How The Brazed Plate Heat Exchanger Works
In Copper Brazed (CB) heat exchangers, the surfaces used to provide heat transfer from one medium to the other are thin, corrugated AISI 316 stainless steel plates stacked on top of each other. The two media are sealed within the plate pack by a brazed copper seal around the edge of the plates. This results in a heat exchanger that – unlike traditional designs – consists solely of surfaces which actively contribute to heat transfer, resulting in significant increases in overall efficiency.
The channels formed between the plates and corner ports are arranged so that the media flow through alternate channels – always in a counter-current flow pattern in order to achieve the most efficient heat transfer.
The contact points between the plates are also brazed, helping to withstand the effects of high pressures and high temperatures. Pressure peaks and rapid temperature cause substantial physical stresses within the materials, and Alfa Laval research has focused on the details of these phenomena in order to ensure designs that are extremely resilient and provide a long service life.