Brewhouse Plate Heat Exchanger

Plate heat exchangers are highly efficient and compact heat exchange devices. Their core feature lies in the use of a series of corrugated metal sheets, through a specific assembly method, to form narrow channels between the plates, allowing two or more fluids to flow through them, thereby achieving indirect heat transfer through the plate surfaces. It can be vividly understood as a "sandwich" structure: cold and hot fluids are separated by metal plates, not mixing with each other, but heat can quickly pass through the plates, transferring from the hot fluid to the cold fluid.

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Product Introduction

Brewhouse Plate Heat Exchanger

Brewery plate heat exchangers are compact high-efficiency heat exchange units for fast wort cooling post mashing and boiling in beer production. Freshly boiled wort at nearly 100°C needs quick cooling to 6–12°C for fermentation to avoid bacteria and off-flavors, a task well-suited to this equipment. It features stacked corrugated stainless steel plates forming separate channels for hot wort and cooling medium. The counter-flow design delivers outstanding heat transfer efficiency with a much smaller footprint than tubular exchangers. Matching different brewing capacities, it supports single-stage or double-stage layouts. Small craft breweries often use single-stage models cooled by glycol water for lower costs. Larger breweries prefer two-stage systems: the first stage recovers wort waste heat to preheat process water and save energy, while the second stage precisely cools wort to fermentation temperature. Food-grade SUS304/SUS316L polished plates meet hygiene standards. The detachable structure allows full CIP cleaning to remove wort residue. Apart from wort cooling, it can also serve fermentation tank cooling and hot water recovery in breweries.

Application

Beer Brewing Industry

Used for rapid wort cooling, two-stage heat recovery preheating, and pre-filling subcooling, improving brewing efficiency and reducing foaming problems during filling.

Dairy Processing

Suitable for pasteurization, UHT ultra-high temperature instantaneous sterilization, and pre-filling cooling processes, ensuring product safety and process stability.

Beverage Industry

Used for sterilization and cooling of fruit juices, tea beverages, and soft drinks, while simultaneously achieving process water preheating and heat recovery, reducing energy consumption.

Food Processing Industry

Applied to the heating, sterilization, and cooling processes of fluid foods such as tomato paste, soy sauce, and syrups, meeting the requirements of continuous production and hygiene.

Advantage

High Heat Transfer Efficiency
Our products utilize high-corrugation angle plates, resulting in a heat transfer efficiency 3–5 times greater than that of shell-and-tube heat exchangers.

Compact Structure
The plate thickness is only 0.5–0.8 mm, occupying only 1/3–1/5 of the space required by shell-and-tube heat exchangers for the same heat exchange capacity.

Easy Cleaning and Maintenance
The removable frame structure allows for complete exposure of the plates, supporting brushing or CIP (Clean-in-Place) cleaning, meeting food-grade hygiene standards.

Scalable Capacity
Heat exchange capacity can be adjusted by adding or removing plates, adapting to changes in production capacity, and reducing equipment modification costs.

Low Retention Volume
The narrow plate channel design reduces the amount of liquid retained in the system, minimizing wort and cleaning fluid loss.

Suitable for Heat Recovery
Brewery plate heat exchangers can still effectively exchange heat even at small temperature differences (1–2°C), facilitating heat recovery and energy-saving process applications.

Types of plate heat exchangers

We offer plate heat exchangers in two configurations: single-stage and double-stage.

Single-Stage Heat Exchange

All plates are used in a single heat-exchange process between the same set of hot and cold fluids. This configuration is simple and suitable for direct cooling or heating applications.

Double-Stage Heat Exchange

The plate bundle is divided into two or more independent heat-exchange segments, each with its own flow path. This allows for different heat exchange tasks in each segment, making it suitable for heat recovery, energy saving, or complex process requirements.

The first stage can be used for initial heat exchange.
The second stage can be used for further cooling or using a different cooling medium.

Parameters for single-stage and double-stage

Parameters for a Single-Stage Plate Heat Exchanger in Beer Production (Wort Cooling)

Parameter Category	Specification / Value	Description & Rationale
Application Purpose	Wort Cooling (Knock-Out)	To cool wort from boiling temperature (~98°C) down to yeast pitching temperature (18-22°C for ales, 7-12°C for lagers) in a single step.
Flow Rates
∙ Wort Flow Rate	~ 100 - 150 hL/h	Example for a mid-sized craft brewery. Based on brewhouse size and desired whirlpool rest time.
∙ Cooling Media Flow Rate	~ 120 - 180 hL/h	The flow rate of coolant is typically 1.2 to 1.5 times the wort flow to achieve sufficient heat transfer.
Temperatures
∙ Wort Inlet Temperature	96 - 98 °C	Temperature after the boil and whirlpool.
∙ Wort Outlet Temperature	18 - 22 °C (or target pitch temp)	The critical parameter to achieve. Requires a very cold coolant.
∙ Cooling Media Inlet	-3 to -1 °C	Must be a glycol-water mixture (e.g., 30-35% glycol) at a temperature well below the target wort outlet temp.
∙ Cooling Media Outlet	~ 70 - 80 °C	The glycol gets warmed significantly. This heat is wasted back to the glycol loop's cooling system.
Heat Duty	~ 400 - 600 kW	The total amount of heat that must be removed from the wort per hour. Very high due to the single-stage approach.
Pressure Drop
∙ Wort Side	< 0.8 - 1.0 bar	Must be low enough to avoid crushing hot wort and causing cavitation in the wort pump.
∙ Coolant Side	< 0.8 bar	Must be within the capacity of the glycol circulation pumps.
Design Pressure	6 - 10 bar	Standard for brewery PHEs to handle pressure spikes and allow for CIP.
Plates
∙ Material	AISI 316 / 316L Stainless Steel	Food-grade, corrosion-resistant standard for breweries.
∙ Gaskets	EPDM or NBR (Nitrile)	Suitable for high wort temps and resistant to cleaning chemicals (CIP).
∙ Pattern/Chevron Angle	High-Theta (e.g., 60°+/60°+)	Creates high turbulence for efficient heat transfer, but also higher pressure drop.
Connections	4 x Tri-Clamp (1.5" or 2")	Standard sanitary connections for breweries: Wort In/Out, Glycol In/Out.