How to Size a Plate Heat Exchanger: The 5 Inputs You Must Provide

To get an accurate quotation for a plate heat exchanger, you don’t need engineering drawings, software or a technical degree. You need seven simple values — and even five of them is enough to start.

Most quotation delays are not technical problems. They are information problems: an inquiry that says only “plate heat exchanger, 500 kW” has to go back and forth several times before anyone can size it. Send the seven values below and the selection comes back in days, not weeks — usually within one working day.

The Quick-Fill Sheet

Copy this into your email, or fill it directly in the form at the bottom of this page. Fill what you know — if a value is uncertain, leave it and our engineers will apply a standard value and confirm it with you.

What Each Field Means

Fluid

What is flowing on each side: hot water, a glycol mixture (with the percentage), steam, thermal oil, seawater. This one line decides the plate material and the gasket type and the channel design, so it is the most important value on the sheet. Mixtures matter too: 30% glycol transfers heat very differently from plain water, and quoting for the wrong one shifts the whole selection.

Inlet and outlet temperatures

Four numbers: hot side in and out, cold side in and out. For example 90/70 °C on the hot side and 40/55 °C on the cold side. These four values describe the entire temperature profile inside the unit, which is why they do more work than any other field on the sheet. If you only know two of the four, send what you have — the others can often be worked out from the duty.

Flow rate

Volume per hour on each side, in m³/h. Flow and temperature together fix the heat load, so this is what turns a rough idea into a defined duty. If you don’t know it, the pipe diameter and pump model are enough for us to estimate it.

Maximum pressure drop

How much pumping power you can afford to lose across the unit. A lower pressure drop means a larger plate pack and a higher price, so there is no benefit in asking for less than you need. If you are not sure, leave the default 100 kPa — it suits most pumped systems.

Heat capacity

The duty in kW. If you don’t know it, leave it blank: with the flows and temperatures, we calculate it for you.

Not Sure About a Value? Leave It Blank

The sheet asks for seven values, and five is the point where a reliable selection becomes possible. Below five, anything we quote is built on assumptions about your temperatures and flows — and assumptions are what turn into a unit that underperforms on site.

So fill what you know and send it. For anything missing, our engineers apply standard industry values, show you which ones they used, and confirm them with you before production starts. You are never locked into a guess.

Two Details Worth Adding If You Know Them

• Water source. “Cooling tower water”, “well water” or “seawater” — one phrase is enough. It tells us whether standard 316L stainless plates are safe or whether a higher alloy is needed, which is the most expensive thing to get wrong.
• Part-load operation. If your system runs most of the year at half load, say so. A unit sized only for the full-load point can control poorly the rest of the time.

Frequently asked