English - Vahterus Oy

HOT &COLD
V a h t e r u s N e w s 1 / 2 0 1 0
Future Forerunner
page 6
17 Years of
Cooperation
page 10
1

HOT COLD
2 V a h t e r u s N e w s 1 / 2 0 1 0
3
HOT & COLD
Publisher
Vahterus Oy
Pruukintie 7
23600 Kalanti
Tel. +358 2 84 070
Fax +358 2 84 7299
sales@vahterus.com
www.vahterus.com
Editor in Chief
Sari Kesälä
Interviews Raija Herrala-Nurmi
Lay-out
Esko Ruoranen
Mainostoimisto Grafesko
Press
Euraprint
On the cover
Susanna Ventelä, welder,
Vahterus Oy
33 Years of Plate Heat Exchanger
Technology from Finland
Anniversaries are a time to reflect and perhaps feel a little smug. This anniversary is no different.
I hope that our readers can take the time to appreciate this matter which is very important to me.
My story
Although having grown up on a farm, I have had the unique opportunity to work with plate heat
exchangers ever since my student days. I completed my Master’s degree at Tampere University of
Technology where thesis focused on calculating the heat transfer coefficients and pressure drops
for the first ever Finnish gasketed plate heat exchanger, developed by Rauma-Repola Uusikaupunki
Shipyard’s thermotechnical department. That was back in 1978. With hindsight, it is now clear that my
chosen topic was at the very core of understanding plate heat exchangers. The study in itself was basic
and the methods discovered extremely simple, considering what we know now, but anyhow it was a
starting point. We still work in cooperation with the same university and even with some of the same
professors! I guess that means that we haven’t lost our youth.
We were developing new innovations and finding new applications for plate heat exchangers even
then. One example was a vacuum-operated distiller, based on vapour compression and plate heat
exchangers that could be used to turn sea water into drinking water. We even succeeded in selling the
invented technology to a wellknown Swedish plate heat exchanger manufacturer. Back then, there
was already a considerable amount of expertise on both sides of the Gulf of Bothnia.
I was lucky enough to find interesting work close to my home for over ten years, mostly involving
district heating applications for properties, mainly for Finnish customers.
Unfortunately, the company that employed me decided to sell its heat exchanger business to a
competitor and close down the local production facilities. The decision came as a surprise and was a
nasty shock to me. I suddenly found myself in a situation where I had to find a work in order to survive.
Vahterus Oy
We had an idea to develop a new kind of a plate heat exchanger that could combine the good heat
transfer properties of a plate heat exchanger and and still handle the pressure strength without rubber
gaskets. That historical moment was 20 years ago today. The new company was named Vahterus, which
is the name of the village where I was born and where I still live with my wife, Sinikka.
The Vahterus product family has developed in many ways but the basic structure of our heat
exchangers has remained the same. The range of applications is also now more extensive than I could
have even imagined, let alone comprehended, in the beginning.
These new opportunities are all thanks to our customers and wonderful staff. We have tried to
respond to new opportunities to the best of our ability. We have had some amazing successes, but
there has been frustrations as well.
Customers
For one reason or another, we have always been able to find customers who are interested in the new
heat exchanger solutions which we offer and develope together with our customers.
Our foreign customers have shown incredible bravery in buying our products. After all, we began
as a brand new start-up business selling completely unprecedented heat exchanger solutions from a
little place called Kalanti in Finland. That’s quite a risk to take.
I would especially like to mention Mr. John Wijbenga, Mr. Angelo Richelli, Mr. Tjark De Lange and Mr.
Chris Trevatt. Their companies have been our customers since the very beginning, and still are.
I would like to thank all of you wonderful people for your continued customship and unwavering
commitment. We have customers on every continent, and export trade has accounted for more than
90 percent of our production for a number of years. For us, customer is The King! And we want to
continue proving that to you also in the future!
Committed staff
Growing from three to 150 employees has demanded flexibility and personal growth from all of us.
The company’s development and physical growth would not have been possible without the strong
team spirit of our staff. I want to thank you all for our years together and for the work that you have
done for Vahterus and for the success of us all. Together we have been able to be flexible when faceing
financial hardships and to stretch ourselves under pressure. Thank you!
Initiative and innovation have been the cornerstones of our development. The fact that we were
voted the sixth best enterprise in Finland in terms of initiative last year is an excellent proof to this.
We value extremely high the drive to grow and the will to succeed.
Our future together
We believe in heat exchange technology. With our DYNAMO 2014 project we are paving the way for continuing
our strong growth in the future. We need new drive and momentum, and our goal is to generate
this together with our customers as an independent enterprise.
Together we can make heat exchange technology a source of pride and joy!
Mauri Kontu
Managing Director
&
Deeply Rooted
in Countryside
Juha Suominen.
“The sheep were bleating, just on the other side
of the wall – this shows just how deeply rooted
we are in countryside!” says Quality Manager
Juha Suominen, laughing about Vahterus’ early
years.
Technician Jorma Laaksonen and Financial
Director Sinikka Kontu also smile as they
remember the first facilities in the corner of an
old farm building – and particularly how shocked
visitors were by the smell of the sheep pens. All
three were involved right from the start when
Vahterus Oy’s production of heat exchangers
began at Mauri and Sinikka Kontu’s little farm in
the village of Vahterus.
In the early years, the company only
employed a handful of people and some of them
only worked part-time. Everyone got involved
in all aspects of the business, in the spirit of
fearless innovation. Sinikka Kontu handled all
the paperwork single-handedly without any
computers.
Now there are a total of 150 people working
with heat exchangers and the amount of
production facilities has increased twenty-fold.
“Development has been incredible”, says Juha
Suominen. He himself joined the company in May
1991 as a sheet-metal welder. Over the years, he
progressed to welding coordinator and three
years ago to Quality Manager.
A disastrous fire interrupted the company’s
early operations in the Autumn of 1993. Most of
the machinery and equipment – built at great
effort – was destroyed, but a few of the more
important items such as the plate press and
sheet-metal machines were saved.
The break in operations lasted just a
few months. New facilities were found at an
almost empty dairy in Kalanti where another
engineering company had previously operated.
From here it all started. Mauri and Sinikka walking in Vahterus village.
The dairy, now the Lahti Hall, felt big at first but
soon filled up and was expanded. In 2000, the
new larger Arvassalo Hall was completed at the
same site, and in 2008 another new production
facility, the 2,600 m² Santtio Hall, entered service
on a larger plot of land.
The three of them remember how the brand
new facilities felt enormous but soon began to
feel cramped as the size and volume of products
grew and the number of machines increased.
“It didn’t occur to anyone that space would
run out here”, says Sinikka, remembering the
move to the dairy in 1994.
Now even the newest hall is already becoming
cramped and the next plans for expansion are
ready and waiting for the right time.
Jorma Laaksonen, who works at assembly
line, considers the advent of automation as the
greatest change in his job. Nowadays there are an
increasing number of such automated machines
at Vahterus production facilities.
So far, the late 1990s have proven to be the
period of most dynamic growth. At that time
work was being done night and day, especially
when new products were sold even before the
machinery was ready for it’s manufacturing.
“That was an amazingly busy time”, they all say,
remembering the enthusiasm that prevailed.
“In this family business that has grown from
small to medium-sized, we still try to be one
family wherever it is possible.”
“Mauri makes a tour around the halls in the
mornings and once a month we all get together
for a joint assembly”, says Sinikka.
Over two decades the turnover of staff has
been very small. Many of the employees were
recruited from the nearby region and were
already familiar with the company.
Juha Suominen.
Jorma Laaksonen.

HOT COLD
4 V a h t e r u s N e w s 1 / 2 0 1 0
5
Vahterus Village
gains International
Recognition
Aili Kontu.
Aili Kontu, now aged 90, still lives on the Kontu estate in her
beloved home village of Vahterus, the very same place where
Vahterus Oy was founded.
“A rural village was a healthy place for our children to grow
up,” she muses.
Her twin boys played sport with their father, Eino Kontu, and were
involved in the farm work from an early age. Aili also believes that her
three children learned a lot from the large elderly population living in
Vahterus at the time.
Aili recalls how her ‘boys’ – who at the time were admittedly grown
men taking their first steps on promising engineering careers – used to
sit at the table across from each other, each holding a pencil, scribbling
calculations and conversing in muted voices. Aappo was the one who
told their mother that Mauri intended to launch a business and even
had a name ready: Vahterus Oy.
Aili liked the name; even if she had her doubts about the enterprise,
at least her beautiful home village would go down in history regardless
of what happened to the business.
The potency of Mauri’s invention only dawned on Aili when the new
heat exchanger won a prize at an exhibition in Holland.
“At that point I started to think that he was onto something!”
Now, in her advanced years, Aili is grateful for and delighted with the
success that her son has achieved over the last 20 years. She has seen
the hard work that both Mauri and Sinikka have put into expanding the
business. One half of the couple travels around the world sealing deals,
while the other keeps the wheels turning back at home.
Aili is also delighted to see how the old dairy that has played an
important role in Kalanti’s history has been restored to its former glory
under the tenancy of Vahterus Oy. What’s more, the name of Vahterus
village is now known in completely new parts of the world.
“The company has sold products all over the globe and the Vahterus
name has spread like wildfire,” Aili muses happily.
Working
Together to
Keep With
the Times
Two Decades of
Partnership With
a Boiler Supplier
Turku-based Noviter Oy has been one
of Vahterus Oy’s oldest customers and
partners.
Vahterus Oy’s Managing Director
Mauri Kontu emphasises that Noviter
played a key role in Vahterus’ early days.
“We received our first product orders
from Noviter, and this is how Vahterus
heat exchangers got on the market.
Noviter had a significant effect on helping
us kick-start our business and begin
production!”
Noviter is now part of MW Power
group.
Subcontract
Projects
Ranging from the
Sawing of Machine
Shells to the
Manufacture of
Billets for Base
Structures
Rautarakenne S. Lipponen Ky, one
of Vahterus Oy’s longest standing
subcontractors and partners, is
located at the Mannersuo industrial
area in Kalanti, only a stone’s throw away from
Vahterus’s Santtio-hall factory. The company,
which specialises in heavy metal structures, was
founded in 1984, just a few years before Vahterus.
In addition to Managing Director Sampo
&
Russia’s military villages taught Turkubased
Noviter Oy an important lesson on
the international market’s ever-growing
quality demands.
“Foreign consultants, primarily German ones,
had different demands from those we were
accustomed to,” recalls Pentti Koivikko, who has
worked in Noviter’s management and sales team
for two decades.
Noviter Oy was one of Vahterus’ first
customers in the beginning of the 1990s, and
cooperation between the two continues to this
day. Vahterus manufactured heat exchangers
for the boiler plants Noviter supplied to Russian
military villages. Nearly 40 new residential areas,
military villages and neighbourhoods were built
for demobbed soldiers returning home from
the German Democratic Republic and from
elsewhere in Eastern Europe. Germans funded
and helped the transfer process.
“For our Russian projects we used welded
plate heat exchangers developed by Vahterus.
We found they were of higher quality than other
models. Almost every boiler plant was equipped
with one or more of these,” Koivikko explains.
Noviter, which was originally a privatelyowned
engineering consulting firm, is now part
of the MW Power Group, an energy technology
subsidiary jointly owned by Metso and Wärtsilä,
which has set its sights on the growing bioenergy
market, among other goals.
Koivikko retired just over a year ago and looks
back on his work-filled days at the company with
obvious pleasure. In Finland, Noviter has supplied
boiler plants to municipally-owned power plants
in particular. The most powerful of these have
been supplied to domestic locations.
At the very beginning of the 21st century
Lipponen, the company employs five in-house
workmen and a large number of subcontractors.
Today, most of the company’s products are sold
to construction firms.
“Our partnership with Vahterus began quite
soon after the company was founded. In 1991
and 1992, we sawed the first shells for Vahterus’
heat exchangers,” Sampo Lipponen recalls.
Today, Vahterus manufactures its own heat
exchanger shells but cooperation between
the companies has continued, for example in
the manufacture of metal base structures and
their billets. Additionally, Vahterus has a need
requirement for different small machine parts,
frequently but at irregular intervals, for which
Rautarakenne S. Lipponen’s machinery is tailormade.
These parts are ordered by e-mail and can
be picked up when they are ready.
Additionally, Rautarakenne S. Lipponen has a
wider range of raw materials always available in
their warehouse.
“As our companies are situated close to one
another, Vahterus staff will occasionally come
to pick up materials they need, and if we are
busy they sometimes even use our machines
themselves and leave a note about it,” Lipponen
says describing the open working relationship
between the companies.
Every day, cooperation between the
neighbouring companies takes place seamlessly
Noviter focused its operations on boilers
powered by biofuel by acquiring a share in one of
the field’s top design companies.
“In hindsight this is one of the wisest decisions
the company has ever made,” Koivikko assesses.
Bioenergy use is experiencing strong growth.
In Finland, the government is working to step
up the use of biofuel with measures such as the
new “twig package”, in which the government
provides subsidies for production of renewable
energy sources. The change in direction meant
that work continued at Noviter, but now as part of
a bigger group.
At Noviter Vahterus heat exchangers are used
for preheating combustion air and fuel in plants
that run on gas and heavy oil. Use of biofuels
poses the additional challenge that, as these fuels
have high moisture content, both the fuel and
the machines treating it must be kept unfrozen in
winter conditions – even when temperatures are
below freezing. Structures and conveyors require
individual heating circuits through which glycol
or some other antifreeze fluid circulates. By this
way even wet wood chips can be moved from the
storage silo to the boiler.
In Koivikko’s experience Vahterus plate heat
exchangers have shown that their structure is
both straightforward and reliable. They endure
high pressures as well as high temperatures and
have no practical usage limitations. The heat
exchangers’ surfaces are made of stainless steel
or acid-resistant materials, allowing the use of
limitless types of heat-transfer fluids without
worrying about corrosion damages to the
machinery.
“The heat exchangers performs just as
promised and no problems have arisen,” Koivikko
specifies.
in both directions. Rautarakenne S. Lipponen
has also occasionally needed a certain size pipe
which they have been able to pick up from their
neighbour’s warehouse.
In times of urgent need a partner close by can
be of great assistance.
”The small size of our workshop enables us to
be flexible and therefore delivery times do not
stretch to a week or two. If our customer is in a
hurry, we can even have the required part ready
on the same day,” Lipponen explains.
Additionally, these good neighbours have
naturally helped one another in expansion
ventures. Rautarakenne S. Lipponen’s field of
expertise is manufacturing steel structures for
buildings, which were recently needed when
Vahterus Oy expanded its facilities to include a
new production hall. Lipponen’s company is also
beginning to expand its own facilities and has
already had “a helping hand” from its neighbour
in the form of HVAC design expertise.
Cooperation between the companies has
continued in a spirit of openness and trust for
some 20 years already, and there has never been
any problems.
Sampo Lipponen is particularly happy that
cooperation between companies within the same
area works so efficiently.
“Vahterus often uses the services of local
subcontractors, as do I. It is important that
Pentti Koivikko
Noviter has become accustomed to always
receiving excellent service from Vahterus.
Koivikko is especially pleased at how quickly
Vahterus has always provided answers when
Noviter has needed information on technical
aspects or prices in sales situations. Although
each solution is custom-made, the design plans
are usually received during the same day or the
next day at the latest. Sizing and pricing is carried
out quickly. “And in joint projects deliveries have
always been prompt,” he adds.
Noviter’s and Vahterus’ common history also
includes a joint project with Eesti Termotehnika
in Tallinn, Estonia. “Vahterus designed the heat
exchanger model that they would be pressing in
Tallinn, and we at Noviter provided the mould,”
Koivikko explains.
Noviter sold its share of the company in 2006,
but production is still going on in Estonia by new
owners.
Sampo Lipponen
companies located in the same area work
together for mutual gain.
It is exceptionally pleasing that Vahterus was
founded here in Kalanti and that it has found an
international market niche!”

HOT COLD
6 V a h t e r u s N e w s 1 / 2 0 1 0
7
Future Forerunner
“We aim to be the
forerunner in the area of
plate heat exchangers, a
leader in the technology.
We are working towards this goal and believe in
strong growth,” summarises Managing Director
Mauri Kontu.
Every four or five years, Vahterus defines its
long-term strategy. The strategy established last
year was entitled Dynamo 2014.
The name reflects the extra drive and strength
we are working for together. We have also set our
production and result targets to be reached by
2014. Our target is an annual production rate of
10,000 units – so we are facing a great growth
challenge.
The Dynamo process resulted in a compact,
more customer-friendly strategy. The three most
important points are:
“The customer is our number one priority,
we must have the desire to succeed and, finally,
we must be enthusiastic about change,” stresses
Kontu.
These points have been discussed together
with our entire 150-member team. The strategy
must be applied in practice and it must be seen in
our every-day work.
A leader in the technology must have thorough
knowledge of the production and heat technology
as well as engineering skills.
“This requires a strong investment in product
development and research,” says Kontu.
The company cooperates with three
universities of technology and several other
research and educational institutions.
Other corner stones are development of
the skills of our own personnel and an active
outlook. There seems to be plenty of readiness
to change and improve, as Vahterus is one of
the top companies in proposing development
initiatives amongst small and medium-sized
companies in Finland. In 2009, the company
was sixth in proposing initiatives per person
within the entire Finnish industrial sector.
“We have worked consistently to develop
our quality management systems and
guidance. We value improvement and positive
change. We try to maintain a good level of
communication within our departments,” says
Kontu.
Development team work enables us to look
at issues that the employees themselves want
to improve in their workplace.
Eyes on 2 0 1 4
Some of the greatest global challenges of the
21st century are saving energy and protecting
the environment. Heat technology is one of
the fields which has a lot to offer.
“We are operating in a good field of
business.” Our technology can help to carry
out projects by using natural and climatefriendly
media. Other important benefits of
our products are saved space and wide range
of usage. The small size enables savings to be
achieved, especially with new investments.
More opportunities are offered by the
increased use of and greater requirements
for cooling technology. Large refrigerated
warehouses and systems used by retailers
require new cooling solutions. At the moment,
approximately half of our production goes to
cooling technology applications.
“The customer is our
number one priority,
we must have the desire to
succeed and, finally,
we must be enthusiastic
about change”
&
Closer customer relations
“The important aspect of the Dynamo strategy is
its aim to increase and widen our expertise. This
way we can meet our customer’s requirements
more efficiently,” says Kontu.
We must get close to the customer so that
together we can find the heat exchange solutions
that make their operations effortless. Kontu is
convinced that the customers’ needs must be
anticipated before the customers themselves
realise it.
“We must be able to present a plan and ask
if they would find it helpful to do thing this way.
When we know our customer’s field of business
well enough, we can develop whole new
products in cooperation with the customer.”
Acquiring the necessary knowledge of the
customers’ area of expertise is a great challenge
for the Vahterus personnel.
“It is important that we train our own people
to know our customers’ area of operation. This
calls for investments. But our customers are also
prepared to provide us with training, show us
around their production facilities, demonstrate
their work processes and explain their priorities.”
R ecov er y in sight
Even though the recession in 2009 also hit heat
exchanger production, Vahterus has held on
to its employees. Today, Kontu sees clear signs
of recovery. There will soon be the need again
for more personnel to meet the increased
production targets.
The main production facilities will remain in
Kalanti. However, the growing market, especially
in Asia and America, will also require the launch
of production elsewhere by 2014. This location
is likely to be somewhere close to these growing
markets.
Vahterus, which celebrates its 20th
anniversary this year, is still a very small operator
on the market despite its rapid growth.
“The market is entirely open if you have
the right product and expertise. It is up to us
to ensure that we all have work to do,” stresses
Mauri Kontu.
Vahterus’ Strength
– Where Does it Come from?
Vahterus Oy’s twenty-year journey as a business enterprise
is a significant achievement. With its own specialised heat
exchanger solutions the company has found its niche
and its customer-base in the competitive international
markets. The company’s development has been extraordinarily
focussed; the family enterprise that was founded in the family’s
barn in the village of Vahterus in Kalanti, Finland, now employs 150
staff members. Ninety percent of the company’s customer base
are situated outside of Finland, in over one hundred countries
across all continents. Everyone at Vahterus can and should be
proud of this achievement. Very few companies have managed
this sort of feat.
I have had the opportunity to follow Vahterus’ development
from its very start as Chairman of the Board and an owner of a
small share of the company. This has been extremely interesting
and rewarding as I have been part of a growing family enterprise,
whose award-winning technological solutions are recognised all
around the world. I am very grateful for this opportunity.
Where does Vahterus’ strength come from? This strength that
has seen the company grow in profitability for 20 years, between
10–50 percent annually. Few companies can achieve this level
of growth. As a company develops, there are constant bottle
necks that need resolving. Sometimes these arise in sales, design,
production, financing, financial administration, patents, resource
allocation or in product deliveries, to name just a few examples.
It has been astonishing to witness how many different business
areas the company and its staff have been able to continuously
develop and grow through training and learning.
I have tried to come up with the reason behind Vahterus’
vitality during its twenty-year success story. The following is my
own summary of the key factors:
• the drive exhibited by the company’s owner,Mauri Kontu,
• the company has kept its feet on the ground,
• Vahterus’ continuous technological outlook, expertise and its
ability to come up with new innovations,
• the company being a family enterprise in Kalanti in the
Vakka-Suomi sub-region of Finland,
• the company’s decision makers are known
• a continuous desire to develop and to challenge the markets
with the company’s own different solutions.
When Vahterus was first founded it was built on Mauri’s vision and
enthusiasm. He has now gained a group of enthusiastic people to
work with. Sinikka Kontu’s skilled management of the company’s
financial administration has also played a key role. However, as the
company’s operations have expanded, its success has been built
on the enthusiasm and commitment of the large group of experts
at Vahterus and on the trust shown by its customers.
The long period of development has of course also included
its fair share of growing pains, surprises and even failures. But the
company has learned from these and grown as a result. Having a
successful business includes taking controlled risks – sometimes
even large ones. In a family enterprise a certain level of caution is
a basic principle, as it is important to ensure the family’s interests
in the long-term. A good indicator of this is the company’s strong
financial standing even after a year of recession. This is a good
place to continue from as growth begins again.
After a well-earned moment of celebration, work will continue
at Vahterus. The company sees many opportunities to continue
along this growth path in its present and new markets and with
products that are innovative and constantly being developed. It
is important that the company ensures that both its customers
and staff remain enthusiastic and committed in the future. I
believe that by continuing as a family enterprise and by keeping
family enterprise values at the heart of the company Vahterus will
continue its positive development.
I would like to thank the entire staff at Vahterus for their
excellent work and I wish them every success in the future –
Vahterus has a lot of strength!
Aappo Kontu
Chairman of the Board

HOT COLD
8 V a h t e r u s N e w s 1 / 2 0 1 0
9
They had with them a circular piece of
corrugated metal which they claimed to
be the next generation in heat exchanger
technology – the piece of metal was just
200mm in diameter with corrugations pressed
into it every 4 or 5 mm which made it look similar
to a conventional plate heat exchanger plate,
only it was circular rather than rectangular. One of
the men, Mauri Kontu explained the technology
– “each of these plates is welded to the next to
make a fully welded plate heat exchanger” he
explained, “however, the plate pack is circular. The
whole plate pack is then put in a shell – from the
outside it looks like a shell & tube exchanger, but
has the performance of a Plate type, only there
are no gaskets”. This to us was very interesting –
APV had been making plate type heat exchangers
since the 1920’s and had developed the product
into a highly efficient product. However, joining
the plates had always been done with gaskets.
In one respect this was beneficial in that after
time the gaskets would wear out and needed
replacing, providing a very useful and profitable
revenue stream. However the gasket was also a
weakness as pressure containment was limited
to 25-30 Bar and temperatures limited to -30 to
+ 200 degC due to the limits of the elastomeric
materials employed. Some attempts had been
made at introducing laser welded cassette type
plate pairs. This meant that highly corrosive
media could be placed on the welded side of the
unit but there were still elastomeric materials
sealing the secondary side which again gave
limitations on pressure and temperature.
he idea of a circular welded plate had great
T potential and the APV engineers pounced on
the two guys wanting to know how many had
been made, what references and applications had
they been used in, and so on.
It turned out that the product was quite new
– it had been the brainchild of Mauri Kontu when
he had been working at Rauma Repola, a pressure
vessel company, a few years earlier. He had formed
the company, Vahterus, shortly after to provide a
vehicle to develop the product further. During the
few years that the company had been operating
they had supplied several units, mainly into the
arduous District Heating sector, but needed to
expand the marketing of the product further –
hence the interest in partnering with APV. APV, in
turn, desperately needed new products in what
was becoming a highly competitive market and
the ‘Plate and Shell’ technology, which is what the
product came to be called, was the ideal solution.
An agreement was drawn up and the two
companies began co-operating. It wasn’t long
however before we discovered that there were
significant differences between the expectations
of the APV personnel and what their Finnsh
counterparts were able to deliver. “The standard
of engineering drawings were significantly
different to what we were used to and the level
of documentation was below the expectations of
the demanding markets that we served” recalled
Adrian Foster – the APV Product Manager at
the time. “Over time we worked together to get
common standards that were acceptable to the
APV client base”
UK
I was first introduced to the
Vahterus product in 1993 – the
APV stand at the Process &
Chemical Industry Exhibition had
been visited by a couple of
Finnish gentlemen asking if APV
Heat Transfer might be interested
in marketing their product.
As the product was introduced to the market
place it was quickly discovered that the
capacity of the 200mm diameter plate was a
major limitation and development started on the
300mm, and then sometime later the 500mm.
Whilst the product had great potential, the
level of testing and understanding of how it could
operate under different conditions needed to be
explored further to exploit the full benefits that the
product could offer. Fortunately we had a number
of clients who could help us with the development
work.
One customer Croda, a chemical processing
company, were desperate for a high
performance, compact welded heat exchanger
to replace a troublesome gasketed unit. The
conventional plate heat exchanger had special
gaskets which cost over 30000 GBP to replace
and, due to the arduous temperature cycling
nature of the application, the gaskets were being
replaced several times each year. It became clear
that a 500mm Plate and Shell unit would be
the ideal solution – unfortunately Vahterus had
never made one before! This did not stop the
entrepreneurial spirit of the Vahterus engineers
who set about designing the plate geometry,
the tooling and the manufacturing processes to
bring the new product on stream. “The unit was
delivered in 6 months, which was miraculous
given that Vahterus had never made a unit of this
size before” commented one of the Croda Process
Engineers. The exchanger went into service in
1995 and is still giving excellent service today.
Another example of the Vahterus
entrepreneurial spirit was when APV received
a call from a major fine chemical manufacturer.
They had experienced significant failures of
first brazed exchangers, then gasketed types in
a Thermal Oil heating and cooling duty – the
application had significant rapid changes in
temperatures and the brazed units cracked after
a short time in service, whilst the gasketed units
leaked as the gaskets contracted at a different
rate to the surrounding metalwork, which in
turn reduced the clamping force on the seals.
The client wanted to know what experience we
had in using the Vahterus exchangers in such
an arduous application – we had no choice but
to say “none!”. After reviewing the operating
conditions we agreed to supply the units as
we felt that the Plate and Shell exchanger had
the ability to accommodate shock loads of this
nature – the client agreed to them being installed
on trial. Again these exchangers are working
happily some 13 years later. Vahterus have gone
on to supply several hundred exchangers to all
the major Fine Chemical and Pharmaceutical
companies such as GSK, Pfizer, Novartis etc since
then.
Most heat exchangers are designed around
low viscosity liquids and handling high
viscosities is always a challenge – Vahterus were
helped in understanding how well the product
could perform when Recticel, a high density foam
manufacturer, agreed to use PSHE technology
on its new production facility. It was not possible
to use a conventional plate heat exchanger due
&
to the pressure generated by the high viscosity
chemicals involved and a Shell & Tube exchanger
could not achieve the thermal performance
required. A 500mm plate unit was supplied in
1998, which is still functioning today, handling
viscosities up to 10,000 cP.
During 1998 the APV group of companies was
sold and, with the uncertainty of the future
of the heat transfer division, I left the company
and shortly afterwards, with Adrian Foster formed
Vahterus UK in 1999. Since then we have had the
privilege of seeing the Vahterus organisation
continue to grow significantly.
One of the most alluring aspects of the
PSHE was the potential of its pressure retaining
capabilities – housed in an outer pressure
vessel shell, in theory at least the pressure
capability could be as high as 200 Bar. Again
one of our clients was willing to help us push the
boundaries. In 1999 an application working with
a product development test house required rapid
cooling of an air/water mixture at 105 BarG. The
idea was to introduce water to the high pressure
air stream at the inlet to the exchanger to aid the
cooling process. In addition to the exchanger a
carefully designed spray tube was incorporated
into the design and mounted in the inlet nozzle.
More recently an exchanger designed as
an input gas heater for the offshore industry
has been supplied which is capable of a design
pressure of 200 BarG. The exchanger was
manufactured from duplex materials throughout
and during proof testing a sample plate pack was
pressurised to over 700 BarG.
Since the inception of Vahterus UK in 1999 we
have been instrumental in introducing the
PSHE technology into a variety of applications
and industries. Some of the more interesting
projects include:
• LPG process heaters and condensers for on board ship
• Solvent Condensers for the chemical industry
- including a major project for GSK supplying 27
Hastelloy units
• CO2 Condensers for the refrigeration sector
• Amine interchangers for Gas Processing facilities
• Crude Oil Heaters, Coolers for the Offshore Industry
• 100 BarG Heavy Crude Heaters (20,000 cP)
• Retort Heater/Coolers for pet food processing
• Syrup Heaters for the confectionary industry
• Steam Condensers for Combined Cycle Power Stations
The past 17 years working with Vahterus
have provided some interesting challenges
and success stories, ups and downs, new
opportunities and achievements. All in all the
Vahterus story has been one of entrepreneurism,
tenacity and stamina – Congratulations, Vahterus
Oy, on your 20 year celebration!
Chris Trevatt
Managing Director
Vahterus UK
Maintaining International
Certification Requires
Continuous Work
Making sure that certification and quality management systems are in line with those
recognised around the world requires constant attention. Vahterus is currently
undergoing a regular audit for the ASME certification and is in the process of
applying for Korea Gas Safety Corporation (KGS) certification.
“We are also quite far along in the process of acquiring supplier approval for the Russian
nuclear power industry. We have just undergone an audit for this and are awaiting feedback,”
explains Paavo Pitkänen, Vahterus’ Technical Director.
Vahterus has been ISO 9001 certified since 2003. The company also meets the quality
requirements for welding (EN ISO 3438), the EN 14001 environmental quality management
system and the OHSAS 18001 occupational health and safety system, the last two being
awarder last year.
There can be quite a difference between different systems, for example, between European,
American and Chinese systems. Each requires slightly different operating methods, which
means that the finished product also differs depending on where in the world it will be
delivered.
”In Europe operations are assessed in depth in accordance with the ISO system, which
means that the European Pressure Equipment Directive (PED) is based on a different system
than the American equivalent, ASME, which also includes very strict requirements for the
design and manufacture of pressure equipment and the materials used for this,” Pitkänen
continues.
Acquiring entirely new certification can take up to half a year. The systems are also
constantly re-audited. The ASME and China’s corresponding certification are renewed once
every three years and the ISO system once a year.
“We are constantly undergoing one audit or another. Experts come here to assess what
our quality management systems state and whether our operations conform with them,”
Pitkänen explains. Assessors familiarise themselves with the manufacture of heat exchangers
at grass root level.
Pitkänen lists a few examples: “Is the welding is carried out according to the instructions?
Does the machine have the correct values? Are the additional materials used the ones that
have been stated in advance? Does the welder have the required skills?”
During the regular ASME audit, Vahterus is expanding its certification to include not only
the manufacture but also the repair of pressure equipment.
What else is currently happening in Vahterus’ manufacture of heat exchangers?
“We have expanded our quality services to include helium leak testing. We have made
some equipment acquisitions that now allow us to carry out both vacuum and over pressure
helium leak tests,” Pitkänen states.
On the technology and product development front, we are developing the manufacture
and inspection of high pressure heat exchangers. While updating the numerous welding
methods in use, we are now strongly focussing on submerged arc welding in the manufacture
of shells.
Another new innovation is vacuum drying. A dry product is important for customers and
increasingly so when our heat exchangers are to be integrated into refrigeration application
units.
The facilities in Vahterus’ two years old factory have allowed the company to separate the
stainless steel and carbon steel production lines. Customers can see the effects of the company
having its own pickling plant, for example, in the form of shorter delivery times. “We now
have our own production lines for all heat exchanger plates and have completed the layout
arrangements for sheet metal, meaning that production is more streamlined.
In late Spring 2010 Vahterus was nominated Finland’s sixth best company in terms of
proposed initiatives. In 2009, totally 283 initiatives were proposed at Vahterus for every 100
employees. “Quality management systems include a continuous responsibility to improve,”
Pitkänen reiterates, “our ranking proves that our employees are enthusiastic about developing
our operations. We are very happy with this result! The proposed initiatives also show our
employees’ level of expertise.”
Paavo Pitkänen

HOT COLD
10 V a h t e r u s N e w s 1 / 2 0 1 0
11
17 Years of Cooperation
Wijbenga B.V. is an engineering and sales
company for refrigeration components
in the Netherlands & Belgium.
For over 25 years the company
is the leading specialist in industrial refrigeration
and focuses mainly on natural refrigerants like ammonia
and carbon dioxide. Wijbenga represents
leading companies like Vahterus, Witt and RTK. Customer
satisfaction is generated by providing reliable
and innovative solutions.
The relationship between Vahterus and
Wijbenga goes back to the early beginning of
Vahterus. In 1993 the first contacts between
Mauri Kontu and Hans Wijbenga were the
beginning of a long term cooperation. The
Vahterus heat exchangers were introduced to the
refrigeration market using their own Q-plate®
trade mark. The First size 5 unit was delivered in
1994 for a slaughtery in Belgium, this unit is still
in operation as a flooded heat exchanger with
ammonia.
One of the first size 5 units
To learn more about the possibilities for plate and
shell heat exchangers in the refrigeration market,
Wijbenga set up a test program in cooperation
with Vahterus and TNO (a Dutch research
centre). The testing was focused on flooded
and direct expansion systems using natural and
synthetic refrigerants. The results provided better
knowledge of the heat exchanging and twophase
flow patterns. The numerous advantages of
the Plate & Shell heat exchanger in refrigeration
applications were very clear and in 1997 the NVKL
(Dutch refrigeration society) granted the Q-plate®
test programme with an innovation award.
Nowadays the Plate & Shell heat exchanger is
worldwide used as an evaporator (flooded and
DX systems), as a condenser, for heat recovery, as
oil coolers etc.
NVKL Innovation award
Due to the high demand for systems with a small
refrigerant content, the popularity of the PSHE
increased even more. The (re)introduction of
Simply Better Together
Vahterus Oy and GEA PHE Systems to
supply complete plate heat exchanger
package for Russian urea resin plant
The project: a urea resin plant in
Russia. From next year aminoplastics are to
be produced in a reactor by condensing urea
and formaldehyde. The medium needs to be
cooled repeatedly using plate heat exchangers
at various stages throughout the production
process. The requirements made by the client
were clear: all of the plate heat exchangers had
to be supplied from a single source. Thanks to
its strategic partnership with GEA PHE Systems
Vahterus Oy was in a position to offer gasketed
high-performance plate heat exchangers to
complement its own range of fully welded
models, thus covering all aspects of the complete
cooling package required.
Originally the West German plant engineering
company had envisaged two cooperating
competitors as component supplier. However
the plant engineers revised their strategy in
March, when Vahterus, as international leader
in the manufacture of fully welded plate heat
exchangers, made reference to the cooperation
agreement concluded over a year ago with GEA
PHE Systems as the technological market leader
for plate heat exchangers. The decisive factor
for the planners from Germany’s Rhineland was
the established joint solution offered by two
technological leaders guaranteeing the required
process reliability.
A total of eleven plate heat exchangers, five
fully welded and six gasketed models, are to be
installed in the Russian facility. On the pressure
side the units are flanged onto circulation and
product pumps and ensure the constant and
correct temperature of the medium in the
heating and cooling circuits. The flow rate is up to
170,000 litres per hour.
Vahterus is supplying plate heat exchangers
of types PSHE 3 and PSHE 4 with fully welded
packs of circular plates. Where high thermal
pressures and extreme temperatures prevail in
production processes, the planning specialists
for chemical plants from Finland prefer to install
their gastight plate heat exchangers. The units
are typified by high heat recovery, extremely low
space requirements and a clearly lower price than
conventional shell-and-tube heat exchangers.
These compact PHEs perfectly complement
the gasketed plate heat exchangers from the
Varitherm and NT series by GEA PHE Systems. This
strategic partnership allows both companies to
offer the complete product range of plate heat
exchangers, whether gasketed, brazed or fully
carbon dioxide as a refrigerant, in the beginning
of this century, was an excellent application for
the fully welded plate & shell heat exchanger. At
this moment the installed capacity of cascade
condensers in the Benelux exceeds 100 MW.
Nowadays over 2.600 units, for all kind of
applications in refrigeration, were sold over
Wijbenga in the Benelux market. Around 30%
of the annual turnover of Wijbenga is related to
Vahterus products.
Q-plate test unit
The future for Plate & Shell heat exchangers looks
very bright. For the last ten years the design of
refrigeration plants focuses on the use of natural
refrigerants, reduction of refrigerant charges,
reduction of energy consumption and reduction
of the total cost of ownership. Plate & Shell heat
exchangers can fulfil these demands.
After 20 years the position of Vahterus is very
strong. The company is still privately owned and
that results in shorts contact lines, essential for
a good cooperation. Innovations and quality
improvements over the last 20 years contributed
to a continued leadership in heat exchangers. We
congratulate Mauri Kontu and Vahterus with their
20 years anniversary and we look forward to the
next 20 years!
Jeroen Schröer,
Managing Director
Wijbenga B.V.
welded. And this is appreciated by the customers.
The liquid urea resin to be produced in the
Russian facility is mainly used as glue in the paper
and wood-processing sectors. When hardened,
aminoplastics form a lightfast, scratch-resistant,
flame retardant plastic that is white in its raw
state.
&
As Finland entered the 1990s, the financial markets underwent
a significant change due to market deregulation. Our banks were
not prepared for this and an excess supply of international financing
overheated the stock and property markets. Because inflation continued
to accelerate and the Finnish mark continued to strengthen, our traditional
metal industry, beginning with our shipbuilding industry, completely lost its
competitiveness and we descended into a long recession.
There was a need for structural change, driven by companies founded
on technical innovations. We also learned that the export trade was not the
exclusive right of large corporations. Vahterus Oy was founded in 1990 in
this changing operational environment. Close cooperation began between
Vahterus Oy and the Vakka-Suomi branch of the OP Bank Group at this time,
based on existing good relationships. The export industry regained its price
competitiveness when the Finnish mark was floated in 1992 and it was no
longer difficult to acquire the financing required for growth.
Vahterus Oy is managed in a target and growth oriented way. Vahterus
strives to be a leader in both product development and production
technology. Even large scale investments are carried out in a conscious way
and at the appropriate time. We at OP Bank Group value when a company’s
ERP and financial administration systems are in line with the company’s
business development. At Vahterus Oy in addition to requirements
established for profitability and the basic factors that contribute to it, strict
minimum requirements have always been set for solvency and liquidity.
These standards provide the best benefits for our customers when they are
in the process of obtaining financing or other financial services.
Since the company was founded, Vahterus Oy’s owners have worked
to instil strong basic values within the company, with a particular focus on
family enterprise. This reflects responsibility for consistent development
and fits in with the values held by OP Bank Group’s Vakka-Suomi branch
exceptionally well. As a consequence of the banking crisis of the early
1990s, Finland’s commercial banks were transferred to foreign ownership
one by one. In this situation, the OP Bank Group reassessed its principle task
and initiated a focused corporate services development programme. Over
the years, the bank has developed into an important provider of financial
services required by Vahterus Oy and other small and medium-sized
enterprises in Finland’s Vakka-Suomi sub-region.
I am pleased to say that as Vahterus Oy has grown, its management and
owners have continuously developed a broader sense of responsibility for
the surrounding community. As the company makes use of local services
and subcontracts work, it has already employed a significant number of
local residents for some time. Vahterus Oy supports our area’s cultural and
sports activities, and the company’s management actively participates in
developing the region’s services and infrastructure in various ways. OP Bank
Group and Vahterus Oy often work together in these ventures to achieve
even more.
Juha-Pekka Nieminen
Managing Director
OP Bank Group, Vakka-Suomi branch
Together
We Can
Achieve More
Small and
Medium
Enterprises an Important
Part of Uusikaupunki’s
Business Life
The town of Uusikaupunki crumbled to its knees during
the far-reaching and worldwide depression of the 1990s. At that
time, our town believed that it would fare best by relying primarily
on large-scale industry.
Large-scale industry is, of course, of great importance and even
crucial for a small town like Uusikaupunki. However, based on our
experiences, we have realised we also need a strong and versatile
base of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs have
developed in our town in an admirable way. This is due to our town’s
committed and innovative group of business owners.
During the 1990s, there were fewer than ten SMEs based in
Uusikaupunki. Now, we have nearly 50 businesses that employ at
least ten people. Vahterus Oy is a prime example of such a business.
When I first became the city’s head of business development at the
end of the 1990s Vahterus Oy employed 20 people and now the
company’s staff has grown to approximately 150. So, in just over a
decade, Vahterus Oy has become our town’s third largest industrial
employer.
Vahterus Oy’s development has also been admirable by national
standards. The company’s growth has been exceptionally strong in
all business areas. A small town the size of Uusikaupunki benefits
from this type of company growth both through added vitality in
its general business activity, as well as in a financial sense. In recent
years, a large portion of the town’s communal tax income has come
from SMEs.
The following are Vahterus Oy’s principal basic values: customers
are our number one priority, a will to succeed and a motivation to
transform and develop. These values are clearly visible to outsiders
when they see the way in which Vahterus Oy has developed its
operations. The company “is fighting it out” in the international
market entirely with its own innovations and seems to constantly
be a step ahead of its competitors, thanks to its strong product
development work.
Uusikaupunki as a town has much to learn from Vahterus Oy’s
example. You must run one step ahead of everyone else if you want
to succeed. This is exactly what we have strived to achieve. We hope
that we will be able to continue “running”, just as Vahterus Oy has,
although the company owners’ running fitness seems to be a bit
better than ours.
I wish extend heartfelt congratulations to Vahterus Oy, on
behalf of the town of Uusikaupunki and especially on behalf of
myself, for 20 successful years of work, benefiting both Finland and
Uusikaupunki. I would also like to extend these congratulations to
the entire staff at Vahterus Oy. The future is in your hands.
Kari Koski
Mayor

Vahterus Oy
was founded 1990
Size 2
Plate & Shell 1991
Size 3
Plate & Shell 1993
Moving to
Pruukintie 1994
Size 5
Plate & Shell 1994
Size 9
Plate & Shell 1998
Vahterus (UK)
Ltd was
founded 1999
Vahterus
GmbH
was founded 2000
New
production
hall to
Pruukintie 2000
Compact 2001
Plate & Ring 2002
Size 14 2003
Size 7
Plate & Shell 2004
Size 4
Plate & Shell 2005
Carbon steel 2007
plate
Combined
model 2008
New
production
hall to Valintie 2008
High pressure
PSHE 2009
WH plate 2009
size 7
Vahterus ECO 2010
From here it all started.
The first Vahterus
unit from year 1991.
Year 2000 Vahterus
turned 10-years, 44
employees.
Twins 100-years.
VahterusRing inauguration in year 2004. From the right side:
Finnish Minister of Culture Tanja Karpela, Mauri Kontu and Olympic
gold medallist Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi.
Support and
Sponsorship from Tekes
“I wish we had more companies like Vahterus Oy in
Southwest Finland to make funding proposals to!” says
Esa Lindqvist, Head of the Turku unit of the Finnish
Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (TEKES).
TEKES is Finland’s number one state-owned funding
organisation sponsoring research and promising new
businesses. Every year, TEKES invests around EUR 440
million, in the form of subsidies and loans, into businesses
that the organisation believes have future potential.
The public venture capital investor encourages its
customers to seek expert consultancy from the science
and research community and to set up partnerships with
other enterprises.
TEKES grants funds for honing innovations and for
production-related development projects, but not for
ventures such as property investments. In these matters,
TEKES directs applicants to the Centres for Economic
Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY),
which operate alongside TEKES’s regional units.
Mr Lindqvist believes that many applicants could
carry out their initiatives even without TEKES’s help, but
that the projects would then be less ambitious and take
considerably longer.
“Funding from TEKES allows enterprises to seek
external consultancy and to speed up timescales,” he
explains.
Mr Lindqvist has been following the growth of
Vahterus Oy since the very beginning when Mauri Kontu
first turned to TEKES for funding. He considers Vahterus
Oy an exemplary applicant:
“They have been extremely active and enthusiastic
about launching development projects even though
these can be very hard on businesses. Vahterus Oy is
also prepared to turn to third party experts, which is
something that TEKES considers very important.”
It is difficult to find other examples of traditional
manufacturing enterprises that have been able to
increase their turnover as quickly. Despite the company’s
rapid growth, Vahterus Oy has an exceptionally firm
foundation.
According to Mr Lindqvist: “Vahterus Oy’s expertise is
based on solid engineering science”.
Over the years, Vahterus Oy has turned to TEKES
especially with regard to promoting its products and
improving its production technology. Mr Lindqvist recalls
that even the very first funding applications were easy to
approve.
“The new heat exchanger solution was completely
revolutionary and in a league of its own compared to
its predecessors. Moreover, Vahterus Oy is an excellent
example of a company that has continuously wanted to
develop its production technology in-house in order to
maintain its competitive edge,” Mr Lindqvist explains.
Vahterus Oy has always considered the support
and sponsorship of TEKES an invaluable asset. With the
funding from TEKES, the company has been able to
develop the heat exchanger itself as well as the related
production technology, both of which are critical to the
company’s business.
Mr Lindqvist has no wish to emphasise the
importance of TEKES’s contribution to the growth of the
company’s customer base, although he does believe that
cooperation with TEKES has helped Vahterus Oy to carry
out more ambitious projects and to turn them around
more quickly.
“Innovation and the drive to develop a business
always stem from within, from the family behind the
business! This is why I want to congratulate Mauri and
Sinikka Kontu and the whole of Vahterus Oy, and give
them my assurances that we at TEKES want to continue
our partnership in the future!”