Interest in energy-saving alternatives for heating buildings is growing globally. This has led to increased demand for heat pumps and district heating systems, both of which are based on heat exchanger technology. This is a positive development for AP&T, which supplies equipment for production of heat exchanger plates to all of the dominant manufacturers.
"So far this year we have supplied four complete production lines to some of the industry's largest players, and looking ahead we see continued stable demand," says Bo Larsson, sales manager at AP&T.
AP&T has supplied equipment for production of heat exchanger plates since the end of the 1980s. The manufacturing process has gradually developed and improved since then as regards energy efficiency, repeat accuracy, stackability and speed.
Production driven by customer orders
The basic principle for manufacturing heat exchanger plates is that stainless steel strip steel is coated with a thin copper foil, fed into the press for contour cutting, embossing, hole punching and stacking. Every manufacturer, however, has several varieties of plates it has developed on its own with unique shapes and patterns, and manufacturers frequently produce for several different makes of heat exchangers. Manufacturing is driven by customer orders, and it must be possible to re-set production equipment quickly when required.
"Together with our customers, we continuously work to optimize the manufacturing concept to increase precision and productivity," says Bo Larsson.
AP&T's long experience of production solutions for heat exchanger plates also creates entirely new opportunities in other areas. For example, a new method was recently developed together with Sandvik and Cell Impact for cost-efficient manufacturing of fuel cell plates.