Today, the rapid and continuous rise in heat amounts from chips renders traditional air-conditioning systems inadequate. Tempco BPHE brazed plate heat exchangers—also available in an all-stainless-steel version—are the technological heart of this shift to liquid cooling; they act as a key technological enabler that brings sustainability to data centers by reducing PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) while simultaneously allowing for increased rack density.

The superior performance of liquid cooling stems primarily from the fact that liquids are more efficient than air at transferring heat, allowing for more effective heat dissipation and lower energy consumption for the same amounts of heat removed. This makes it possible to reliably manage the higher power densities typical of AI and HPC applications—delivering high performance in a more eco-friendly manner. Furthermore, liquid cooling allows for highly targeted and precise cooling, as liquids are easier to direct toward specific components than air. The cooling ecosystem is completed by free-cooling systems and chillers located outside the data center; these dissipate the heat extracted from the servers and conveyed outdoors via the BPHE exchangers.

Tempco supplies brazed plate heat exchangers (BPHEs) for data center liquid cooling, offering models and versions suitable for every type of liquid cooling method, regardless of the system architecture. Their highly compact design allows for easy integration into the Coolant Distribution Units (CDUs) found in liquid cooling systems, thereby saving space within the installation. Tempco’s process expertise and capability to manufacture integrated solutions—such as complete skid systems—offer a further advantage to data center manufacturers and operators, enabling the creation of compact, comprehensive solutions that are easy to install and integrate into computing infrastructures.

Tempco’s brazed plate exchangers are suitable for use in both cold plates and immersion cooling systems—the two main liquid cooling methods used in data centers. The product range covers a wide power spectrum, offering models from 5 to 200 kW for in-rack CDUs and units capable of handling 500 kW to 3 MW for stand-alone in-row CDUs.

Tempco’s range of brazed plate heat exchangers includes models designed for Direct-to-Chip (DTC) liquid cooling architectures that utilize cold plates. Cold plates technology employs conductive metal plates applied directly to high-power electronic components, such as GPUs and CPUs. The generated heat is absorbed by a coolant circulating through microchannel structures within the cold plates. In this liquid cooling system, the CDU acts as a hydraulic safety barrier: here, the overheated fluid arriving from the cold plates flows to the BPHE; once cooled, it is recirculated into the loop, remaining isolated from the external cooling water circuit (free cooler, chiller, and evaporative towers) and thereby protecting the IT equipment from potential contamination.

Tempco offers brazed plate heat exchangers for CDUs in liquid cooling solutions using cold plates for both “in-rack” architectures—where the exchangers’ compact size allows for easy CDU integration within server cabinets—and “in-row” setups, featuring standalone CDU cabinets separate from individual IT racks that can serve up to 10 servers simultaneously.

The product range also includes brazed plate heat exchangers (BPHEs) for immersion liquid cooling solutions. Unlike cold plates—which are applied directly to high-power chips and components, typically requiring hybrid solutions that rely on air cooling for other parts of the computing infrastructure—immersion liquid cooling involves submerging all hardware in dedicated tanks containing special dielectric fluids. This ensures uniform cooling across all components, thereby eliminating hot spots.

Finally, whether used with cold plates or immersion cooling,Tempco offers brazed plate exchangers optimized for single-phase liquid cooling systems, where the coolant (often a water-glycol mixture) remains in the liquid phase throughout the thermal cycle, as well as for two-phase cooling systems, where the coolant boils upon contact with the cold plate or the overheated servers. This two-phase approach offers superior cooling efficiency, making it ideal for high workloads and ultra-high-density racks; however, it requires a more complex cooling circuit to manage evaporation phases and ensure precise pressure and temperature control.

L'articolo Brazed plate heat exchangers for liquid cooling: high-efficiency computing density in data centers proviene da Tempco Blog.

Brazed plate heat exchangers consist of stainless steel plates joined via copper or nickel brazing. They offer maximum heat transfer efficiency within a compact footprint, making them ideal for heat transfer where space is limited. Furthermore, the brazing process creates a plate pack with superior mechanical strength, enabling operation at higher pressures and across wider temperature ranges.

Immediate availability applies to models with standard connections and ports up to 2″. By focusing on the most common sizes and configurations, Tempco can respond promptly to urgent needs, replacement requests, and equipment downtime. In such situations, the quick delivery of a heat exchanger makes the difference between getting a system back up and running immediately vs suffering costly shutdowns.

Let’s discuss your needs
If you have a system to complete, a machine that is down, or wish to get ahead of market price increases, please contact us with the required size and connection specifications; we will check immediate availability and shipping times together.

L'articolo Brazed plate heat exchangers: when immediate availability makes the difference proviene da Tempco Blog.

In this specific case, the immersion plate heat exchanger arrays have been installed in the equalization tank, which receives the wastewater generated by the parboiling process—consisting primarily of water used to soak the paddy rice. The purpose of the custom immersion plate heat exchanger is to recover heat from the wastewater, yielding a dual benefit: first, the recovered heat preheats well water circulating within the plates to the highest possible temperature, resulting in significant energy savings by reducing steam consumption. Second, the heat transfer process cools the wastewater before it is sent to the purification plant, providing a substantial advantage for the biological treatment processes taking place there.

The system was implemented as custom and in retrofit, utilizing existing structures within the client’s equalization tank. Specifically, the existing agitators were leveraged to maintain a fluid velocity of ≥0.1 m/s, generating turbulence that enhances heat transfer efficiency. Furthermore, the immersion heat exchanger arrays were installed by anchoring them to decommissioned aeration pipes (2.0 x 2.6 m).

Overall, the system will enable significant energy savings for the client, recovering approximately 174 kW of heat (150,000 kcal/h) and saving 1,500–1,700 tonnes of steam per year. Material selection for the heat exchanger plates was also critical; AISI 316L stainless steel was chosen to ensure corrosion resistance (handling wastewater with a pH of 3.7–3.9 with no critical chloride levels). Fouling caused by starches in the wastewater was accounted for using a conservative fouling factor (4E-4 m²K/W). Finally, given the intermittent nature of the wastewater flow—process wastewater is discharged every two hours, though a minimum volume is always maintained in the tank—performance was calculated at 70% of the theoretical maximum to determine the system’s ROI.

L'articolo Wastewater heat recovery with custom immersion plate heat exchangers proviene da Tempco Blog.

In fact, as indicated in the documentation, just five of the listed data are necessary and sufficient: the ‘must-have’ data – essential for initiating the sizing process- are those required for the thermal calculation:

• Primary fluid inlet and outlet temperatures
• Primary fluid flow rate
• Secondary fluid inlet and outlet temperatures
• Secondary fluid flow rate
• Fluid pressure (crucial in the case of gases)

Capacity is another important factor for the thermal sizing of the exchanger; however, if the other five data are available, capacity can be calculated from them.

The other data listed under the heading “DATA FOR HEAT EXCHANGERS DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION” are useful for a more precise and comprehensive design but are not essential for an initial thermal calculation:

• Fluid types
• Max. operating temperature
• Max. operating pressure
• Oversizing % (margin)
• Allowable pressure drops (primary and secondary)
• Fluid viscosity
• Fluid specific weight
• Heat transfer coefficient
• Fouling factor

In summary, to begin the sizing process, it is essential to provide at least five of the listed thermal parameters – including pressure if a gas is involved. The remaining data help refine the unit’s design specifications but are not required at the initial stage. It is important to note that for special fluids, you must contact Tempco directly, as specified in the document.

FIVE FINGERS RULE

L'articolo Five key data for heat exchangers sizing proviene da Tempco Blog.

Among the cooling solutions offered by Tempco for data centers, particular attention is paid to the most innovative liquid cooling technologies, which offer greater efficiency in dissipating heat generated by chips – and therefore better temperature regulation – thanks to the superior thermal conductivity of liquids compared to traditional air cooling solutions. Tempco brazed plate exchangers therefore serve as a key technology for CDUs – Coolant Distribution Units – used in the liquid cooling of high-performance data centers, a strategic path to reduce the environmental impact of data centers, increase their sustainability and improve energy consumption efficiency (PUE, power usage effectiveness).

The improved thermal management made possible by liquid cooling also allows data centers to operate at higher power densities while maintaining high performance and reliability.

Liquid cooling for servers and electronic devices uses dielectric fluids, suitable for direct contact with chips and electronic equipment, in the case of direct immersion cooling, or for cold plates applications. Cold plates are special components used in the liquid cooling of electronic components, made of metals with high thermal conductivity (typically copper or aluminum). The chip or electronic component that overheats is attached directly to the cold plate, and the heat is transferred to it by conduction. Inside, the coolant flows through special microchannel structures, which greatly increase the contact surface with the overheated metal. The liquid then absorbs the heat and, via a small pump, is pushed out of the cold plate towards a heat exchanger or chiller.

In addition to the superior heat dissipation efficiency of the heat generated by servers, liquid cooling also offers another key advantage: compactness, allowing for the creation of high-density computing structures in data centers while saving installation space. The Tempco range of brazed exchangers for liquid cooling in data centers therefore offers very compact dimensions, which allow for easy integration into CDUs inside racks or in-row architectures, which can serve up to 10 racks.

L'articolo Brazed plate heat exchangers for CDUs in liquid cooling for data centers proviene da Tempco Blog.

The Tempco Service team provides technical support for component identification, compatibility verification, and the supply of appropriate spare parts. First, it is necessary to identify the exchanger model, which is the basis for any spare parts request.

The exchanger model can be found from:

• Identification plate attached to the exchanger
• Technical drawings or thermal calculation sheets
• Tempco supply documents

It is also helpful to provide:

• Number of plates installed
• Gasket type
• Year of supply or serial number

The two tables below therefore offer valuable support when requesting spare parts for heat transfer plates and gaskets.

Finally, some helpful further tips:

• Send clear photos of the plates and gaskets for quick identification.
• Indicate the process fluid and operating conditions.
• Tempco can provide plate reconditioning and regeneration with leak testing.
• Keeping a spare set of gaskets reduces system downtime.
• Observe recommended tightening torque values when reassembling.

L'articolo Tempco’s spare parts ordering guide for plate heat exchangers proviene da Tempco Blog.

Gas turbines are extremely sensitive to fluid conditions, in terms of temperature, fluid density, and thermal profile stability. In many industrial applications (power generation, oil and gas, LNG, hydrogen-ready plants), precise control of gas temperature is essential to improve efficiency, reduce operational instabilities, and protect the equipment during transient conditions. This is where the Gas Turbine Performance Heater is involved.

A Gas Turbine Performance Heater is essentially a heat exchanger designed for gas preheating (air, fuel gas, process gas), with a controlled ΔT, high reliability, and often undergoing high pressure and continuous service. Typical applications include fuel gas conditioning, intake air heating, and heat recovery systems from oil/hot water/waste heat recovery circuits.

Tempco proposes PCHE exchangers as particularly suited to this role, as they offer significant key advantages over traditional shell-and-tube solutions:

• Extremely compact
• Resistance to high pressures (tens/hundreds of bar)
• Perfect thermal stability even with rapid gradients
• Minimal fluid accumulation → safety + fast response
• Channel geometry optimizable upon the actual operating point

In performance-driven turbine applications, this makes the difference.

PCHE + Turbine: a smart technical marriage
As a performance heater, the PCHE allows:

• very precise control of the inlet gas temperature
• low pressure drops (if properly designed)
• easy integration into compact skids
• reliable operation even in:
  ◦ offshore environments
  ◦ frequent start/stop cycles
  ◦ severe conditions (H₂ blend, dry gases, LNG boil-off)

When the focus is performance + reliability, the PCHE is often the most engineered choice, not just the most compact.

A double advantage is therefore achieved when increased performance is achieved by implementing a heat recovery system, and this is where the application becomes very interesting, when the PCHE is served by:

• heat recovery circuits
• jacket water
• hot oil
• process waste heat

The result is an increase in the overall efficiency of the system, a reduction in auxiliary consumption, and improved operational control of the turbine.

Tempco therefore positions itself as a strategic technology partner for the development and implementation of this type of application, providing not only the technology but also support for the engineering, in defining the actual duty cycle and verifying turbine-side pressure drops – a highly critical issue – and then ensuring the integration of PCHEs into complete skids and technical dialogue with EPCs and turbine OEMs. The PCHE is not a standard component, but a solution tailored to the plant.

In conclusion, the use of PCHEs as Gas Turbine Performance Heaters represents a natural, highly innovative evolution of high-performance applications in the oil and gas sector, effectively addressing the needs for compactness, safety, and control. Representing a perfect example of applied thermal engineering as a special and customized, non-standard solution.

L'articolo PCHE as gas turbine performance heater in oil & gas applications proviene da Tempco Blog.

Also for pharmaceutical applications, we recently supplied three TREG temperature control units for silicone fluids in glass-lined reactors. This is a classic mono-fluid temperature control application, equipped with heating via electric resistors and a low-temperature cooling section (-30°C) using brazed plate heat exchangers and mixing valves.

Temperature ramps control is achieved through dedicated electronic thermoregulators and thyristors (SCR), which allow the customer to drive the heating elements with modulating power. Finally, the thermal control units work with special pumps, featuring magnetic drive technology and a very wide temperature range of -30/+300° C.

L'articolo Temperature control units for reactors at -30° C in the pharma industry proviene da Tempco Blog.

Mostra fiera idrogeno is a vertical event, now in its sixth year, organized by EIOM Fiere and dedicated to the wide range of the most innovative industrial technologies and solutions for the hydrogen supply chain.

You can pre-register for the event on this page.

Tempco’s PCHE exchangers represent an innovative technology that offers high performance to meet the critical requirements of hydrogen applications, such as extreme pressures and variable temperatures. The construction by diffusion bonding, or solid-state welding, of the plate pack allows these exchangers to operate at pressures up to 900 bar and beyond, thanks to their high structural integrity, which ensures operational reliability and high safety.

The photo-etching technique empployed for the plates allows to create customized layouts of heat transfer microcircuits, allowing PCHEs to be built in multistream mode, as required by the multistage compressors used in hydrogen refueling stations. This ensures extremely high heat transfer efficiency, rapid refueling, and installation in small spaces thanks to the exchanger’s highly compact design.

mcT Hydrogen is held concurrently with several other events, including mcT Oil & Gas and Security, a sector in which Tempco PCHE exchangers find equally important and interesting applications, such as pre-heaters in high-performance turbines and on GLN extraction platforms for gas cooling.

L'articolo Tempco’s PCHE exchangers at the mcT Hydrogen on April 14 proviene da Tempco Blog.

Brazed plate heat exchangers are the ideal solution for these plants thanks to their compactness, high thermal efficiency, and total maintenance-free operation. Compared to traditional shell-and-tube heat exchangers, they offer a series of concrete advantages that make them particularly suitable for modular, high-power density installations in small spaces.

The choice of Tempco
In Tempco hydraulic power plants, brazed plate heat exchangers are custom-sized based on the customer’s operating conditions:

• flow rates
• viscosity
• operating temperature
• heat dissipation duty

The use of copper or nickel-brazed stainless steel heat exchangers ensures high corrosion resistance and long operating life, with consistent thermal performance over time. Their compactness and reliability make them the perfect choice for high-performance systems, where every detail counts to ensure operational continuity and energy savings.

In short, brazed plate heat exchangers maximize thermal transfer efficiency and reduce overall dimensions, simplifying maintenance and improving the reliability of hydraulic power plants.

L'articolo Brazed plate heat exchangers in hydraulic power plants proviene da Tempco Blog.