SWEP B56

Those are the three approvals published for the frame: PED for European pressure equipment rules, UL for North American listing, and KHK for Japan. For most replacement work that is the paperwork an inspector asks for.

What matters is what is not on that list. ASME and CRN are separate approvals with their own temperature envelopes (ASME -40 C to +150 C, CRN -196 C to +225 C), and NSF/ANSI 61 for potable water is limited to 90 C. If the job specification, the insurer or the province requires one of those, settle it before the order is placed rather than at inspection. Details are on Approvals and Certifications.

One that stops everything larger than 1 mm, which is the maximum particle size published for the B56. Open and raw-water systems are where this frame usually works, and those carry sand, shell fragments and debris that closed loops do not.

Size the strainer for the full flow with a generous basket and fit a gauge across it. A blinded strainer starves the exchanger, and on seawater that leaves stagnant chloride water sitting in warm channels - poor conditions even for SMO 254. Fouling shows first as a rising pressure drop at constant flow, before the leaving temperature moves.

Field by field: B56 is the frame; H is the high-heat-transfer obtuse chevron plate; x160 is the plate count; /1P is single pass; SC is the material code; Y is the pressure class; and 4x2 1/2"(54) is four identical connections.

Two fields deserve a second look. SC decodes as 316/316L plates with copper braze, while the chloride-duty B56 carries MC for SMO 254 plates, as in B56H/1P-MC-S. Read that code off your own nameplate before assuming which one you have. And Y is not one of the common class letters, so call for rating on that one. The Model Number Guide covers the rest.

Yes. The B56 channels are asymmetric - 0.21 dm3 on one side and 0.297 dm3 on the other - so the two circuits are not interchangeable. Swapping them changes the velocity and pressure drop on both sides, and the selection is only valid with each fluid on the side it was calculated for.

Pipe the two streams counter-current for the closest approach, mount the unit vertically, and support the pipework independently. At 0.42 kg per plate a large pack is heavy, and 2 1/2" pipe full of water puts a real bending load on a connection if it is left hanging.

The datasheet lists threaded and solder connections. The builds on file use three patterns: 4x2 1/2"(54), 4x2 1/2" plain, and a DN65 pattern written 4xDN65C cs.

All three are nominally the same pipe size and none is a substitute for another. Match the string exactly, because the difference decides whether the existing fittings make up or leak. On raw-water service, also think about what joins the exchanger to the pipe: a carbon steel or brass fitting on seawater corrodes long before the plates do.

No. SMO 254 solves one problem - chloride pitting - and solves it well. Pool water, seawater, brackish water and chlorinated cooling water are the fluids it is there for.

The braze is still copper. Ammonia attacks it, and deionized or ultrapure water leaches it, exactly as on a 316 unit. Those services need a copper-free construction, whatever the plate alloy. The copper braze also sets a temperature ceiling of roughly 185 C. Upgrading the plate and ignoring the braze is the common mistake here.

These models are catalogued alongside the B56. Each has its own page with its dimensions, materials and part numbers.

SWEP DB300 - AsyMatrix dual brazed plate condenser with low water pressure drop, 525 x 243 mm, up to 346 plates.

SWEP DP300 - AsyMatrix dual brazed plate evaporator with low water pressure drop, 525 x 243 mm, up to 346 plates.

SWEP DP310 - True Dual brazed plate evaporator for chillers and heat pumps, 525 x 243 mm, up to 49 bar.