Beer and Wort Plate Chiller
Brewing beer at home has been popular in USA for several decades now and this has traditionally been done using copper wort chillers. However, in the recent years, plate chillers (or Beer and Wort plate chillers) have become extremely popular owing to their several advantages over traditional wort chillers.
Operating principle
Brazed plate heat exchangers have a simple operating principle. Based on the plate and nozzle orientation, each fluid passes through alternative channels within the heat exchanger. An extremely high heat transfer coefficient is attained due to the flow characteristics in each channel. A specially designed and tested Chevron pattern causes a turbulent flow of the fluid resulting in higher heat transfer and reduction of the amount of deposits inside the unit.
Advantages of brazed heat exchangers
Brazed plate heat exchangers are applied when the installation of other types of heat exchangers is impossible or undesired. Brazed plate heat exchangers possess wider range of operating temperatures and pressure. Brazed plate heat exchangers are successfully applied many years in various industries.
Brazed plate heat exchanger basic specifications
Brazed plate heat exchangers are effective in process routes using nonaggressive liquids without foreign particles. Brazed plate heat exchangers differ by compactness, absence of leakages and resistance to the loads, low cost, do not require service.
Brazed plate heat exchanger basic specifications
Plates from corrosion-proof steel reliably brazed among themselves as well as on edge. It by 100% excludes the leakage of liquids, as well as their mixture. For brazing material used copper.
Plate Heat Exchangers
Transfer of heat in plate heat exchangers is carried out from the hot heat-carrier to the cold (heated up) environment through the steel corrugated plates which are established in a frame and are pulled together in a package.
Fluid Fundamentals
How heat gets transferred from one fluid to another depends largely on the physical characteristics of the fluids involved, especially their density, specific heat, thermal conductivity, and dynamic viscosity. Density (ρ) is a fluid’s mass per unit volume, measured as lb m /ft 3 (where lb m represents pounds of mass) or kg/m 3 . Density can be used to convert a measurement from a mass-flow rate, such as lb m /hr, to the more common volumetric units, such as gallons per minute for liquids, or cubic feet per minute for gases.
Radiant Floor Heating
Brazed plate heat exchangers provide you with a simple way of supplying warm water to your hydronic radiant floor heating system. With the cost of electricity and gas constantly on the rise, heating your home can be a very expensive proposition. In addition to the expense of such heating methods, the need for vents can make placing furniture tricky, ruining the aesthetic look of a room's arrangement. And health-wise, forced air systems that blow air around in your home also blow around dust, odors and allergens.
Mechanisms of fouling
It is of great importance to understand the fouling mechanisms in principle, as they will indicate the causes and conditions of fouling and hence give clues how to minimize it.
Fouling can be generally classified into six types:
1. Particulate fouling
2. Reaction fouling
3. Corrosion fouling
4. Precipitation fouling
5. Biological fouling
6. Solidification fouling
Parameters that influence fouling resistances
Many operational and design variables have been identified as having well-defined effect on fouling. Some of those parameters include the following:
Fluid Temperature
A good practical rule to follow is to expect more fouling as the temperature rises. This is due to a “baking on” effect, scaling tendencies, increased corrosion rate, faster reactions, crystal formation and polymerization, and loss in activity by some antifoulants.
Heat Exchanger Fouling
Fouling is defined as the formation of undesired deposits on heat transfer surfaces, which increase the resistance to fluid flow, resulting in higher pressure drop and reduced heat transfer. The growth of deposits causes the thermohydraulic performance of heat exchanger to degrade over time. Fouling affects the energy consumption and therefore increases the amount of extra material or fuel required to generate the required amount of heat transfer.
