SWEP B15T

SWEP gives 1.25 kg plus 0.104 kg per plate. A 20-plate unit is about 3.3 kg (7.3 lb) dry and a full 60-plate pack about 7.5 kg (16.5 lb).

The proportions make mounting matter more than the weight does. At 468 mm tall on a 76 mm width, with the port pairs 432 mm apart, the unit is a long lever. Fix the body with a bracket or strap near the top and bottom, make up the pipes so they meet the ports without being pulled, then tighten.

Because the flow ceiling comes from the ports and the plate width, and the B15T is only 76 mm wide. Height adds heat transfer length. It adds nothing to what the ports will pass. The 17.61 GPM (4 m3/h) figure is that port limit.

If the pressure drop is too high at your flow, more height makes it worse. Move to a wider frame in the next band, the SWEP B10T for example, and keep the B15T for small flows with a large temperature change.

Treated water, tap water, glycol mixes, oils and refrigerants. The catalogued builds on file are SC material, which is the general-duty combination, and the 316/316L plate gives better tolerance of imperfect water than 304 would.

Keep it away from ammonia and from deionized or ultrapure water. Both attack or strip the copper braze and need a copper-free construction. Solar thermal loops deserve a second look for a different reason: copper braze has a ceiling of roughly 185 C, so check what the loop can reach when it stagnates, not only its normal operating temperature. On file the frame appears in M and Y pressure classes; for Y, call for rating.

When the flow is small enough that a single pass leaves the channels running slowly. The datasheet example is a four-pass build, B15TH/4P-SC-M, while the catalogued strings on file are /1P.

Because the plate is already 468 mm long, a single pass on a B15T has more thermal length than most small frames get in two. That is often enough, and it keeps the pressure drop low. Four passes multiplies the path and the velocity, which suits very low flows with a big temperature change, at the cost of pressure drop. Replace like with like: a /1P will not match the output of a /4P of the same plate count.

Upright, with the long dimension vertical and the two streams running in opposite directions through the pack. Counter-current piping gives the closest approach. On a frame whose whole purpose is a large temperature change, piping it co-current gives away most of what the height was bought for. The symptom is a unit that performs like one with far fewer plates.

Vertical mounting also lets the pack vent and drain. Keep the connections unloaded: support the lines close to the ports and allow for expansion on hot runs, because repeated flexing fatigues the braze at the port. Mounting and Piping shows the arrangements.

Face, port centres, depth and connection order. The face is 468 x 76 mm (18.43 x 2.99 in) and the port centres 432 x 40 mm (17.01 x 1.57 in); both are fixed for the frame. Depth depends on the plate count, so measure the pack thickness and count the plates, anywhere from 10 to 60 on the catalogued builds.

Then note the connections port by port. Mixed sets are catalogued on this frame, such as 2x22U+2x3/4"&16, where one pair of ports is universal solder and the other a combo connection. The 22U takes both 7/8 in and 22 mm tube. Order a set with the pairs reversed and the unit fits the space but not the pipes.