heating water

Figure 2-22
Heat exchangers with 5-inch x 12-inch (or larger)
plates should be supported by some type of bracket
to reduce stress on the connected piping. Figure 2-23a
shows an example of a fabricated bracket supporting an
insulated 5 x 12-inch x 100 plate heat exchanger. Figure
2-23b shows a 5 x 12-inch x 40 plate heat exchanger
supported on a small steel angle bracket screwed to a
plywood wall. Some brazed plate heat exchangers are
supplied with threaded studs that can be fastened to a
metal bracket, as shown in Figure 2-23c.
Brazed plate heat exchangers are also available with
double wall construction for situations where codes
require them. These units provide a leakage path
between adjacent plates that would route any leaked
fluid outside the heat exchanger.
Small brazed plate heat exchangers are relatively light.
A 3 x 8-inch heat exchanger can be supported by the 4
pipes connected to it. However, those pipes should be
supported within a few inches of the heat exchanger, as
shown in Figure 2-22.
PLATE & FRAME HEAT EXCHANGERS
Plate & frame heat exchangers could be considered the
“big brother” to brazed plate heat exchangers. They
use the same concept of a stack of preformed plates to
separate the two fluids in alternating channels. However,
instead of brazing, plate & frame heat exchangers use
gaskets to seal the fluid channels. The stack of plates is
assembled on a frame between two thick steel pressure
plates. When the required number of plates have been
loaded onto the frame, several threaded steel rods are
used to pull the pressure plates together and compress
the stack into a pressure-tight assembly. The plate stack,
pressure plates and tension rods can be seen on the heat
exchanger in Figure 2-24.
Figure 2-23a Figure 2-23b Figure 2-23c
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