In HVAC plant rooms, chemical process intercooling, or waste heat recovery sections, when the design pressure does not exceed 2.5 MPa and the design temperature does not exceed 180°C, the selection of plate-and-shell heat exchangers often requires a trade-off between compactness and maintenance convenience. The BRQ-150 plate-and-shell heat exchanger is positioned precisely in this range. The following technical points are listed from a comparative analysis perspective.
Compared with fully welded plate structures, the BRQ-150 places the plate bundle inside a cylindrical shell, with heat exchange channels formed between the plates and the shell side carrying the other medium. The plate bundle can be withdrawn as a whole, and the shell does not need to be cut during maintenance, making it suitable for processes with requirements on downtime. Compared with removable plate-and-frame types, it has fewer gaskets, and the external piping connections are concentrated on the shell, resulting in a relatively smaller footprint.
The parameter table must provide the fouling factors and allowable pressure drops for both flow channels. This model reserves adjustable margins for pressure drop on both sides. During selection, the heat exchange area should be corrected according to the actual cleanliness of the medium, avoiding insufficient heat exchange capacity later caused by configuring solely according to nominal parameters.
Plates are commonly made of 304 or 316L stainless steel, and the shell can be carbon steel or stainless steel depending on the medium. For media containing chloride ions, the pitting resistance index should be checked. Materials for the heating water side and the process side can be configured separately to balance corrosion resistance requirements and cost.
This model can be used in HVAC, chemical processes, waste heat recovery, and other applications. In projects where both pressure and temperature are in the medium range and a compact structure is desired, it can be compared alongside shell-and-tube and plate-and-frame options, with the choice made based on maintenance frequency, site conditions, and investment budget.
