Plate Heat Exchanger Performance — online
Plate exchanger performance from a test, and the clean duty and pressure drop predicted from the plate geometry.
Yellow cells are inputs; orange cells are choices; blue cells choose the unit. Select or hover over an input to see its help in the box below the toolbar. The sheet is the same as the Excel tool (USD 49) — the Guide, method and references are in the Excel file.
What this plate heat exchanger performance calculator does
Is your plate exchanger fouled, or was it never able to do the duty? Plate exchanger performance from a test, and the clean duty and pressure drop predicted from the plate geometry.
- Test evaluation. Duty, heat balance, LMTD, actual U, fouling resistance and cleanliness from plant readings.
- Clean prediction from geometry. Channels per pass, hydraulic diameter and the Martin chevron-plate correlation — or your own correlation.
- Clean U and duty. Film coefficients, clean U and clean duty by effectiveness-NTU.
- Pressure drop. Channel and port pressure drop compared with the measured values.
- Fluid library. About 165 fluids, including glycols, brines and heat transfer oils.
- Print-ready report. Inputs, results, findings and charts on A4.
What you enter
- Fluid
- Mass flow
- Inlet temperature
- Outlet temperature
- Inlet pressure (absolute or gauge – pick the unit)
- Measured pressure drop (inlet − outlet nozzle)
- Concentration (% by mass)
- Specific heat (your value)
- Flows
- Duty used for U
- Number of thermal plates (total plates − 2 end plates)
- Heat transfer area per plate (effective)
- Passes — hot side
- Passes — cold side
What you get
- Hot-side duty
- Cold-side duty
- Heat balance error ÷ average
- Flow used (hot / cold)
- Total heat transfer area
- Overall heat transfer coefficient — actual
- Cleanliness factor (U actual ÷ U clean)
- Fouling resistance — actual
- Channels per pass
- Density at the mean temperature
- Viscosity at the mean temperature
- Reynolds number (channel)
- Prandtl number
- Film heat transfer coefficient
How it was checked
Shah & Sekulić Example 9.3: duty 713 kW vs 712 kW in the book; port pressure drops match.
Related
- Free quick calculator — a simpler free version for a fast estimate.
- Calculation guide — the equations behind this tool, with a worked example.
- Plate Heat Exchanger Performance Excel tool — USD 49, keep the workbook and its Guide.
- All 40 online tools
Questions
Is the plate heat exchanger performance calculator free?
You can enter and check all your data free. The full results, findings and printable sheet are unlocked with a 3-run pack (USD 9), a monthly subscription to all 40 online tools (USD 15) or a yearly one (USD 99).
Are the results the same as the Excel tool?
Yes. The online tool runs the formulas of the Plate Heat Exchanger Performance Excel workbook, checked cell by cell against the Excel file.
Which units can I use?
SI, US customary and British units — choose the unit next to each input.