Heat exchanger combining the strengths of plate and tubular technology

With FusionLine Alfa Laval has developed a heat exchanger combining the strengths of plate and tubular technology. It offers the best of both worlds, combining the energy efficiency, accessibility and modularity of plate technology with the viscous and particulate-handling capabilities of tubular technology.

FusionLine features a 4 to 6 mm open channel on the product side (red), which is easy to CIP and fully accessible. The open-channel design is made possible by bonded plate cassettes on the media side (blue). The cassettes are bonded using Alfa Laval’s patented AlfaFusion technology, which bonds two stainless plates together into one piece with no joints.

The usage of thin plates provides optimum heat transfer, and thus helps maintaining a high resistance against product pressure. The unique channel geometry ensures gentle product treatment. Plates can be easily added and removed, providing the flexibility to react to changes in production volume. The footprint is also 30 to 40 percent smaller than a tubular heat exchanger.