Basic Knowledge about Plate Heat Exchangers
In our daily production activities, we often need to handle the heat generated by equipment and production
Usually, we can use air-cooled heat sinks to achieve direct heat dissipation. But many devices cannot directly install heat dissipation metal sheets on them
So we need to use liquid cooling to conduct and transport heat
Liquid heat exchangers are divided into tube heat exchangers and plate heat exchangers
Plate heat exchangers can reduce the volume of heat exchangers while ensuring efficient heat transfer
1、 The working principle of a plate heat exchanger is that it is a device that uses metal plates to achieve heat exchange between fluids. Its basic working principle is to exchange heat between cold and hot fluids through parallel plate channels. Hot fluid and cold fluid alternate through different channels, while metal plates act as heat transfer media, transferring the heat of the hot fluid to the cold fluid. Due to the efficient corrugated design of the plates, not only does it increase the turbulence level of fluid flow, but it also significantly improves heat transfer efficiency. Therefore, plate heat exchangers typically have much higher heat transfer coefficients than traditional shell and tube heat exchangers.
2、 The structural classification of plate heat exchangers can be divided into the following categories based on different application requirements and designs: single-walled plate heat exchangers:
Single wall plate heat exchangers are the most common design, with only one layer of metal plates. This type of heat exchanger is suitable for situations where high heat transfer efficiency is required and there is no strict isolation requirement between fluids, such as cooling and heating operations in industrial processes.
Double wall plate heat exchanger:
A double wall plate heat exchanger consists of two layers of metal plates, with an interlayer between each layer, typically used to prevent cross contamination between different fluids. The main application scenarios of double wall design include handling harmful or valuable fluids, or environments with strict hygiene requirements, such as the food and pharmaceutical processing industry.
Removable plate heat exchanger:
The plates and seals of this heat exchanger can be disassembled for easy cleaning and maintenance. It is widely used in scenarios that require frequent maintenance or replacement of components, such as the chemical and food processing industries. Welded plate heat exchanger:
Welded plate heat exchangers fix the plates by welding without using sealing gaskets, making them suitable for high temperature, high pressure, or situations with extremely high sealing requirements. Due to the absence of gaskets, its sealing performance is better and its durability is stronger. 3、 The reason for reserving a long section of bolts for plate heat exchangers is that when using plate heat exchangers, it is often seen that a long section of connecting bolts is reserved, which is a unique design of plate heat exchangers. The reasons are as follows:
Leave space for maintenance and cleaning:
One important advantage of plate heat exchangers is that they can be easily disassembled for cleaning or maintenance. Reserve a longer section of the bolt, which can be used to disassemble the equipment and expand enough space for cleaning the internal plates and replacing the sealing gasket without completely removing the bolt. Convenient to increase or decrease the number of boards:
In practical operation, users may need to adjust the heat exchange area of the heat exchanger according to process requirements. Long bolts provide flexibility for increasing or decreasing the number of plates. Simply loosen the bolts, insert or remove the plates, and then tighten the bolts again to easily adjust the heat transfer capacity of the equipment. Ensure uniform force distribution:
The extension of the bolt ensures even force application during reassembly, thereby avoiding deformation or damage to the plate due to uneven force distribution. This is crucial in ensuring the long-term efficient operation of the heat exchanger.
In addition, according to the interface location, it can be divided into those on the same side and those distributed on both sides, as shown in the above figure. Generally, those distributed on the same side are more common because they do not require the use of water pipes during later expansion, and only need to ensure that there is sufficient expansion space on the side that has not been connected.
Suzhou Pharma Machinery Co.,Ltd.
2024/12/11
Gino
