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Quotes - Engineering - SalesFood Processing Heat Exchangers
Sanitary Plate and Frame Heat Exchangers
Food processing demands heat exchangers that ensure hygiene, product quality, and efficient thermal management across diverse applications. Southwest Thermal’s sanitary-grade stainless steel plate and frame heat exchangers are designed for these needs, offering superior corrosion resistance and compliance with 3A and FDA hygiene standards. These units provide efficient heat transfer for processes like pasteurization, sterilization, cooling, and heating of products such as dairy, juices, sauces, and purees in the food and beverage industry.
Constructed from 316L stainless steel with polished surfaces (Ra = 32 µin), these exchangers prevent microbial growth and support Clean-in-Place (CIP) and Sterilize-in-Place (SIP) systems for rigorous hygiene. The plate and frame design allows for easy disassembly and cleaning, with customizable plate configurations to handle varying viscosities and flow rates. These exchangers are certified to ASME and 3A standards, ensuring compliance and reliability in food production environments.
The versatile and sanitary design of plate and frame heat exchangers makes them ideal for food processing, ensuring hygiene, product integrity, and operational efficiency.
Heat exchanger operations for food processing involve several critical steps to ensure hygiene and product quality:
- Fluid Preparation: Food products are pre-treated to ensure consistent flow and compatibility with the exchanger, managing viscosity and particulates.
- Heat Transfer: The process fluid flows through alternating channels formed by stainless steel plates, with a heating or cooling medium in adjacent channels for efficient heat transfer.
- Temperature Control: Precise regulation of temperatures prevents scorching, flavor loss, or texture degradation in sensitive food products.
- CIP/SIP Integration: Automated CIP and SIP systems circulate cleaning agents or steam to maintain hygiene and prevent contamination.
- Testing: Post-process testing verifies product temperature, quality, and compliance with food safety standards.
Each stage relies on the precision and flexibility of stainless steel plate and frame heat exchangers to ensure efficiency, hygiene, and product quality in food processing.
