Heat Exchanger Design: Plate and Frame Heat Exchanger for

Canola Oil-Water

Gavin Evans 28232888

Loandrin Jansen van Vuuren
Jaco Joubert 28207107
Howard Saffy 28076843

CIO310
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1. Introduction

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2. Theory

Basic description:
 Plates, frames, size, etc
 In/out counter current, passes
 Fluid uses
 Gaskets
 Maintenance

Matheatics and modelling:

 Flow rates
 Temperature difference, lmtd
 Data found
 Nu, Re, D, h, Q, u
 delta P
 Power

Optimisation:

Use of excel due to various parameters..

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Results and Discussion

Plate-and-Frame heat exchangers are used mainly for 2 reasons, they are perceived as being
more efficient then conventional heat exchangers and they are a lot more compact which saves a
lot of needed space. This creates narrow gaps and channels formed by the plates which cause
very turbulent flow, helped along by numerous metal-metal contact points. When a new system
is modelled the same pressure drops are used as with the conventional heat exchangers. This is
advantages because there is no loss of advanced heat transfer. These advantages are counteracted
by the massive pressure drops. This is counteracted by keeping the channel plate lengths short
resulting in most plate-and-frame heat exchangers to be less than 2m tall and very rarely to be
taller then 3 m. Expansion of the unit is initially done in the work area until the desired heat
transfer is achieved. When additional expansion is needed the heat exchanger is designed with an
initial expansion capacity of 20% and can be even greater if future expansion known. To expand
you simply loosen the carrying bolts, pull back the frame plate and add more plates. Fouling for
plate-and-frame heat exchangers are less then that for conventional heat exchangers which
increases the efficiency. If cleaning is needed it is a lot more convenient because of the ease of
disassembling the exchanger. Maintenance is also eased. If a plate was to buckle or erode it is
easily replaced because of the unit’s modularity.

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4. Conclusion and Recommendations

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References