Review of plate heat exchanger utilized for gases heat exchange

Surface heat exchangers are important components in energy conversion and utilization systems. The main functions of the surface heat exchangers are heating, cooling and heat recovery. One of the typical surface heat exchangers are the plate heat exchangers. The plate heat exchangers not only perform well for single-phase applications, but also suitable for phase-changing applications. This paper mainly focusing on single-phase applications of plate heat exchangers, especially focusing on the gases heat exchange. The category of the plate heat exchangers is introduced. They are gasketed plate heat exchanger, brazed plate heat exchanger, and welded plate heat exchanger. Then the utilization of plate heat exchangers on gases heat exchange from the viewpoint of the constructions is discussed. The gasketed plate heat exchanger and brazed plate heat exchanger can be installed in piping systems. Due to the piping system the gasketed plate heat exchanger and brazed plate heat exchanger are popular for liquid-liquid heat exchange. The pillow-plate heat exchanger is special kind of welded plate heat exchanger and suitable for liquid-gas heat exchange, because of the small hydraulic diameter of inner channels and large hydraulic diameter of outer channels. Primary-surface recuperator is high temperature gas-gas welded plate heat exchanger and the gases require high pressures. The simple structural glued plate heat exchanger is applied for air-air heat exchange. The air-air plate heat exchanger and two side fans ought to consider as a system. In this paper, the novelty utilization of plate heat exchangers is also reviewed.