The advantages of
APV Plate Heat Exchangers in industry

High-performance APV Plate
Heat Exchangers reduce energy
cost and expand productivity.

Even though we introduced the first
Plate Heat Exchanger (PHE) to
industry over 60 years ago, it is 
only in recent years our concept has
come into its own. This is certainly
attributable in part to energy cost 
and their uncertain future.
However, the competitive pressures
on industry to adopt cost-cutting 
measures and improve performance
have also figured importantly.

Today's process engineering designers recognize that where working pressures
and temperatures are moderate - in the 25 bar and up to 150ºC range - the 
PHE has no equal in a wide range of industrial applications.

Where our PHE is particularly effective is in liquid to liquid heat transfer where
the PHE's extensive heat transfer surface and capability of keeping the liquids
in a state of turbulence make high recovery possible even at temperature 
approaches as low as 1ºC. The practical limit for a tubular exchanger is
approximately 5ºC. The PHE can achieve 97% heat recovery versus the 50%
economically feasible with the tubular.

Yet the PHE has also shown itself to be a viable alternative in applications
involving suspensions and slurries. Smooth plate surfaces, turbulent flow and
the absence of low-velocity areas militate against fouling and the formation of
sedimentary deposits by solids carried in suspension.

The extraordinary flexibility of our PHE makes it adaptable to a wide range of
applications. And the adaptability remains a permanent feature - the PHE is not
dedicated to a single process. The number of plates in a frame can be enlarged
or reduced, flow patterns can be changed, heat transfer and pressure drop can
be precisely regulated by using plates with thermally long or short corrugations.
In short, the PHE is a piece of precision machinery that can be easily adjusted 
to meet specific process requirements.

APV offers you the experience gathered in thousands of industrial PHE installations.
Moreover, as part of a world-wide process engineering group, we can draw on the
collective knowledge and practical know-how of an army problem-solving scientists,
engineers and technicians who have encountered just about every heat transfer
application in the book.

APV offers you a lot more than hardware.

Advantages of the APV Plate Heat Exchanger in review.

  • The counterflow across the plates brings about the the maximum mean
    temperature difference between fluids, thereby reducing the amount
    of surface area needed.

  • The turbulence created by the corrugated plate surface results in a high
    heat transfer coefficient.

  • It is possible to operate with extremely close approach temperatures
     - as low as 1ºC.

  • Even distribution of the flow combined with turbulence eliminates dead
    spots and thus inhibits fouling.

  • Our PHE requires far less space than a tubular exchanger of equivalent
    capacity. It also weights far less.

  • The plates are easily accessible for visual inspection and manual cleaning.
    In many applications cleaning is possible by reversing the flow across the
    plates (reverseflushing). Such routine cleaning does not require excessive
    downtime or the use of highly trained personnel.

  • Process changes are easily made by adding or subtracting plates, and
    through the selective use of thermally long and short plates.

  • Intermixing of liquids is impossible, gaskets are arranged to give a double
    seal between the liquid flows.

  • APV Paraclip gaskets facilitate regasketing skilled personnel. If
    circumstances demand glued-on gaskets, these are also available.

  • Plates are available in stainless steel, titanium and a full range of
    exotic alloys to meet the requirements of all major industrial application.

 


A pool of fundamental
knowledge and practical
know-how at your service

As the originators of the Plate Heat Exchangers, we have always felt a responsibility
to stay at the forefront of its continued development. Our leadership has not come
solely out of the laboratory. A long-standing dialogue with customers and consulting
organizations - an exchange of information really - makes our products and the
recommendations we offer concerning their use acutely sensitive to the real-life
requirements of industry.

Much of what we have learned is factored into PC design programme. We are also
prepared to collaborate with you at any stage of the process engineering design. 
The wealth of useful information we have amassed over the years could lead to cost
efficient improvements of old processes... or get new ones off to a profitable start.

Our own investigations into various aspects of PHE design have yielded fundamental
knowledge that can be directly applied to making some industrial applications more
economical.

Whether you use us as an advisory resource or merely purchase our hardware, you
are always sure to be the forefront of PHE technology.

...and the service continues
long after the APV Plate Heat
Exchanger has been installed

Our Service engineers and technicians are prepared to install or supervise the installation
of your PHE and will recommend a maintenance programme. While we can assume
complete responsibility for such a programme, your own personnel can undertake 
most routine maintenance procedures, if you wish. We would of course offer you
personnel the necessary instruction.

Having dealt with every conceivable type of PHE application, our experts are well
versed in the specific problems and maintenance requirements associated with each.

Here are some of the ways in which we can give your PHE a longer productive life:

Cleaning on site Full factory restoration Inspections
Routine on-site cleaning of your 
PHE is a simple matter requiring 
minimal downtime. It can be done
 in hours or overnight, by APV 
service personnel or your own staff.
It involves regasketing, 
ultrasonic or chemical 
cleaning of the plates,
and an examination for 
microscopic imperfections 
that could compromise
your process. Damaged
 plates are replaced.
In applications using highly 
corrosive liquids, inspection 
for hairline crack and other wear
can be done on-site by our
experienced technicians. They
 use penetrant dyes and 
ultraviolet light to get at flaws 
hidden to the naked eye.
Regasketing 
withParaclip gasgets
Insallation,
start-up,training

Spare parts on call
While your personnel can do this
 with some instruction from us, our
 experts personnel can also bring 
the job to a speedy conclusion. 
Where bonded gaskets are used,
 regasketing may have to be done
 in the factory.
We can assist or supervise
 the installation and start-up
 of new equipment. Routine
cleaning tasks can be 
handled by your own 
personnel, with a little
training, we can provide
 the necessary instruction.
PHE spare orders are rapidly supplied
from our computerised stocks in several
continents. Where APV PHEs are of vital
importance to you production process
and interruptions are likely to be very 
expensive, you should consider having
some spare plates or even a spare plate
pack in your own stock

The APV collection covers
all industrial applications

Plates are available with effective heat transfer areas from 0,02m² to 4,75m². The complementary frames
are naturally also available. Our largest frame can accommodate 700 plates, providing over 2500m² of
surface areas.

The plates are available in various gauges stainless steel- a thoroughly proven molybdenum bearing chrome
nickel steel. For processes where stainless steel is unsuitable, we offer many alternatives:

Avesta 254SLX®*
Avesta 254SMO®
Hastelloy B-2®
Hastelloy C-276®
Hastelloy G-3®
Incoloy 825®
Incoloy 625 ®
Nickel
Tantalum
Titanium
Titanium / palladium

® Trademark
* Same Composition as udderholm
904L and Sandvik 2RK65


Some of the typical processes where 
APV Plate Heat Exchangers are used 
for either cooling or heating purposes.

Air-conditioning Plants
Condensers
Evapoators
Heat pump plants
Chemical Industry
Brine
Desmophen
Different acids
Glycerine
H2SO4
Isoparaffin
Kerosene
Process cooling
Sour zine
Automobile Industry
Colours in lacquering processes
phosphate solutions
Quenching oil
Extraction
Fatty acids
Palm oil
Raw alcohol
Soya bean oil
vegetable oil
Power Generation
Closed cooling systems
District heating substations
Geothermal plants
Heat pump plants
Heat regeneration plants
Domestic
Plants for heating of floors
Preheating of hot water
Swimming pools
Machine Industry
Autoclave water
Compressor