A plate type heat exchanger transfer heat from one medium to another with the help of identical thin plates; made of titanium or stainless steel. They are held together with the help a fine clearance maintained by the gasket material of rubber and asbestos fibre. They are much compact and have an added advantage of variable capacity.
Because of its simple design and large surface area; it is easy to clean and operate with higher efficiency then shell and tube heat exchanger. It basically consists of six main parts namely; pressure plate, frame plate, caring bar, guide bar, plates pack and support post. When combined together they form a plate type heat exchanger; that consists of plates pack made of corrugated metal plates with holes for passage of fluid medium.
The plates pack are held in place by the pair of plates; the one which is fixed is called frame plate while one which can move is called pressure plate. Even the number of plates in a plates pack is not fixed but is determined by the factors such as; flow rate, pressure difference, operating temperature, types of fluid and installation cost.