Welded
Plate & Shell Heat Exchanger
Plate-pack efficiency inside a pressure-vessel shell.
Also called: Plate and shell heat exchanger · Welded plate-and-shell
A welded circular plate pack enclosed in a cylindrical shell. Handles pressures and temperatures well beyond gasketed limits in a fraction of the footprint of an equivalent shell-and-tube unit.
Two plate & shell units finished and standing in the packing bay. The bolted head on each comes off to withdraw the plate pack; everything on the shell side is welded, which is what carries this construction past the pressure and temperature a gasket will take.
The welded plate bundle before it goes into the shell. Circular plates pressed with a herringbone field and welded into a pack. The fine lines running down the barrel are the edge of every plate in it, and the two openings in the end plate are the ports the shell-side flow turns around.
A larger plate & shell unit in red oxide primer, before the topcoat goes on. The studded head flange is the whole point of the construction: it opens to withdraw the pack, while the shell itself stays welded.
Chosen for
- High-pressure and high-temperature process streams
- Condensing and evaporating duty
- Steam heating
- Tight plot-space constraints
Every heat exchanger we supply is hydraulically tested before despatch, both circuits under pressure together at the test pressures stated on its data sheet. The unit passes only if it holds that pressure without a drop, which is what demonstrates the whole assembly is leak-tight.
The circuits are also tested against each other, one pressurised and the other watched, so a leak between the two media would show. A copy of the test certificate is available on request.
The code of manufacture is ASME Section VIII. Units are built to its rules.
Used in
Further reading
Other welded designs
- Fully Welded Plate & Frame Heat Exchanger
- Spiral Heat Exchanger
- Plate & Block Heat Exchanger
- Shell & Tube Heat Exchanger
Synergizing Technologies is not affiliated with, authorised by, or a distributor for any original equipment manufacturer named on this site. Brand and model names are used solely to identify the equipment our replacement plates and gaskets are compatible with. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.