Frequently Asked Questions

Accu-Therm is the Mueller gasketed plate and frame line. Stainless plates pressed with a chevron pattern hang on carrying bars and are clamped between a fixed head and a movable follower, with an elastomer gasket on each plate steering the two fluids into alternate channels. Loosen the tie bolts and the pack opens, so plates can be inspected, cleaned, regasketed or added.

The names describe how it looks once inflated. Two metal sheets are welded together at a grid of points and around the edge, then pressurized until the unwelded areas bulge into channels, giving a quilted or dimpled surface. Mueller sells it as Temp-Plate, and the same product shows up in specifications under all three names, so any of them will get you to the right family.

It changes the product side more than the thermal side. Sanitary Accu-Therm units use plate patterns, gasket profiles and finishes chosen so product cannot hang up in crevices, with connections suited to clean-in-place and gasket compounds that tolerate caustic and acid washes. If the unit touches food, dairy or beverage product, say so up front, because a standard industrial unit is not a substitute.

When one side carries a refrigerant or another fluid you would rather not seal with a gasket alone. Pairs of plates are laser welded into cassettes, so the aggressive fluid stays inside a welded boundary while the other side stays gasketed and can still be opened. Ammonia evaporators and condensers serving process water or glycol are the classic duty.

Cross contamination after a leak. Each plate is really two plates nested together, so a pinhole in one leaves a gap that vents to atmosphere instead of letting one fluid enter the other. That visible external leak is the alarm. Plumbing codes often call for it when potable water is heated by boiler water, chemically treated loops or anything else non-potable.

EPDM handles hot water, steam and caustic cleaning and is the usual sanitary choice, but it swells in oil. Nitrile is the general answer for water and oil at moderate temperature. Viton covers hydrocarbons and many acids yet does not like steam. When a unit changes duty, choose the compound for the new fluid and cleaning program rather than reordering what came out of the frame.

Frequently it can, because frames can be built to suit an existing foundation and nozzle locations. That keeps the concrete, the anchor bolts and the pipe spools where they are, which is often worth more than the exchanger price difference. Send a dimensioned sketch or photos of the current unit, the connection positions and the duty, and we will tell you how close a drop-in can get.

By the serial number on the nameplate, which ties back to the exact plate pattern, gasket style and pack arrangement. Plates from different families can look nearly identical yet differ in port size, groove or hanger detail, so a tape measure leads to wrong parts. A clear photo of the nameplate and one of the plate face is the quickest route to the right items.

A Temp-Plate clamp-on panel does exactly that. Panels are rolled to the shell radius, bolted to lugs on the outside and bedded in heat transfer mastic, so the vessel is never cut or opened. Only the mounting lugs are welded to the outside, so check with whoever holds the vessel's code records before they go on. Expect lower performence than an integral jacket because heat crosses the mastic and the shell, which we allow for when rating the panel area.

Yes, and that is much of its value. Panels can be rolled, flanged, cut around nozzles or formed to cones and dished heads, then welded into a vessel or built as a freestanding assembly. Send a drawing of the surface you need covered, the heating or cooling medium and its pressure, and the panel layout is worked out around your geometry.

When chlorides are present at a level and temperature that will pit stainless. Seawater, brackish cooling water and some brines fall into that range, and a 316 plate there can perforate in months. Titanium costs considerably more per plate, so the deciding facts are the chloride content, the temperature at the plate wall and whether the fluid is aerated.

It is a small plate exchanger fitted between the milking system and the bulk tank, using well water or chilled water to pull heat out of the milk before it reaches storage. Precooled milk puts far less load on the tank refrigeration, and the warmed water is often reused for livestock drinking. Flow matching between milk and water is what sets its performance.

The Fre-Heater recovers heat from a refrigeration system and puts it into water instead of rejecting it to air. On a dairy farm that means the compressor heat from cooling milk preheats wash water, cutting the energy the water heater has to supply. Size depends on the refrigeration load and how much hot water the operation uses each day.

Code construction is available across much of the line, including plate and frame, Temp-Plate assemblies, brazed units and chillers. The requirement depends on the fluid, pressure and jurisdiction, and Canadian projects add a CRN registration. Tell us the code, the stamp and the province or state at the start, since it affects material traceability and documentation as well as price.