In 1923, Dr. Richard Sellingman invented the first plate heat exchanger and forever revolutionized the process of indirect heat transfer. Now these products can be found in many homes, commercial institutions, and manufacturing plants across various industries. Their inherent design gives them a distinct advantage over other types of heat exchangers such as shell and tube types, adiabatic wheel types, etc.

Advantages

Let’s take a look at the different advantages of plate heat exchangers that make them possibly the best devices for many heat transfer applications.

compactness. They use thin sheets of metal to transfer heat from one liquid to another. These metal plates are lined with corrugations giving them a large surface area for a very small volume. This gives them a very small form factor compared to other types of heat exchangers, saving valuable floor space that can be used for other purposes. It is possible that it has the same thermal coefficient as the tubular type up to five times its size. This is especially useful in small houses, offices, and manufacturing plants that need all the space they can get.

High thermal efficiency. They operate with higher thermal efficiency than other heat exchangers due to the large surface area of ​​the plates. The cooling and heating liquid was spread over the plates, giving them more contact for heat transfer. The narrow chambers between each plate are also intended to maximize the volume of fluid in contact with the metal plates.

Economically. These exchangers are relatively simple and cheaper to produce than other types. Due to their size, they require less material to craft. They also provide the highest thermal capacity at a relatively low cost. This makes them the most economical option for heat transfer tasks.

flexibility. They are very flexible in that they can be used in most applications with minimal modification. And if modifications are to be applied, they can be implemented relatively easily, eliminating the need to purchase a new heat exchanger. They also work in a wide range of fluids and therefore make them compatible with a wide range of industrial applications.

Easy installation and maintenance. They look relatively similar on the outside; this makes the installation of new devices relatively easy, as one would not have to worry about incompatible joint sizes, variable inlet and outlet valves and piping, etc. With the right tools, these robust machines are also easy to take apart and disassemble. This facilitates cleaning and other maintenance tasks.

Disadvantages

Drain. Although the plates and gaskets in them are hermetically sealed, there is a greater potential for leakage than shell and tube heat exchangers. But as long as you don’t run them outside of the normal operating regions, one shouldn’t worry too much about this.

temperature difference.They work well with fluids with minimal or normal temperature differences. However, it does not work as well as a shell and tube type heat exchanger for fluids with large temperature differences.

In the end, the advantages of plate heat exchangers make them ideal for general heat transfer applications. The next time you need heat exchangers for your home, office or industrial plants, why not try getting a plate heat exchanger?