SILVERDALE, Wash. –
There are many components that go into a submarine’s proper functionality. One very important component, is a part called a heat exchanger, which is made of a metal shell and tubes that work by transferring heat from one place to another.
Recently, a heat exchanger on one of the submarines located on the Delta Pier was deemed “beyond repair”. The original manufacturer of the heat exchanger was unable to provide a new contract for the part, so Trident Refit Facility, Bangor’s (TRFB) Valves and Pump shop, Code 31D, took matters into their own hands. For the first time ever, the Pumps and Valves shop took on the challenge of building a heat exchanger.
TRFB team member Nathan Klein, Work Leader 31D Valves and Pump Shop, is leading the 31D team that is building the new heat exchanger. Klein has been with TRFB since 2005, and remembers a similar project during his first few months on the job.
“When I first got here in 2005, that summer we were retuning the 3k heat exchangers,” said Klein. “That system is not on the submarines anymore, but we retuned three of those that summer.”
Klein recalls all of the intricate work that took place his first summer working at TRFB and reflects on both the similarities and differences of the job he did back in 2005 compared to the job his team is currently working on 17 years later.
“The heat exchanger onboard the submarine is beyond repair so the solution is to either make a new one or get a new one,” said Klein. “We [TRFB] did not secure a contract for a new heat exchanger, so the only alternative is to make one ourselves. This is like assembling an engine from scratch rather than rebuilding an old engine.”
According to Klein, the preparation started back in May 2022, when the planning office and engineers wrote a package for the 31D team to provide detailed instructions on how to build a heat exchanger.
“We’re about seven months in of actual progress,” said Klein. “Things moving, tools hitting parts—we’ve got about a month left to meet our deadline and we’re hopeful that we will make it.”
31D was not the only division hard at work, the project was a group effort between many shops such as Planning, Engineering, Mechanics, and Non-Destructive Test (NDT) Examiners. All of the shops had multiple meetings over the last several months to make sure the process for building and testing the heat exchanger went as smooth as possible. The NDT shop, which duties include visual testing and inspection of piping and structural welds, conducted a radiography test. This radiography test used an x-ray to verify that the medal for the heat exchanger was properly welded.
“There was a ton of NDT work,” said Klein. “NDT figured out how to do a radiography test, it’s the first time they’ve done it that way and they were successful. Every portion of this job has been something new that no shop has ever done before.”
Sailors enrolled in the Navy Afloat Maintenance Training Strategy (NAMTS) program have also received some rare training on putting together a heat exchanger. Heat exchangers typically last a long time, the one being replaced lasted about 35 years, and not many Sailors have seen or worked on a heat exchanger before. A few Sailors have had the opportunity to work alongside civilians to train and help with the job.
“It has been such a unique job,” said Klein. “Everyone is stopping by and talking about it. I don’t know if there is a single shipyard that has built one of these from scratch before.”