Patent ID: 8518337

Claim:
A tube-bundle equipment comprising a hollow body delimited by an outer casing, wherein the hollow body comprises a collection cavity, a distribution cavity, and an intermediate cavity, and wherein airtight tube plates separate the collection cavity from the intermediate cavity, and the intermediate cavity from the distribution cavity, wherein the intermediate cavity comprises a tube bundle comprising 100 to 10,000 tubes having a diameter ranging from 10 to 100 mm, each of which tubes comprises at least one metallic layer of zirconium or an alloy thereof; wherein the collection cavity and the distribution cavity are in fluid communication with each other through the tubes of the tube bundle, wherein the outer casing consists of a material subject to corrosion if contacted by a fluid that is aggressive toward a carbon steel, wherein an internal wall of the collection cavity, the distribution cavity, or both cavities, comprises a lining of titanium or an alloy thereof, and wherein each tube plate comprises A) a first layer selected from the group consisting of a carbon steel and a high-yield steel, having a thickness of from 40 to 700 mm and a diameter ranging from 500 to 4000 mm with high mechanical performance, wherein the first layer A is subject to corrosion if contacted by a fluid that is aggressive toward a carbon steel, B) an intermediate layer comprising a material consisting of titanium or an alloy thereof, situated on the surface of said layer A and welded with said titanium lining of the cavity, and C) a layer consisting of zirconium or an alloy thereof, having a surface metallurgically bound with the surface of said intermediate layer B on the opposite side with respect to the layer A, said layer C being seal-welded with the zirconium layer of said tubes, and said layer C extending over the tube plate to a distance of at least 30 mm from the internal wall of the cavity, and the outer border of said layer C is situated at a distance of at least 10 mm from the outer wall of the closest tube of the tube bundle.