Plate & frame
Plateflow plate & frame heat exchangers
Gasketed plate & frame exchangers, replacement plates and gaskets, and sizing help.
Plateflow is the gasketed plate & frame heat exchanger line in the ITT Standard / Standard Xchange family. Corrugated stainless plates hung in a frame deliver very high heat transfer at close temperature approaches — and unlike a brazed unit, a Plateflow opens up: plates can be cleaned, regasketed, added, or removed as your duties change.
Whether you need a complete unit, replacement plates and gaskets for a frame already on your floor, or sizing help for a new duty, this page covers all three — or skip ahead and request a quote now.
Why pick a gasketed plate and frame heat exchanger?
For liquid-to-liquid duty, a plate and frame unit gives you:
- Less surface, same duty — chevron plates and full countercurrent flow handle the load with roughly one-third to one-fifth the surface area of a shell & tube unit
- Close approaches — temperature approaches down to ~2°F, ideal for heat recovery and free cooling
- A compact footprint — more capacity in less floor space than shell & tube
- A serviceable design — open the frame to clean or regasket plates; add plates later when your duty grows
Plateflow construction and specifications
Because a Plateflow is built up from a plate pack in a frame, its capacity scales with plate count. The datasheet ranges below cover the full line; your frame model and plate designation fix the exact configuration.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Max flow rate | 30,000 GPM |
| Max heat transfer area | Up to 47,000 sq ft |
| Plate materials | 304/316 stainless, titanium, Hastelloy, Incoloy, higher alloys |
| Gasket materials | Nitrile (NBR), EPDM, Viton™ |
| Frame material | Primed and epoxy-coated carbon steel |
| Connections | NPT nozzles 1″ to 2.5″; ANSI studded flanges 3″ to 24″ |
| Frame design pressure | 150 and 300 psi standard (up to 450 psi by request) |
| Design temperature | -31°F to 338°F |
| Construction codes | ASME Sec. VIII Div. 1 “U”, ASME Sec. III “N”, CRN, PED, China ML, NR-13, API 662, AHRI 400 |
Plateflow configurations
Four variants cover most liquid-to-liquid duties:
- Standard gasketed — the workhorse for HVAC and general process duty
- Double-wall — an extra wall between fluids for applications where cross-contamination cannot be tolerated
- Semi-welded — welded plate pairs for refrigerants and aggressive fluids in refrigeration and chemical processing
- Free-flow — wide-gap plates for fluids with fibers or solids that would plug a standard channel
Where Plateflow heat exchangers fit
- HVAC — waterside economizers, district heating and cooling
- Cooling tower isolation and free cooling
- Marine central cooling
- Food and beverage process duty
- Any liquid-to-liquid application with a tight temperature approach — or fouling fluids that need periodic cleaning
Replacement plates and gaskets for Plateflow units
Regasketing and plate replacement are normal maintenance on a gasketed unit, not a failure. Replacement plate packs and gaskets are available for current and legacy Plateflow models. Before you call, pull two things off your nameplate: the frame model and the plate designation — with those, matching plates and gaskets to your frame is straightforward. Request a parts quote or see the Parts page →.
Replacing an ITT Standard Plateflow
Still running a unit tagged ITT Standard? The Plateflow name carried through the brand change, and your legacy frame crosses to current Standard Xchange production directly.
- Like-for-like replacement — the model and plate count off your nameplate are all it takes
- Re-rate (new duty on your existing frame) — send your fluids, flows, and temperatures; often the fix is a different plate pack, not a new exchanger
Sizing help for a new duty
Not sure which frame or plate pack fits your application? Send your fluids, flow rates, and inlet/outlet temperatures, and you'll get a selection sized against current factory ratings — quoted by Southgate Process Equipment in Canton, GA, an authorized Standard Xchange distributor for 25+ years.
Need a replacement or a cross-reference?
Send us what's on your nameplate — model and serial number — and we'll match it to the current Standard Xchange equivalent, check stock, and quote it. Most stock units ship fast.