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Brazed Plate Heat Exchangers
A brazed plate exchanger is built from 316 stainless plates vacuum brazed together with copper or nickel filler. Unit size, plate count and connection type are varied to match the duty. Because there is no frame, no gasket and no compression hardware, the unit is dramatically smaller and cheaper than an equivalent gasketed exchanger, and it holds far more pressure.
Part numbers. Every catalogued model, with the dimensions and ratings that separate them: L-Line Brazed Plate Part Numbers (21 part numbers).
- No gaskets. Nothing to select, replace or get wrong. On clean duty in a sealed system, that removes the most common maintenance item on a plate exchanger.
- High pressure. The brazed block handles pressures well beyond what a gasketed frame will hold, which is why brazed plate dominates refrigerant duty.
- Very compact. No frame, no tie bolts and no clearance for opening the pack. A brazed unit occupies a fraction of the space.
- Large range. Mueller offers one of the widest brazed plate ranges available, with many sizes held in stock and shipping the next day in most cases.
- Copper or nickel brazed. Copper for the great majority of duty; nickel where ammonia or certain chemistries rule copper out.
- Sealed for life. It cannot be opened, cleaned mechanically or expanded. That is the trade, and it is the right trade on clean, stable duty.
Brazed Plate Heat Exchangers
When Brazed Is the Right Choice
Clean fluids in a closed system, moderate to high pressure, limited space and a duty that is not going to change. Refrigerant evaporators and condensers, hydraulic oil cooling, domestic hot water and small heat recovery duties all fit that description.
The decision is really about fouling. If the fluid deposits anything, a brazed unit will eventually foul and there is no way to open it. On genuinely clean duty that never happens and the unit outlasts everything around it.
When It Is Not
Anything that fouls, anything with particulates, anything where the duty may need to grow, and anything where an inspection of the heat transfer surface will be required.
Those are all arguments for a gasketed Accu-Therm, and we will make them. Buying a brazed unit for a fouling duty because it is cheaper on day one is a decision that reverses itself within a couple of years.
Related
Copper Brazed Plate
Copper brazing is the default, and for the great majority of duties it is also the right answer. It is...
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Nickel Brazed Plate
Nickel brazing exists for one main reason: ammonia destroys copper. Where the fluid rules out a copper brazed...
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Sizing & Selection
Brazed plate units are cheap enough that people buy them from a table. That works until it does not, and when...
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Chemically, by circulating a cleaning solution through it. Mechanically, no, because it cannot be opened. That is the fundamental limitation of the design and the reason it is specified for clean duty only.
Considerably more than a gasketed unit, which is why brazed plate is the standard choice for refrigerant service. The exact rating depends on the model and the braze material, so send the design pressure with the duty.
Copper for the great majority of applications. Nickel where the fluid attacks copper, most notably ammonia, and in certain chemical duties. The choice is made against the fluid rather than against price.
Mueller carries one of the largest brazed plate ranges available and many sizes ship the next day. That makes brazed plate a practical answer when something has failed and production is stopped.
