Engineering & Selection

It sets the gasket compound, the plate alloy and sometimes the construction. A hot caustic and acid CIP cycle rules out compounds that would be fine on the process fluid alone, and a pack that will be opened by hand needs frame length to slide plates back. Tell us the cleaning chemicals, their temperature and how often they run, and we rate materials against the harsher of the two.

A blank gets filled with somebody's default, and two vendors will fill it differently. That is how quotes that look comparable end up rated to different duties. We write the assumed value in to the rating summary instead, so if the real figure later turns out higher or lower, you can see at once which part of the selection it moves.

Start with whether the fluid can go through a narrow channel at all. Viscous product, solids or a batch held in a tank usually point to Temp-Plate on the vessel, while clean pumped streams go to plates. Between gasketed and brazed, the deciding questions are whether you need to open the unit for cleaning and whether the duty may grow. Brazed units win on compactness for clean refrigerant and water work.

Any that change the construction. Pressure vessel stamping, sanitary design rules, double-wall protection against cross-contamination and potable water requirements each alter the frame, the plate or the gasket. Adding one after the rating means rating again. Name them on the first inquiry along with any customer or insurer specification, even if you are unsure it applies.