This paper presents an overview of brazed plate heat exchangers and their applications and competing technologies. First, an illustration of the construction of the brazed heat exchanger and the basic refrigerant cycle is made. Further, the paper explains where the heat exchangers can be used in a refrigerant system. Different refrigerant applications with brazed plate heat exchangers are presented, liquid chillers and residential heat pumps, among others. In addition, the paper compares the performance of brazed plate heat exchangers with that of shell-and-tube and coaxial heat exchangers. A brazed plate heat exchanger that solves the same operating case as a shell-and-tube is considerably smaller and lighter. The brazed plate heat exchanger is also approved for higher working pressure. At equal performance, the comparison between a coaxial evaporator and the corresponding brazed plate heat exchanger, according to tests, shows that the brazed plate heat exchanger is about ten times more weight efficient than the coaxial evaporator.

Units: Dual