Water Cooled Heat Exchangers

A water cooled heat exchanger dumps heat from hydraulic oil into water instead of into air. Oil runs through one set of channels, water through the other, and the two never mix. Water carries far more heat than air for the same volume, so a plate exchanger the size of a house brick does the work of a large fan and a lot of wall space.

The ILWPL range is a brazed stainless steel plate exchanger, sold as ASA-PL. Twelve sizes, all 30 bar, ports from 1/2 inch to 1-1/2 inch BSPP. ILWPL22030EP and ILWPL22060EP have mixed ports, 1 inch on one circuit and 3/4 inch on the other. Moulders, machine shops, marine and standby power builders buy them.

Which one do I need

Two things settle it. Whether you have water, and what the ports and flow are on the lines you are joining.

• Reliable cooling water, a tower or a chiller loop makes this the smallest and quietest option there is. See the ILWPL plate heat exchanger range.
• No water on site. Use an air blast oil cooler or a CC series circulation cooler instead.
• Heating rather than cooling, or a duty on water, air, steam or gas. The same range does it. Tell us both fluids and both temperatures.

How it gets installed and what else you need

• Plumb it counter flow, oil in one end and water in the other, so the coldest water meets the coolest oil. Running both the same way throws away performance.
• Fit isolation valves and a strainer on the water side. Grit and scale is the usual reason a brazed plate unit slowly stops working.
• Keep it in the return line, and check the 30 bar rating against your real return pressure including anything restricting it downstream.
• Support the pipework. The exchanger is small and the hoses are not.
• Control the water, not the oil. A switch from thermostats, switches and indicators on a solenoid valve stops you chilling the oil below working viscosity. Put the probe where it reads oil, not tank steel.

Questions we get asked

How do I pick a size? On the heat load, the oil flow and the temperature of the water you have. Call us with those three plus the port sizes.

Can I use one to heat oil? Yes. It works either direction and is often used to bring a cold tank up before start up.

What if I have no cooling water? Then this is the wrong family. Look at an air blast cooler, or an H-Cube if you want cooling independent of the machine.

Does it need power or a fan? No. There is no motor and nothing to wire on the exchanger itself, which is why it suits enclosed and noise sensitive jobs.