How to Disassemble a Plate Heat Exchanger

Introduction

When performing scheduled maintenance, troubleshooting, or modifying your process, it’s important to know how to safely and quickly disassemble and reassemble your plate heat exchanger (PHE). While the manufacturer’s word is always the bottom line on this subject, some simple guidelines apply to nearly all PHEs.

1. Loosen & Remove Bolts

Start disassembly by loosening and removing all the bolts except for the circled ones above. Then, loosen the circled bolts in about half an inch increments until they’re loose enough to be removed safely. Make sure to loosen them in the indicated order to avoid stressing any of the components.

If you’re using a clean-in-place (CIP) process or simply inspecting the plates for fouling, you can easily access the plates without removing them—simply slide them along the guide bar for better visibility. If you do need to remove the plates, though, read on!

2. Remove Plates

Safety reminder: ALWAYS wear gloves when handling plates. Even if you are very careful, the edges are sharp and can cut your hands.

The movable frame (the back frame) can be slid back to the support column along the guide bar, exposing the plates. Remove the plates one at a time by sliding them back to the movable frame, removing the hangar, and tilting the plate off of the guide bar. Be careful not to bend the plates when removing them, or they won’t be able to form a proper seal, and your PHE will leak.

In some plate heat exchanger designs (particularly small ones), hangers don’t support the plates. Rather, the lower guide bar is simply shortened, and the plates are removed by sliding them back until they drop off. In other designs, a ridge on the upper guide bar holds the plates up, and plates are removed by simply sliding them off the ridge. PHE designs vary, and if yours has a design not mentioned in this article, call your manufacturer before trying to disassemble it – better safe than sorry.

3. Reassembly

While this may seem like common sense, it’s very important to reassemble your plate heat exchanger exactly the reverse of how you disassembled it – otherwise, your plates can easily get bent. Again, if you ever feel unsure about what you’re doing, stop and call your manufacturer.