Paul Mueller Company Academy

This article is dedicated to identifying issues your plate heat exchanger (PHE) might be having, and setting you on the path to the right solution. Nearly all issues boil down to some form of plate fouling or gasket failure, but it’s important to determine whether it’s a one-time problem or an inherent flaw in your system (the PHE is specified incorrectly). The first step is to identify the symptoms of your underperforming heat exchanger.

Plate heat exchangers are a highly useful industrial component for passively (without extra energy) controlling fluid temperatures using other fluids that may already be part of the industrial process. Here’s a brief explanation of how they work and their benefits, as well as links to more helpful resources.

Heat exchangers all work by passing a hot fluid and a cold fluid across opposite sides of a piece of metal. The heat from one fluid passes across the metal (which is thermally conductive) into the other fluid without the fluids making contact. High fluid velocity, high turbulence, high surface area and a large temperature differential all contribute to more efficient heat transfer. However, different designs are more efficient than others depending on the application.