Vahterus
Plate and shell heat exchanger
The success story of Vahterus began in 1990, when Mauri Kontu founded Vahterus Oy together with three employees. Vahterus was the first to develop and manufacture the fully welded Plate & Shell Heat Exchanger (PSHE) — an innovative combination of a plate,- and a shell-and-tube heat exchanger.
The advantages of this design quickly became apparent. Wijbenga recognized the potential of this heat exchanger for refrigeration applications and introduced the Finnish-made unit to the Benelux market in 1994 under its own brand name, Q-plate®. In collaboration with TNO, a dedicated testing program was established to fully explore the use of the Plate & Shell heat exchanger in refrigeration systems. These efforts were rewarded in 1997 when the concept received the NVKL Cooling Trophy.
As evaporators, combinations of heat exchangers and separators were soon developed. The significant benefits of the Plate & Shell heat exchanger did not go unnoticed, and over time, many different application variants were introduced. Today, the Plate & Shell heat exchanger is widely used as an evaporator in both flooded and DX systems, as a condenser, in heat recovery, as an oil cooler, and as a discharge gas heat exchanger.
Due to the increasing demand for systems with a low refrigerant charge, the popularity of the PSHE heat exchanger has grown rapidly. Around the year 2000, CO₂ re-emerged as a refrigerant, and since then, the Vahterus heat exchanger has been frequently used as a cascade condenser.
Over the past 30 years, Vahterus has produced more than 75,000 heat exchangers. The company has continuously invested in new production capacity and technology, and currently employs over 600 people. Within the refrigeration and heat pump segment, the vast majority of applications involve natural refrigerants.
Key Features of the Vahterus PSHE
- Compact design, easy to insulate
- Suitable for high-pressure applications
- Wide temperature range
- Gasket-free construction
- Low refrigerant charge
- Maintenance-free; easy chemical cleaning if needed
- Custom (refrigeration-specific) configurations available
- Easy to drain (e.g., for oil removal)
- Suitable for small temperature differences
- Very low pressure drop and high heat transfer coefficient (k-value)
- Pressure classes from PN 16 to PN 160
Visit the Vahterus website.