Plate materials of plate heat exchangers

Only stainless steel materials are used for the production of plate heat exchanger plates. These range from standard steels to high-alloy stainless steels, depending on the media used. The aggressiveness of the respective media determines the plate material.

Different alloying components of the materials, such as chromium, nickel and molybdenum, influence the resistance of the plate materials to aggressive acids, caustics and water containing chloride.

The manufacturers of plate heat exchangers have included different materials as standard in their product range. Some of these materials are described and compared below.

Chemical composition
Guide values in %
W.-Nr. AISI C N Cr N MO Andere
1.4301 304 0,02 0,06 18,5 9,5 - -
1.4401 316 0,04 0,04 17 11 2,2 -
1.4404 316L 0,04 0,06 17 11 2,2 -
1.4571 316Ti 0,04 0,06 17 11 2,2 Ti (no standard)
1.4391 317LMN 0,02 0,15 17 13 4,2 - (no standard)
1.4539 904L 0,01 0,06 20 25 4,5 Cu
1.4547 254SMO 0,01 0,20 20 18 6,1 Cu (Avesta SMO 254)

Special materials for highly aggresive media are available as follows:

Chemical composition
Guide values in %
W.-Nr. UNS C N Cr N MO Andere
2.4819 N10276 0,005 0,04 57 16 16 W4 + Fe6 (Hastelloy C-276)
2.4602 N06022 0,005 0,04 57 21 13 W3 + Fe3 (Hastelloy C-22)
2.4066 N02200 0,15 - - 99,2 - Fe 0,4 + Cu 0,25 (Rhein-nickel)
3.7026 R50250 0,08 - - - - Rest Ti (Titan)