Applications
In short
In a large heat pump system the gasketed plate heat exchanger usually sits on the water side: between the heat source and the heat pump, and between the heat pump and the building or district network. It keeps dirty or aggressive water away from the machine and can be opened for cleaning. TECS designs and manufactures these units; the selection is done by the TECS engineering team.
A large heat pump takes heat from somewhere cool and delivers it somewhere warmer. The somewhere cool is often not friendly water: groundwater, a river or lake, sea water, treated sewage, process cooling water or the return from a data center. Running that water straight through the heat pump is asking for trouble, and this is where a gasketed plate heat exchanger earns its place.
The Source Side Is The Hard Side
The heat pump has its own evaporator and condenser, and those are built for the refrigerant. They are not the place for water with sand, iron, biological growth or salt. An intermediate gasketed plate exchanger lets the raw source water pass through plates that can be opened, cleaned and, if needed, made of a more resistant material, while a clean closed loop runs between the exchanger and the heat pump.
The price is a small loss of temperature across the extra exchanger, and the heat pump works a little harder because of it. Most designers accept that in exchange for a machine that is protected and a source loop that can be serviced without touching the refrigeration side.
On The Delivery Side
On the warm side, a plate exchanger separates the heat pump from the network it feeds. In district heating this keeps the network pressure and water quality away from the machine, and it gives the network operator a clear boundary between their system and the plant. In buildings it can split a heat pump circuit from an older radiator system or from domestic hot water preparation.
Why Gaskets Help Here
Source water changes with the seasons and over the years. A well can start to carry more iron, a river more silt, a sewage stream more grease. A gasketed unit can be opened, inspected and cleaned when that happens, and plates can be added if the plant is later extended with a second heat pump. For a source that is hard to predict, being able to look inside is worth a great deal.
It also matters that the heat pump often runs for long hours at part load. A plate exchanger that has been selected for the real running pattern, not only for the coldest design day, keeps the whole system closer to the efficiency it was bought for.
What Gets Forgotten
The water analysis of the source is the item most often missing from an enquiry, yet it decides the plate material and how often the unit will be opened. A strainer in front of the exchanger on the source side is the second. Both are cheaper to settle at the start than after the first season.
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.
Where It Sits
- Between the heat source water and the heat pump
- Between the heat pump and the building or district network
- Protects the heat pump from dirty, salty or aggressive water
- Can be opened and cleaned as the source water changes
- Plates can be added when a second heat pump follows
- Water side only; the refrigerant side belongs to the heat pump
What To Send With An Enquiry
- Heat source: groundwater, river, sea, sewage, process water or other
- Water analysis of the source, if available
- Heat pump capacity and the conditions on both sides
- Network or building circuit it feeds
- Strainers or filtration already planned
- Site and any plans to extend the plant
Questions We Are Often Asked
Is the gasketed plate heat exchanger part of the heat pump?
No. It sits on the water side, between the source and the heat pump or between the heat pump and the network. The refrigerant side is part of the heat pump itself.
Why not run source water straight through the heat pump?
Raw water can carry solids, salt or biological growth that would foul or damage the heat pump. An intermediate exchanger keeps that water in a unit that can be opened and cleaned.
Does the extra exchanger cost efficiency?
A little, because it adds one more step of heat transfer. Most designers accept that for the protection and easier service it gives.
Which heat sources are typical?
Groundwater, rivers and lakes, sea water, treated sewage, process cooling water and data center return water.
Can the exchanger grow with the plant?
Often yes. Plates can be added to a gasketed unit within the limits of its frame when the duty grows.
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.
