Plate Heat Exchanger Applications for Industrial & Home

Nowadays, the extensive application of plate heat exchangers has greatly improved the efficiency of heat exchange mechanisms, no matter in industry or home. The common applications of plate heat exchangers include but are not limited to: boiler system, home hot water, solar heating, biodiesel fuel, enforced hot wind system, radiant heating, snow melting, etc.

Plate heat exchangers application 1: Indoor and outdoor wood stoves, boilers and stove.

In industry, when wood is used outdoors or pellet burners are used indoors to make hot water, if the hot water produced can be effectively combined with existing indoor air stoves, a simple and cost-effective forced air heating system can be created. You can install the water to air brazed plate heat exchanger directly in the pressurized chamber, and then connect the water pipe and the return pipe to make the hot water flow through the coil. The burner forces the air through the brazed plate heat exchanger to bring the air to the desired temperature. In this way, a comfortable indoor temperature can be created. If you install the water to air brazed plate heat exchanger on the roof, and use the corresponding fan or blower, you can create an independent point-of-use water heater.

Brazed plate heat exchanger（water to water）can be used together with the indoor/outdoor wooden boiler to create an economic home hot water heating system. Boiler water cannot be used in the drinking water system, so it is best to install a special boiler heat exchanger to separate the two types of water to avoid cross-contamination.

Plate heat exchangers application 2: Home hot water.

Brazed plate heat exchanger is also widely used to produce home hot water. By exchanging heat with water in boilers, solar or other systems, brazed plate heat exchanger can provide an efficient and low-cost means for producing the domestic hot water. When the two liquids flow in the countercurrent direction, brazed plate heat exchanger would reach its maximum efficiency.

Some applications will generate excess heat, which is usually discharged into the atmosphere. If the air to water brazed plate heat exchanger is installed in the piping system, the excess heat from the hot air can be absorbed from the hot air, which shall be used to heat the water in the coil of brazed plate heat exchanger. The hot water produced in this way can be stored in an insulated water tank for future use.

Plate heat exchangers application 3: Solar heating.

What is similar to the snow melting system is that the solar system usually contains a mixture of water and propylene glycol antifreeze. When the system is operating at its maximum capacity during the solar peak period, the temperature and pressure of the solar circuit will greatly exceed the maximum allowed by the household and radiation system. The brazed plate heat exchanger is used in such systems to maximize the energy generated by the solar collector system. In addition, heat exchanger can safely isolate the solar system circuit from other systems (such as home water, radiant heating industry, swimming pool, hot spring water, etc.), allowing the two liquids to exchange heat in a safe and effective manner.

Plate heat exchangers application 4: Biodiesel fuel.

Brazed plate heat exchangers are increasingly used in the biodiesel fuel industry. Biodiesel is produced from waste vegetable oil (WVO). One of the main tasks in the production of biodiesel is to preheat the oil to reduce its viscosity, so the brazed plate heat exchanger can effectively isolate the oil from the heating liquid.

Plate heat exchangers application 5: Enforced hot wind heating & cooling.

Water to air brazed plate heat exchanger can be used in a variety of enforced hot air heating and cooling applications in industry. The brazed plate heat exchanger can be installed in the existing piping system. If it is used in suspended space heating applications, it can also be used separately. If the chilled water passes through the coil of the heat exchanger and runs with a fan or blower, an environmentally friendly air supply cooling system can be formed without the need of using the refrigerant.

As we all know, the purchase and maintenance costs of unit heaters are high. The combination of water to air heat exchanger and forced ventilation fan or blower is an ideal substitute for unit heater.

Plate heat exchangers application 6: Radiant floor heating.

Radiant heating applications usually use traditional storage water heaters or instantaneous heating water heaters. Adding a brazed plate heat exchanger to the radiant heating system can completely separate the hot water for heating and hot water for home. This is a safe and effective heat transfer method. In a similar way, the water in some radiant heating systems may be mixed with propylene glycol. Such water can neither be mixed with home water nor boiler water. In this case, brazed plate heat exchangers can be used to separate the media to provide a safe means of heat transfer.

Plate heat exchangers application 7: Ice and snow thawing.

In ice and snow melting system, some mixtures will easily freeze when the system stops operation. In normal conditions, people would add antifreeze to the water to prevent this from happening. According to the location and system design, the content of antifreeze may be as high as 50%. No matter what type of ice and snow melting system, this mixture must not have an impact on industry boiler water and home water. Installing a brazed plate heat exchanger (liquid to liquid) in this application can separate the two liquids and prevent cross contamination. In the system that converts boiler water to ethylene glycol, the brazed plate heat exchanger will also act as an oxygen barrier for the boiler circuit, thereby preventing corrosion of the circulator, boiler heating element or other cast iron parts in the system.