GB961419A - Plate heat exchanger - Google Patents

Abstract

961,419. Plate heat exchange elements; surface condensers. SEPARATOR A.B. Nov. 9, 1961 [Nov. 10, 1960], No. 40161/61. Heading F4S. [Also in Division B1] A plate heat-exchanger comprises a bank of spaced-apart vertically mounted plates such that adjacent plates define therebetween a heat-exchange chamber, said chambers being alternatively of two kinds, one kind being sealed about all its edges and the other kind being sealed only to a partial extent in that its upper edges open into a housing which encloses the plates. As shown, the heat-exchanger consists of separate plate units, one a condenser unit 24 and the other an evaporator unit 23 enclosed in an insulated (not shown) housing 25. The heating medium enters evaporator unit 23 via pipe 34 and is discharged via pipe 35. The medium being evaporated, e.g. brine enters the evaporator unit at pipe 36 and concentrated medium discharges via pipe 37, the vapour meanwhile escaping through the unsealed longitudinal upper edge 13a of alternate chambers in the evaporator unit. Splash guards 31 prevent liquid entering the condenser unit through open edges 13, the liquid being drained through discharge outlet 32. Vapour entering at 13 is condensed on the walls of the chambers and discharged via pipe 40. The cooling medium entering and leaving via pipes 38 and 39 respectively. To prevent throttling, the distances between the plates forming the open heat-exchange chambers are larger than the distances between the closed heat-exchange chambers and thicker gasket material may be used to achieve this result. In a modification the evaporator and condenser units may be assembled in a single plate unit by means of a common clamping device.