How it is built
In short
A gasketed plate heat exchanger has two main parts. The frame - a fixed plate, a movable plate, bars and tightening bolts - holds everything and takes the pressure. The plate pack - thin corrugated plates, each with a gasket - does the heat transfer. Knowing the parts makes drawings, offers and spare part orders easier to read. TECS designs, manufactures and tests gasketed plate heat exchangers.
Open the drawing of a gasketed plate heat exchanger and a handful of terms appear that the offer takes for granted: frame plate, pressure plate, carrying bar, plate pack. People who order spares or plan a plant room meet these words sooner or later. Here is what they refer to, walking from the outside of the unit to the inside.
The Frame: What Holds It Together
At one end stands the fixed frame plate, a thick steel plate on feet. In most units the pipe connections are on this plate, so the pipework stays in place when the exchanger is opened. At the other end is the movable plate, often called the pressure plate, which slides along the bars and squeezes the pack against the fixed plate.
A carrying bar along the top holds the weight of the plates, which hang from it; a guide bar along the bottom keeps them in line. Both run to a support column at the back. Long tightening bolts down each side pull the two frame plates together. None of these parts touches the liquids. Their job is to carry the pressure and to let the pack be opened and closed.
The Plate Pack: Where The Heat Moves
The pack is a row of thin metal plates pressed with a corrugated pattern. The pattern stiffens the plate, makes the liquid swirl and gives the points where neighbouring plates rest on each other. Each plate has openings in its corners; lined up, these openings form the passages that distribute the liquids along the whole pack.
Plates alternate, so that the hot liquid flows in one gap and the cold liquid in the next. The first and last plates of the pack only close it off against the frame. The number of plates, their pattern and how the channels are grouped come from the selection for the duty, which is why two units in the same frame can hold quite different packs.
Gaskets: The Seal And The Traffic Rule
A gasket runs around the edge of each plate and around the corner openings. It seals the channel to the outside, and it also decides which liquid may enter which gap: around two of the corner openings the gasket closes the channel off, so that liquid passes by to the next plate. Between the two liquids the gasket is doubled, with a small vented space, so a failed gasket shows as a drip outside and not as mixing inside.
Gaskets are fixed to the plate either by clips or with adhesive, and their rubber compound is chosen for the liquids and the temperature. They are the part of the unit that ages, and the part most often ordered as a spare.
Why The Names Matter To A Buyer
The frame is bought once. If it was chosen with spare length on the bars, plates can be added later when the duty grows; if not, they cannot. That is worth asking about at the quotation stage, and it is a question about the frame, not the plates.
For spares the nameplate does the work. The serial number tells the manufacturer the plate type, the material, the gasket compound and the order in which the plates hang, so the right parts arrive without anybody measuring anything on site.
TECS designs and manufactures gasketed plate heat exchangers, spare plates and gaskets for projects worldwide. Send the fluids, the duty and the site, and the engineering team will answer.
The Parts At A Glance
- Fixed frame plate: stands on feet, usually carries the connections
- Movable pressure plate: slides back to open the pack
- Carrying bar and guide bar: hold and align the plates
- Tightening bolts: press the pack to its closed dimension
- Corrugated plates: the heat transfer surface
- Gaskets: seal each channel and direct the liquids
What To Have At Hand When Asking About A Unit
- Serial number from the nameplate
- Manufacturer and type, if the unit is not from TECS
- Number of plates in the pack
- The liquids on both sides
- What is needed: gaskets, plates, more capacity
- A photo of the nameplate and of the unit
Questions We Are Often Asked
What are the main parts of a gasketed plate heat exchanger?
The frame - fixed plate, movable pressure plate, carrying bar, guide bar and tightening bolts - and the plate pack of corrugated plates with their gaskets.
What does the pressure plate do?
It is the movable end of the frame. It presses the plate pack against the fixed plate and slides back along the bars when the unit is opened.
Why are the plates corrugated?
The pattern stiffens the thin plate, makes the liquid swirl so that heat transfers better, and gives the contact points between neighbouring plates.
How do the gaskets keep the liquids apart?
Each gasket seals its channel and blocks two of the corner openings, so the liquids enter alternate gaps. A vented double seal between them shows a leak on the outside.
Can plates be added to an existing frame?
Yes, if the bars and bolts have length to spare. Whether a frame has that reserve is decided when the unit is first selected.
Contact Us
Send us the fluids on both sides, the heat duty, the flow rates and temperatures and the site. We answer with a selection and an offer - or write to us on WhatsApp.
