District heating and cooling

District Heating (DH) takes energy from a single source and then distributes it, via an insulated network, to a number of individual dwellings, buildings or even complete districts to provide space and tap water heating.

Alfa Laval has been producing components for DH for several decades and is a world leader in the technology. In fact, over ½ million heating installations around the world depend on Alfa Laval heat exchangers.

The reason is simple: no other single company can match the breadth or scope of the Alfa Laval range of heat transfer components. We have consistently led the field in terms of innovation and application since we introduced our first Plate Heat Exchanger in 1931. Recent advances such as the AlfaNova all-stainless steel exchanger have ensured that we stay ahead of the pack in terms of performance and reliability. The key is the consistently high levels of thermal efficiency our exchangers achieve, ensuring that energy input is maximised while the environmental impact is reduced.

Where our exchangers are used

Compact heat exchangers are used to connect a District heating network to individual buildings, to even out temperature and pressure differences between them and thus deliver heating and hot water at the desired temperature to the end user. In addition to individual exchangers we also engineer large and small substations and modules for Domestic Hot Water.

Substations are used to link individual apartments or buildings and incorporate controls which enable individual owners to control their own heating and hot water temperatures. Since all of the hot water is delivered by the network, there is no need for a gas supply in individual buildings.

Plate Heat Exchangers

Alfa Laval is the world’s leading supplier of plate heat exchangers, all characterized by their compact design and high thermal efficiency. The product portfolio includes various types of plate heat exchangers such as

-    gasketed
-    semi-welded and fully welded
-    brazed
-    fusion-bonded

Plate heat exchangers are made up of a series of assembled, corrugated plates. Between the plates there are two channels with a cold and a warm medium. These pass on each side of the plates and in opposite direction to each other.

Gasketed plate heat exchangers, which are used for a large number of applications, are sealed with rubber gaskets. Brazed plate heat exchangers have been developed to cope with higher pressures and temperatures. Welded plate heat exchangers are used to handle even higher pressures and temperatures.

Fusion-bonded exchangers are formed using patented system to produce an homogenous stainless steel unit.

For more product information and to see examples of successful DH installations please see our download section.
For a personal copy of our authoritatve  Guide to District Heating, please click on  contact us