PSHE Construction
The principle of a heat exchanger is to transfer heat from the primary to the secondary side through a heat-transfer plate that separates the flows. Vahterus heat exchangers are used for heating, cooling, condensing, evaporating and the recovery of process heat. They are composed of a fully welded pack of circular heat-transfer plates installed in a cylindrical steel shell – hence the term Plate & Shell. The nature of the construction provides a short and efficient flow path for the product whilst maintaining low pressure drop. This heat exchanger type is thus ideal for applications with viscous fluids. There are no gaskets used in the construction and all connections are welded.
Due to this unique construction, Vahterus Plate & Shell Heat Exchangers can meet very demanding design conditions:
Mechanical design
- Full vacuum to 150 bar
- From -270°C to +750°C
All Vahterus heat exchangers are designed with the required design codes, such as:
Design code
- AD-2000
- ASME VIII, Div.1
- EN 13445
- Lloyd ́s Register
- R.I.N.A.
- ABS Europe Ltd
- Bureau Veritas
- PD5500
- DNV GL Marine
- KGS South Korea
- EAC
- Others on request
Plate Pack
The most common form of the heat exchanger is assembled from a stainless-steel plate pack and a shell made of carbon steel or stainless steel. However, the heat exchanger can also be made in other materials.
The figures below show the basic assembly of the plate pack.


See a video of how the plates are welded together: