These are high quality heat exchanger made of stainless steel 304 with a copper brazing. They have high resistance to corrosion and are guaranteed with a warranty against all manufacturer's defects.

Fittings

Different sized fittings are available for small heat exchangers to meet your custom needs. Larger heat exchangers tend to have the larger sizes only (1"). Options for different sizes will be allowed in a drop-down box as available. These fittings, unless otherwise specified, are for all ports. Different sizes are not usually found on the same heat exchanger. This is because typical adapters can be used to size as necessary. Special orders with custom fitings can be made if ordered through us from the manufacturer. Special orders take about 8-12 weeks to arrive. Great discounts apply to such orders if enough units are purchased. Contact us for details.

Life of Unit & Corrosion

Corrosion is usually how these units will fail. Use fluids with reasonable pH levels to ensure a long lasting life. Hard water will corrode faster than regular water. (Use distilled if possible; Distilled should never corrode it) Salt water will corrode stainless steel very fast. It is recommended to clean the exchanger often if you are using corrosive fluids. Normal usage (non-corrosive fluids) should expect 20+ years of life.

Example of Uses

Wood Burning furnaces

Boilers

Radiant Floor Systems

Air conditioners

Solar Water heating applications

These can be used for any application in which heat transfer is necessary between two fluids without mixing the fluids.

How They Work

A flat plate heat exchanger is simply many places stacked on top of each other. The stacked plates create channels in-between them. Every other channel is connected to one side of the heat exchanger while the other channels are connected to the other side. Fluid A will pass through every other channel while Fluid B passes through the other channels, essentially alternating the fluids for maximum heat transfer.

Heat Transfer and Efficiency

Essentially heat transfer depends purely on temperature differentials between the two fluids and flow rates. The hotter Fluid A is and the colder Fluid B is, the more heat transfer there will be. Also, the faster the fluids move, the more convection will occur causing even faster heat transfer. In extremely fast flowing fluids, turbulence will occur which also increases heat transfer.

The longer in length a heat exchanger is, the more efficient it will be. Heat transfer takes time, and the longer the unit, the more time both fluids are in contact with each other to allow successful heat transfer.

System Set-up

There are two options for flow in these heat exchangers. One is parallel flow in which both Fluid A and Fluid B pass through the heat exchanger in the same direction. In an infinitely long heat exchanger which allows both fluids enough time for complete heat transfer, both fluids will end with the same temperature. (Hot fluid cooling and cold fluid heating to the same temperature somewhere in the middle)

The other option is counter flow. This is where Fluid A and Fluid B flow in opposite directions. This is the more efficient option and what we recommend. In an infinitely long heat exchanger, the output side on the cold fluid would reach the same temperature as the inlet temperature of the hot fluid. The output temperature of the hot fluid would also reach the temperature of the cold fluid on the inlet side. Essentially this allows heating of the cold fluid to the hottest temperature possible which is what a user would want in any application.

Length & Plates

Many ask why it is better to add more length to a heat exchanger rather than just adding more plates. As stated before, efficiency is raised with higher fluid velocity (more convection) and longer time inside of the heat exchanger (achieved by more length). If you were to take one heat exchanger with 10 plates and compare to a heat exchanger of the same length but 20 plates, the 20 plate heat exchanger would have more heat transfer because the fluid will pass more slowly through the heat exchanger and have more time for heat transfer. However, the fluid will move more slowly and thus there is a less in convection. More plates should be added when the user intends to have higher flow rates. The extra plates will accommodate for the extra space needed for the higher flow, thus maintaining the same velocity of the fluid & preventing too much pressure loss from flow restriction.

When sizing a heat exchanger it is best to get more length for more efficiency or heat transfer. More plates should be used when higher flow rates are desired. In some cases space may be an issue where adding more length is not possible. In these cases the only option is to add plates for more heat transfer.