In recent videos we often spoke about applications of PCHE heat exchangers, printed circuit heat exchangers, for use in the hydrogen industry and thus involving high temperature levels and high pressure. These are in fact very peculiar and challenging applications.

But for this same sector it’s also possible to employ brazed plate heat exchangers, which are for sure less expensive but they also have very lower working condition limits. Anyway, they still can be a very efficient and effective solution up to certain temperature and pressure levels. Clearly, these are particular brazed plate exchangers, not copper brazed plate but nickel brazed plate or even brazed plate exchangers using a stainless steel filler. Therefore, these have no contraindications where fluids involved in the heat transfer can react to copper ions. That means there are no chemical compatibility issues.

These brazed plate exchangers can offer very good performances for quite high temperatures, 200, 300 or 400° C and some models can even be suitable for higher temperatures. But they can work at very much lower pressure levels compared to PCHE exchangers, and thus they can be employed only in certain applications where the pressure limit allows the use of these kind of brazed plate heat exchangers.

Finally, even these kind of exchangers, being fully welded, offer the advantage of a high sealing capacity, which means the advantage of being guaranteed as leaking and mixing free.