Plate Heat Exchangers design characteristics
What are the design criteria and design limts of plate heat exchangers ?
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| Section summary |
|---|
| 1. Plate heat
exchangers in general |
| 2. Plate heat
exchanger design characteristics |
| 3. Plate heat exchanger performance |
1. Plate heat exchangers in general
Plate heat exchangers are nowadays used in many process industries. They can for example be found in HVAC systems or in food and beverages industry (for example for cooling juices). Their compact design and their accessibility for cleaning and maintenance bring them many advantages compared to classic shell and tube heat exchangers. They however do have some limitations that will prevent a more common use in heavy industries (pressure, temperature limits compared to shell and tube HX).
It is difficult to find litterature sources that will explain how to design and size plate heat exchangers. It is normally the know how of suppliers and sizing is delegated to them.
MyEngineeringTools.com has however used the few sources available to already create 2 pages about the sizing of Plate Heat Exchangers (concept illustration - not for detail design) :
The present page is completing those available resources by focusing on general design characteristics of Plate Heat Exchangers. This can be used to check if a plate heat exchanger could fit a particular need, or as indeed to the calculation methods available on the site.
2. Plate heat exchanger design characteristics
| Design parameter | Usual Range |
| Temperature | Max 180c |
| Pressure | Max 20 bar |
| Heat exchange area | Max 2800 m2 in a single unit |
| Pressure drop | 10 to 15 Psi |
| Flow | Max 2500 m3/h |
| Velocity | Min 0.1 m/s |
| Plates design | 0.5 to 1.2 mm thick 0.03 to 2.2 m2 / plate 1.5 to 5 mm plate spacing |
| Service | Liquid Clean service (no particles) If gasketed, not suitable for aggressive or dangerous fluids (risk of leakages) |
| Insulation | Normally no insulation |
| Materials | No carbon steel execution |
3. Plate heat exchanger performance
- Allows to have a temperature cross within the exchanger, or very close temperature differences
- Plate Heat Exchangers provide :
- High turbulence
- High heat transfer coefficients
- High fouling resistance
- Hot and cold flow rates are generally similar
Source
[Hall] Rules of Thumbs for Chemical Engineers, Stephen M Hall, Elsevier, 2018, page 207