New products, 06 September 2024
As the market enters a phase of organic growth, driven by the need for modernization in the HVACR systems and commercial construction industry, plate and frame heat exchangers emerge as integral components in enhancing energy conservation efforts. With a focus on low maintenance and durability, manufacturers like Biogenuix and Enasis Indonesia pioneer unique designs with high heat transfer rates, utilizing materials such as copper, aluminum, and steel to optimize performance while balancing manufacturing costs. The market landscape depends on the Food beverage industry, Oil gas industry, Middle-class population, BPHEs, Cleaning process, High-performance design, High pressures, High temperatures. Our researchers analyzed the data with 2023 as the base year, along with the key drivers, trends, and challenges. A holistic analysis of drivers will help companies refine their marketing strategies to gain a competitive advantage.
Plate and frame heat exchangers are installed in different industries for different applications. They are used in power generation to enable efficient operations. In addition to the above applications, they are also used as cooling equipment in the industrial sector by the usage of a coolant that regulates the operating temperature of the system. Due to the increase in energy demand and power consumption, the application range of plate and frame heat exchangers is expanding along with the growth of all the above industries.
Along with all this, cleanroom applications are widespread in the food and beverage, pharmaceutical, aerospace and defense, semiconductor, and medical device manufacturing industries. The need to improve manufacturing processes and product quality is expanding the scope of cleanroom applications in discrete industries. Emerging uses for clean rooms are photovoltaic (PV) solar cell manufacturing, fossil fuel exploration, and battery production as they provide critical support in maintaining cleanliness standards. Hence such factors will drive the growth of the market during the forecast period.
Companies operating in the market employ organic strategies to a large extent in order to gain a competitive advantage. Some cases involve Kelvion Manufacturing expanding its heat exchanger manufacturing capacity to meet the growing demand for heat exchangers in the North American market. Alfa Laval opened a new greenfield manufacturing facility in San Hebonifacio, Italy, to manufacture brazed heat exchangers primarily for European customers.
Along with all this, plate and frame heat exchanger designs have been developed over the years to achieve maximum efficiency with minimal energy loss. One of the main advantages of this heat exchanger is that the corrugated plate pattern creates a high level of turbulence. This makes the overall heat transfer coefficient 3 to 5 times higher than shell and tube heat exchangers. Additionally, the heat exchanger minimizes fouling and makes the use of corrosion-resistant exotic metals economically viable. The compact design of the plate heat exchanger reduces weight by approximately 30% and reduces refrigerant volume by 20% which helps improve energy and system efficiency. hence, such factors will propel the growth of the market during the forecast period.
Maintenance and cleaning of the plate and frame heat exchangers are one of the biggest challenges operators face. Heat exchanger fouling is the accumulation of unwanted deposits on the heat transfer surfaces. Due to the presence of these deposits, the fouling layer narrows the flow area and adds resistance to heat transfer, resulting in increased velocity for a given volumetric flow rate. It can result in reduced heat exchange efficiency and associated operational problems and occurs due to the properties of the fluid and the operating conditions of the heat exchanger.
The materials of construction of some plate and frame heat exchangers are susceptible to corrosion due to the reactivity of fluids and contaminants in contact with the surfaces. Serious maintenance and operational issues with heat exchangers can result in additional production costs for operators unless fouling problems are identified during the initial design stage. An emergency shutdown may be required if the plate and frame heat exchanger lose efficiency quickly. This forces the operator to change the manufacturer's quality specifications, resulting in additional costs. Therefore, such factors will hamper the market growth during the forecast period.
The chemical segment will account for a major share of the market's growth during the forecast period.?This is due to the properties of plate and frame heat exchangers such as corrosion resistance and its ability to prevent cross-contamination which are useful in chemical industries. Plate and frame heat exchangers are a basic type of heat transfer equipment that is widely used in a variety of applications in the chemical process industry. The use of plate and frame heat exchangers in the chemical industry is driven by the varying temperature requirements of chemical process streams.
The chemical segment was valued at USD 1.39 billion in 2018. Plate and frame heat exchangers for the chemical industry can be used in many applications such as heating and cooling of basic, intermediate, and final products and heat recovery or temperature control of vessels, reactors, and autoclaves. The chemical industry is growing strongly in various countries such as India, China, etc. The chemical industry is expected to contribute USD 300 billion to India's GDP by 2025. Hence, the above factors will contribute to market growth of this segment during the forecast period.
Based on type, the market has been segmented into gasketed, welded, and brazed. The gasketed segment will account for the largest share of this segment.?It includes exchangers which are equipped with elastomeric gaskets that seal the channels. The plate pack is mounted between the frame plate and the pressure plate and pressed together with clamping bolts located between these plates. This design offers many advantages such as easy cleaning and easy volume changes, including the removal and addition of plates. The heat transfer section of gasketed plate and frame heat exchangers consists of a series of corrugated plates mounted between a frame and a pressure plate to maintain pressure. Various vendors such as Alfa Laval offer gasketed plate and frame heat exchangers for industrial applications like heating, cooling, and heat recovery to condensation and evaporation. Hence such factors will contribute to market growth of this segment of the market during the forecast period.
In Europe, the demand for data centers is increasing due to increased internet and social media, and continued technological advancements. Governments have enacted data retention laws to support cloud adoption, and Safe Harbor is one such law in the European Union. Some companies that provide data centers prefer European countries such as the UK, Germany, and France to build their data centers, mainly because of the cold climate conditions in the region. The heat exchanger system will help cool the data center system more effectively and efficiently and encourage companies to set up more data centers in the region. Hence, the construction of new data centers will boost the demand for the regional market.
Advanced Industrial Components Inc., Alfa Laval AB, American Plate Exchanger, API Heat Transfer Inc., Avingtrans plc, Baffles cooling systems, Danfoss AS, Dover Corp., FISCHER Maschinen u. Apparatebau GmbH, FUNKE Warmeaustauscher Apparatebau GmbH, Hisaka Works Ltd., ITT Inc., Kelvion Holding GmbH, Paul Mueller Co. Inc., Process Engineers And Associates, S.A. Armstrong Ltd., SPX FLOW Inc., Taco Comfort Solutions, Thermaline Inc., and Xylem Inc.
