products, including those with large particulates. Engineered by Alfa Laval, this scraped surface heat exchanger (SSHE) delivers superior thermal performance, increased yield, and reduced operational costs. Its innovative double-wall design ensures gentle product handling and efficient heat transfer, making it ideal for demanding applications.
Maximize efficiency with the Contherm Max double-wall heat exchange
- Add capacity: double-wall heat exchanger unit with a large surface area offers triple the production capacity of conventional single-wall designs.
- Preserve quality: Gentle treatment is ideal for shear-sensitive products with particulates up to 25 mm in size.
- Increase efficiency: Single drive motor reduces energy consumption by more than 30%.
- Easy service: Low rotational speeds reduce lifetime maintenance demands and service costs.
- Save space: The vertical design offers a compact footprint with a fully assembled unit for a plug-and-play set-up.
The Contherm Max® double-wall heat exchanger delivers three times the thermal performance of traditional single-wall scraped surface heat exchangers.
Designed for energy efficiency, it minimizes internal pressure drop and maintains low rotational speeds, ensuring gentle product treatment while maximizing yield and profitability.
This results in lower energy consumption, reduced maintenance costs, and a significantly lower total cost of ownership.
Perfecting pasta production with Contherm Max
When Surgital, a leading Italian food producer, faced rising consumer demand, it turned to the Contherm Max heat exchanger to optimize its pasta production process.
The result? Increased efficiency, enhanced product quality, and improved production capacity.
How the double-wall scraped surface heat exchanger works
In a Contherm® Max double-wall scraped surface heat exchanger, product enters through a bottom tangential inlet and exits from the top. Meanwhile, a heating or cooling medium—such as steam or liquid—flows counter-currently at high velocity for optimal heat transfer.
A rotating scraping assembly with specialized blades continuously removes fouling material from the inner and outer walls, preventing buildup and maintaining consistent thermal performance. The scraping speed can be adjusted based on product type to ensure the best heat transfer efficiency and product quality.
At the end of production, the unit supports easy product recovery and minimal waste. It can also be cleaned using Alfa Laval’s Cleaning-in-Place (CIP) guidelines, ensuring hygienic operation and reduced downtime.
More possibilities with Contherm heat exchangers
The Alfa Laval Contherm® range offers both single and double-wall scraped surface heat exchanger solutions, making it the most versatile option on the market.
We understand that no two customers’ needs are identical, therefor is each unit is fully customized to meet specific application requirements, ensuring higher efficiency, greater capacity, and maximized profitability because we understand the customers' needs.
In fact, today Alfa Laval is the supplier on the market that can offer robust heat transfer with both single and double-wall scraped surface heat exchanger solutions.
Processing viscous products with Contherm Max
The Contherm Max heat exchanger is designed for continuous processing of low to medium-viscosity products, but for high capacity. Whether handling thick, gel-like substances or pumpable fluids, it ensures consistent heat transfer and gentle product handling.
Example applications:
Food: Ketchup, mayonnaise, hummus, chocolate spreads, fruit pie fillings, gravies, sauces, peanut butter, pizza sauces, puddings, dressings, and more.
Cosmetics & Pharmaceuticals: Skin lotions, shampoos, mascaras, toothpaste, and more.
Heat-Sensitive products for preventing burn-on and fouling
Heat-sensitive products often cause fouling in traditional Scraped-surface heat exchangers, leading to inefficiency and waste. Alfa Laval’s double-wall heat exchanger design minimizes this issue, ensuring consistent heat transfer and product integrity.
Example applications:
Dairy & protein: Cream cheese, whey proteins, scrambled eggs.
Food processing: Meat emulsions, fruit preparations, purées, and more.
Crystallizing products and applications with phase change challenges
Maintaining the taste, color, and texture of crystallizing or phase-changing products is a major challenge in production. The Contherm Max double-wall heat exchanger ensures controlled heat transfer to preserve product quality. We work with your business to find the optimal Contherm® solution to fit your production.
Example applications:
Food & beverages: Coffee/tea extracts, icings, frostings, sugar concentrates, margarines, fondants, and biscuit creams.
Industrial applications: Solvents, fatty acids, petroleum jelly, and more.
Optimized performance for particulate-heavy products
Contherm® heat exchangers are always built to the specifications of the target duty. Whether processing large, small, or mixed particles, the Contherm Max heat exchanger can be tailored to handle diverse product textures. The design ensures even heat distribution and consistent product quality.
Example applications:
Food: hummus, pet food, fruit preserves, rice pudding, vegetable purees, soups, and sauces
Dairy & desserts: Yogurt with fruit, jam, and more.
Reliable processing of sticky and high-adhesion products
Sticky, high-adhesion products can be difficult to process in conventional heat exchangers, leading to clogging and inefficiency. The Contherm Max double-wall heat exchanger prevents buildup while ensuring optimal heat transfer. The complete Contherm® family of scraped surface heat exchangers can support a range of mildly to extremely sticky products, from foods to beauty products.
Example applications:
Food & confectionery: Caramel, processed cheese, lecithin, starch-based products.
Cosmetics & pharmaceuticals: Gums, gelatine, mascara, toothpaste.
Happy customers
Choose the Contherm® Max double-wall heat exchanger
The Contherm® Max heat exchanger enhances production capacity, product quality, and energy efficiency.
As the only double-wall scraped surface heat exchanger of its kind, it sets a new standard for performance and reliability.
Key products
Service
Contherm Service Offering
Partnering with Alfa Laval for the service of your Contherm scraped surface heat exchanger will ensure your heat exchanger is always working at top performance.
- Easy commission and installation
- Safe start-up
- No unexpected downtime
- Reduce total costs of ownership
- Upgrade your scraped surface heat exchanger to achieve more
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