CB
The Alfa Laval CB range of brazed plate heat exchangers feature efficient heat transfer with an extremely small footprint, making them ideal for demanding installations where space is at a premium. The CB range is used in HVAC heating/cooling, refrigeration, process heating/cooling, oil cooling, solar heating and many other applications.
The thin, corrugated stainless steel plates used in the CB design are brazed together with copper. This forms a self-contained unit that can handle both high pressures and high temperatures. And unlike traditional designs, the brazed plate heat exchanger consists solely of surfaces that actively contribute to heat transfer, resulting in significant increases in overall efficiency.
The CB range of brazed plate heat exchangers has numerous advantages over traditional heat exchangers in both industrial, HVAC and refrigeration installations. The exceptional heat transfer efficiency makes all CB units very compact. As a result, they can tackle large-capacity duties even though there is only limited installation space available.
The brazed construction also does away with gaskets, making CB units ideal in applications where temperatures and/or pressures are high. Examples include district heating and a wide range of heating, cooling and tap water solutions.
Alfa Laval is the world's leading manufacturer of brazed plate heat exchangers. This means solid experience in designing units that withstand high-pressure and high-temperature conditions, and in coping effectively with the structural stresses that results from these. Units in the CB range are available in many different sizes and capacities, with varying plate patterns and connections for particular duties and performance specifications. CB units can be configured as single-pass, dual-pass or multi-pass installations, according to project requirements.
All CB brazed heat exchanger units comply with the European Pressure Vessel Safety Directive, and can also be delivered according to other relevant standards and national codes, as required.
How it works
In Copper Brazed (CB) heat exchangers, the surfaces used to provide heat transfer from one medium to the other are thin, corrugated stainless steel plates stacked on top of each other. The two media are sealed within the plate pack by a brazed copper seal around the edge of the plates. This results in a heat exchanger that – unlike traditional designs – consists solely of surfaces which actively contribute to heat transfer, resulting in significant increases in overall efficiency.
The channels formed between the plates and corner ports are arranged so that the media flow through alternate channels – always in a counter-current flow pattern in order to achieve the most efficient heat transfer.
The contact points between the plates are also brazed, helping to withstand the effects of high pressures and high temperatures. Pressure peaks and rapid temperature cause substantial physical stresses within the materials, and Alfa Laval research has focused on the details of these phenomena in order to ensure designs that are extremely resilient and provide a long service life.