1-805-484-2992
Quotes - Engineering - SalesTHE SWEP RANGE
Forty Frames,
Five Flow Bands
Forty frame sizes run from a 194 mm unit rated for transcritical CO2 up to a 1,232 mm frame moving 1,540 gallons a minute. Grouping them by published maximum flow puts every frame in exactly one band - the band edges sit in real gaps in SWEP's data rather than at round numbers.
Within a band the frames differ in plate count, channel volume and construction rather than in capacity. That is where the selection is actually made.
Maximum flow is a ceiling, not a target - a smaller frame with a high plate count often beats a larger one on approach temperature.
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Reading the Range
A brazed plate exchanger is a stack of pressed stainless plates vacuum-brazed into a single block. There are no gaskets, no tie bolts and no frame - which is why one will sit in a plant room for twenty years without a service visit, and why it cannot be opened when the water is bad enough to foul it. Choosing well is mostly about knowing which of those two facts applies to your duty.
Within each band below, what separates the frames is channel volume, plate ceiling and construction - which is to say pressure drop, how tight an approach you can reach, and what the fluid is allowed to touch. Where a duty sits near a band edge, both bands are worth looking at, and pressure drop usually decides it.
Variants on the Same Frame
Several frames exist in more than one form. The B80, F80, P80 and V80 share plate dimensions, maximum flow and channel volume - what separates them is the refrigerant distribution device fitted at the inlet.
The double-wall versions of the B8, B16 and B35 frames use two plates brazed together so that any leak vents to atmosphere and becomes visible instead of crossing between fluids.
What the Designation Tells You
A SWEP string such as B25THx30/1P-SC-M encodes the frame, the plate type, the plate count, the pass arrangement, the materials and the pressure class. The model number guide decodes every field.
Either the full string or the SWEP article number off the nameplate is enough for us to confirm the build and quote it.
Materials Across the Range
304 or 316/316L plates with copper brazing are the standard builds. Nickel brazing and All-Stainless construction remove copper from the wetted path for ammonia and high-purity water, and SMO 254 plates answer chlorides.
The material pages under Sizing & Selection carry the full logic.
Stock and Lead Time
The mid-range frames - B25T, B120T and their neighbours - are the most heavily stocked brazed plate units in North America, and common plate counts ship from stock.
Send the duty or the nameplate and the quote comes back with the stock position on it.
Call and talk it through with an engineer: 1-805-484-2992.
