SWEP DP300

The published weight is 7.75 kg plus 0.348 kg per plate. A 50-plate unit is 25.15 kg and a 230-plate unit is 87.79 kg, dry.

Mount it vertically, as any two-phase unit should be, on a bracket or stand that takes the full weight of the unit plus its water. The Victaulic water connections tolerate a little misalignment, which tempts installers to let the couplings carry the unit; they should not. The refrigerant lines are solder joints into the cover plate and are the first thing to crack if the unit can move.

The full nameplate designation is the quickest route: model, plate count, material code, pressure class and the connection string. For the configuration we hold on file that reads SC, class M, with connections 28U+2x54.3+28U / 2x3"VIC.

If the plate is unreadable, send the plate pack depth, a list of the connections with their sizes and positions, and the make, model and serial number of the chiller. For a unit being re-rated instead of matched, add refrigerant, capacity, evaporating temperature, water flow and entering and leaving temperatures. Then Request a Quote with those details.

By making sure water never sits still in it while the refrigerant side is cold. Water freezing in the channels can split a brazed unit, and on a dual evaporator that puts water into a refrigerant circuit.

The usual protections are a flow switch proving water flow before a compressor starts, a low-pressure cutout set above the freezing point, and a pump-run delay after shutdown. Where the loop can see sub-freezing conditions, use glycol. Glycol thickens the fluid, so pressure drop rises and heat transfer falls; tell us the type and concentration so the unit is rated on the real fluid. See Freeze Protection.

M is the pressure class used for refrigerants such as R410A. It covers up to 45 bar at 135 C and the class is fatigue tested, which matters on a unit that sees a pressure cycle every time a compressor starts.

Treat the class as a category. The figures stamped on the nameplate are what apply to that unit.

Before it reaches that number. 60 m3/h (264.17 GPM) is the port ceiling, and a design flow sitting near it leaves no room for a pump running out on its curve or a later capacity increase.

The DP300 already carries far more water than the 200-size dual evaporators, which are published at 118.88 GPM. If the chilled water flow is still too high, move to the 400-size plate: the DP400 is listed at 334.62 GPM. It is a larger footprint, so the change means new piping, and it is a different plate, so it needs its own rating.

Refrigerant on the two circuits and treated closed-loop water or glycol on the water side. That is what a copper-brazed stainless unit is for.

Note the two descriptions of the plate. The datasheet lists 304 stainless, while the configuration on file carries the code SC, which denotes 316/316L. The nameplate code on your unit is the one to go by. Either way the braze is copper, so ammonia and deionized water are out, and chloride-bearing water will pit the plates, 304 sooner than 316.

These models are catalogued alongside the DP300. Each has its own page with its dimensions, materials and part numbers.

SWEP B56 - SMO 254 high-molybdenum plates - the chloride-resistant frame.

SWEP DB300 - AsyMatrix dual brazed plate condenser 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.