In recent years, plate-type heat exchangers (PHEs) have emerged as a viable alternative to shell-and-tube heat exchangers (S&THEs). The PHE, with its ability to optimize thermal performance, has made close approach and temperature cross-applications economically feasible where they are not economical or practical with S&THE designs. However, unlike their S&THE counterparts, the design and engineering of PHEs is generally carried out by the supplier, and not by the front-end engineering design (FEED) and detailed engineering companies. This scenario sometimes makes it difficult for the engineering companies to optimally specify the requirements of the PHEs, leading to long deliberation at the detailed engineering stage and resulting in missed project deadlines.
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