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Pillow
Plate
Laser welded pillow plate heat exchangers
Keppels Laser Welding pillow plate machine .
In this article , we ’ ll explore the evolution of pillow plates , from their early manual production to modern fully automated laser welding techniques . We ’ ll also discuss their applications in various heat transfer systems , the materials used , and the unique calculations involved in optimizing their performance .
By Ir . Henk-Jan Keppels , Keppels Laser Welding BV
Pillow plates are two metal plates welded together with a pattern and closed borders around the pattern then inflated to achieve an internal space . These plates were manually produced in the past and now produced on fully automatic laser welding machines . This inflated plate can be used in all kinds of heat transfer applications , from cooling or heating tanks , making cold water or cooling sugar or fertilizers with bulk solid heat exchangers . The tanks are made of single embossed pillow plates , a thicker base and a thinner HE top plate . All immersion applications are using double embossed
HE pillow plates , both plates are of the same thickness . Heat transfer calculations with pillow plates are specific based on the application and made in spreadsheets . Nowadays the pillow plates are mostly made of stainless steel , but Keppels Laser Welding just introduced a copper laser welded pillow plate .
History of pillow plate Pillow plate is an inflated plate from two plates welded together and by applying pressure between the two plates the inner space is made . With a repetitive pattern the inflated plate will look like a pillow , therefore is the commonly used popular name “ pillow plate or pillowplate ” or the old fashion name dimple jacket . The space between the plates can be used for all kinds of heat transfer applications . In the past , for example to cool a tank , the tank was surrounded by a pre-dimpled plate and manually welded to the wall of the tank with TIG or MIG . When the resistance spot welding was invented , this
Laser welding keyhole . Laser weld macro .
Laser weld Ø 10 mm .
30 Heat Exchanger World October 2024 www . heat-exchanger-world . com