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Another
type of heat exchanger is the plate heat exchanger.
One is composed of multiple, thin,
slightly-separated plates that have very large
surface areas and fluid flow passages for heat
transfer. This stacked-plate arrangement can be more
effective, in a given space, than the shell and tube
heat exchanger. Advances in gasket and brazing
technology have made the plate-type heat exchanger
increasingly practical. In HVAC applications, large
heat exchangers of this type are called
plate-and-frame; when used in open loops, these heat
exchangers are normally of the gasketed type to
allow periodic disassembly, cleaning, and
inspection. There are many types of
permanently-bonded plate heat exchangers, such as
dip-brazed and vacuum-brazed plate varieties, and
they are often specified for closed-loop
applications such as refrigeration. Plate heat
exchangers also differ in the types of plates that
are used, and in the configurations of those plates.
Some plates may be stamped with "chevron" or other
patterns, where others may have machined fins and/or
grooves. |
