Gasketed Plate-and-Frame Heat Exchanger
10-plate pack of 316 stainless steel plates (0.6 mm thick, chevron angle 60°, area 0.240 m^2).
Chemical & Process Engineering / Plate Heat Exchanger
FREE TO EXPLORELABORATORY 11 · CHEMICAL & PROCESS ENGINEERING
Plate-and-Frame Heat Exchanger Thermal Performance & Chevron Corrugation Conductance
Determine the overall heat transfer coefficient U and thermal effectiveness of a gasketed plate-and-frame heat exchanger as a function of process stream velocity, evaluating the chevron corrugation enhancement factor. Explore interactive transport phenomena, unit operations simulation, and chemical engineering telemetry.
TRANSPORT PHENOMENA · UNIT OPERATIONS · PROCESS CONTROL · REACTION ENGINEERING
Your virtual chemical and process engineering laboratory.
OVERALL CONDUCTANCE U—
PROCESS & PILOT PLANT TELEMETRY
Ready to sample with Velocity v_p = 0.3 m/s.
Adjust Velocity v_p, then execute chemical process trial.
Chemical and process engineering telemetry is evaluated rigorously using 64-bit IEEE 754 precision. Residuals reflect ordinary least-squares regression across successive observations. Continuous data structures support high-fidelity transport phenomena and unit operations modeling.
Process engineering assumptions and boundary condition limits
The transport and thermodynamic models apply within the specified calibrated operating window (0.1 to 0.6 m/s). Evaluated using a 10-plate stainless steel PHE (plate width 100 mm, length 300 mm, chevron angle β = 60°, total active area A = 0.240 m^2). Linear regression models U versus (v_p)^0.65.
Process apparatus & industrial sensors.
Thermostatically Controlled Process Heating Bath
Delivers hot process water at 55.0 ± 0.1 °C with variable-speed gear metering pump.
Cold Water Utility Circulation Unit
Maintains constant utility flow rate of 10.0 L/min at 15.0 ± 0.1 °C across cold channels.
Four Precision Pt100 RTD Temperature Sensors
Measures hot inlet/outlet and cold inlet/outlet manifold temperatures with 0.02 °C accuracy.
Magnetic Inductive Process Flowmeter
Meters hot process flow rate to compute mean inter-plate channel velocity v_p with 0.2% accuracy.
Differential Pressure Transmitter Array
Measures hydraulic pressure drop across hot and cold plate channels from 0 to 100 kPa.
FOLLOW THE METHOD
A reason behind every step.
Determine the overall heat transfer coefficient U and thermal effectiveness of a gasketed plate-and-frame heat exchanger as a function of process stream velocity, evaluating the chevron corrugation enhancement factor. Standardized parameter settings: 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6 m/s.
01
Plate Pack Compression & Leak Check
Verify plate pack compression dimension tightening bolts to manufacturer specification (tightening dimension A = 32.0 mm); pressurize with water to check gasket seals.
02
Thermal Preheating & Stabilization
Circulate hot water at 55.0 °C and cold water at 15.0 °C for 15 minutes to purge air and achieve thermal equilibrium.
03
Initial Channel Velocity Setpoint
Adjust process pump speed to establish mean channel velocity v_p = 0.10 m/s; monitor temperature stability for 120 seconds.
04
Data Logging & Heat Duty Balance
Record all four terminal temperatures, calculate thermal duty q_h and q_c, and confirm balance closure within 2%.
05
Velocity Progression Protocol
Increment process channel velocity through 0.20, 0.30, 0.40, 0.50, and 0.60 m/s, recording steady-state temperatures and pressure drops at each plateau.
06
Conductance Scaling Regression Analysis
Calculate overall heat transfer coefficient U, plot U versus (v_p)^0.65, and fit a linear regression through the origin to evaluate S.
YOUR NOTEBOOK · 0 OBSERVATIONS
Turn measurements into chemical process engineering insight.
Points are your recorded observations. The solid regression line validates Plate Heat Exchanger mathematical scaling.
LINEAR REGRESSION FIT · y = mx + b
U = S · (v_p)^0.65 = 3200.0000 · (v_p)^0.65
| # | Process Stream Velocity v_p (m/s) | Overall Conductance U (W/(m^2·K)) | Velocity factor (v_p)^0.65 ((m/s)^0.65) | Overall heat transfer coefficient U (W/(m^2·K)) | Remove |
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No readings yet. Execute a process trial and record it.
Calculate it yourself.
CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING
Explain what the process engineering metrics mean.
Plate heat exchangers typically achieve overall heat transfer coefficients U that are:
In a plate heat exchanger, turbulent flow is typically initiated at Reynolds numbers around:
The main mechanical component limiting the operating temperature and pressure of a gasketed PHE is:
A chevron corrugation angle of 60° (high-theta plate) compared to 30° provides:
THEORY AND UNIT OPERATIONS CONTEXT
Process engineering background & physical principles.
In food processing, pharmaceuticals, biochemical manufacturing, and specialty chemical synthesis, gasketed plate-and-frame heat exchangers (PHEs) have largely superseded traditional shell-and-tube units for low-to-medium pressure duties. A plate heat exchanger consists of a pack of corrugated thin stainless steel or titanium plates compressed between a fixed head and movable follower frame. Elastomeric gaskets seal the plate perimeters and direct hot and cold fluids into alternate narrow inter-plate channels in true counter-current flow. The defining feature of PHEs is the chevron (herringbone) surface corrugation pressed into each plate. Adjacent plates are inverted so that corrugation ridges cross, forming a complex three-dimensional network of intersecting tortuous channels. These corrugations induce continuous swirling vortex shedding and boundary layer disruption at Reynolds numbers as low as 50 to 100, transitioning into intense turbulence well below the Re = 2,300 threshold of smooth tubes. Consequently, plate heat exchangers achieve exceptionally high overall heat transfer coefficients U (often 3 to 5 times greater than tubular exchangers), allowing extremely close temperature approaches (less than 1 °C) and compact footprints. In this experiment, an instrumented 10-plate chevron heat exchanger is operated across channel velocities from 0.10 to 0.60 m/s to quantify overall conductance U and verify empirical power-law velocity scaling U = S · v_p^0.65.
U = S · (v_p)^0.65 = 3200.0000 · (v_p)^0.65
Evaluated using a 10-plate stainless steel PHE (plate width 100 mm, length 300 mm, chevron angle β = 60°, total active area A = 0.240 m^2). Linear regression models U versus (v_p)^0.65.