SWEP P80

Refrigerant on one side and water or a glycol solution on the other is what it is built for, and 316/316L plate with copper braze handles ordinary chilled water, treated process water and brines without trouble.

The limits come from the copper and from chlorides. Ammonia attacks copper braze, and deionized water leaches it, so both need a copper-free unit - on this frame that is the All-Stainless B80S. Water with significant chloride content pits 316 and wants SMO 254 plate instead. If the chilled water loop is open to a cooling tower or uses untreated well water, mention it when asking for the quote.

The complete nameplate designation and the article number, if they are legible - a photo is the most reliable way to pass them on, since a transcribed designation with one character wrong describes a different unit.

If the plate is unreadable, send the plate count, the type and size of each connection, the refrigerant, and the make and model of the chiller. For a new application send the duty: capacity, refrigerant and evaporating temperture, water or glycol flow with inlet and outlet temperatures, and the pressure drop the pump can accept. Availability is confirmed with the quote. Request a Quote has fields for all of this.

Look at the end of the designation, where the connections are listed in port order, and then at the unit. Solder connections are plain sockets or stubs for brazing copper tube; threaded ones are male or female pipe threads; Victaulic ones have a groove for a coupling.

A P80 normally has different connections on its two sides, so identify all four. Size matters as much as type. A solder size written with a U is a universal connection that accepts both the imperial and the metric tube size, which saves an adapter on mixed pipework. An ampersand in the connection code marks a combo connection that takes two joining methods.

Catalogued P80 configurations run from 20 to 140 plates, and 140 is the maximum for the model. Going up in plates adds surface and divides the flow over more channels: capacity rises, water-side pressure drop falls and the approach closes.

The gains flatten out. Past the point where the duty is met, extra plates slow the channel velocity, and on the refrigerant side an oversized evaporator can struggle to return oil and distribute evenly. The 74.41 GPM port ceiling does not move with plate count either. On a like-for-like replacement, keep the original count unless the old unit was known to be short. Plate Count and Capacity shows how the two relate.

By circulating a cleaner through it in place. Valve off the water side, run the solution in reverse to the normal flow, flush, and neutralize.

Use a product rated for both stainless steel and copper. Scale from hard water and biological growth from open loops respond well if they are caught early; the sign is a rising pressure drop across the water side or a falling evaporating temperature at the same load.

You can confirm the frame, but not the prefix, from the unit alone. An outline of 526 x 119 mm with port centres of 470 x 63 mm (18.5 x 2.48 in) says 80 frame. It does not say P80, because the B80, F80, V80 and B80S measure the same.

To pin down the prefix, use any legible fragment of the designation or the article number, and the equiptment record: the chiller manufacturer's parts list names the exchanger. Failing that, count the plates, record the connections and tell us the application. That is usually enough to identify the model and material code with confidence.

These models are catalogued alongside the P80. Each has its own page with its dimensions, materials and part numbers.

SWEP B80 - The 526 mm standard - and the plate shared by the F80, P80 and V80 evaporators.

SWEP B80S - The All-Stainless B80 - 316 plates with stainless braze for copper-free duty.

SWEP F80 - A copper-brazed 304 stainless evaporator on the 80 frame for chillers and heat pumps.

SWEP V80 - General-purpose evaporator on the B80 frame, 526 x 119 mm, up to 140 plates, 74.41 GPM max flow.