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.

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

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

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:

The APV collection covers
all industrial applications

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:

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