Working Principle of Plate Heat Exchangers

Heating or cooling a medium by transferring heat between one medium and another. In a gasketed, detachable plate heat exchanger, the plates are fitted with elastic gaskets that seal the flow channels and direct the media into alternate channels.
The plate pack is assembled between the frame plate and the pressure plate and is compressed by tightening the bolts installed between these plates. The flow distribution plates and the pressure plate are suspended from the upper support rods and held in place by the lower guide rods, which are all fixed to the support columns. This design is easy to maintain and allows for convenient adjustment of the heat transfer capacity by reducing or increasing the number of plates.
 

Introduction to Plate Heat Exchanger Flow Patterns

The heat-transfer section of a gasketed plate heat exchanger consists of a series of corrugated plates assembled between a frame and pressure plates to maintain the required pressure. Gaskets serve as seals between the plates. On typical applications, the two fluid streams flow in counter-current through the heat exchanger, which delivers the most efficient heat-transfer performance and enables heat exchange with very small temperature differences—specifically, the temperature difference between the outlet process fluid and the inlet service fluid. For heat-sensitive or viscous fluids, a co-current flow configuration may be employed, ensuring that the coldest fluid encounters the hottest fluid upon entering the heat exchanger. This approach minimizes the risk of overheating or freezing of the fluids. The equipment can be supplied with various pressing depths, herringbone corrugations, and other corrugation designs, all of which are carefully engineered and selected to achieve optimal performance. Depending on the application, each product series features its own specific corrugation design. Optimized flow-diverting zones ensure uniform distribution of the fluids across the entire heat-transfer surface and help prevent stagnant areas that could lead to fouling.

Advantages of Plate Heat Exchangers

• Adaptability
  The heat exchange plates are easily removable, and by adjusting the number of plates or modifying the flow configuration, an optimal heat transfer performance and capacity can be achieved.
• Use reliably
  Two sealing elements are incorporated into the interplate sealing assembly, along with a signal port. In the event of a leak, the leaked fluid is discharged to the exterior of the heat exchanger, thereby preventing cross-contamination between the two media and providing a safety alarm function.
• Conducive to the utilization of low-temperature heat sources
  Due to the nearly countercurrent flow between the two media and the high heat-transfer efficiency, this equipment is ideally suited for recovering low-temperature waste heat or utilizing low-temperature heat sources.
• Small footprint, easy maintenance
  Plate heat exchangers feature an extremely compact design; under the same heat-transfer duty, they occupy only 1/2 to 1/3 of the space required by shell-and-tube heat exchangers.
• Low resistance loss
  Under the same heat-transfer requirement, plate heat exchangers, compared with shell-and-tube heat exchangers, offer significant reductions in heat-transfer area, footprint, fluid pressure drop, and cooling-water consumption, thereby substantially lowering equipment capital costs, civil-engineering investment, and energy consumption. This cost advantage is particularly pronounced when expensive materials are required, as the high efficiency and thin plates of plate heat exchangers further enhance their economic viability.