Using Plate Heat Exchangers to Increase Energy Efficiency

"In recent years, there has been an increasing awareness of Plate Heat Exchangers (PHE's) in industrial processes around the world. While PHE's have historically been classified as compact heat exchangers, compactness is often a secondary advantage that makes them well suited for retrofit applications in process plants that are often space limited. The primary advantage of PHE's are their high efficiency, flexibility, and reliability. Because of their efficiency, PHE's are being used in more applications where shell and tube heat exchangers were historically used. The high efficiency of the PHE offers the greatest benefits to the process industries. The countercurrent flow configuration, high heat transfer coefficients, and low fouling tendencies result in a heat exchanger that is extremely economical and efficient, especially in energy recovery applications where low LMTD's are common. This paper will review PHE design and construction and show how PHE's can be used to recover energy in many industrial processes. An economical analysis will be included to show the competitiveness of PHE's in energy recovery applications. The paper will review the advantages, benefits, and limitations of PHE's. Recent advances in PHE technology will also be discussed.