Food Grade Heat Exchanger
Food grade heat exchangers with 316L product-wetted plates, controlled surface finish, sanitary connections and CIP-friendly construction. Gasket compounds and documentation are selected and certified for the confirmed order.
- Dairy pasteurization
- Beverage cooling
- Brewery wort cooling
- Edible oil heat treatment
- · Plate / tube material
- · Design pressure & temperature
- · Connection type and size
- · Code and certification
Food Grade Heat Exchanger Overview
A Food-grade / Hygienic Heat Exchanger is a plate or tubular unit built to the cleanliness, surface-finish and traceability requirements of the food, beverage, dairy and pharmaceutical industries. Product-wetted surfaces can be configured in AISI 316L stainless steel with a controlled surface finish, gasket compounds can be selected from food-contact elastomer grades, and connections can be specified as sanitary clamp (Tri-Clamp), DIN 11851 or SMS. Materials, finish and accompanying documents are subject to the confirmed specification for each order.
Construction can be configured for Clean-In-Place (CIP) and Sterilization-In-Place (SIP) without disassembly, with drain-free geometry on the product side. Lot traceability documentation for plates and gaskets is available where included in the confirmed order. Pasteurizer and UHT assemblies can be configured as multi-section skids — regeneration, heating, holding and cooling.
Hygienic heat transfer applications include pasteurization, sterilization, product heating and cooling, chilling before filling, heat recovery between product streams, and CIP-solution heating. Typical food and beverage process uses are milk and cream pasteurization, yoghurt and cheese processing, juice and soft-drink pasteurization and cooling, brewery wort cooling, edible-oil heat treatment, sauce and condiment heat exchange, and aseptic or sterile duties in pharmaceutical and biotech plants.
Typical fluids and media handled include milk, cream and whey, juices and concentrates with defined particle size, beer and wort, syrups and sauces of stated viscosity, edible oils, purified water and WFI-adjacent utility streams, plus service media such as hot water, steam, chilled water, glycol and CIP solutions. Each medium should be described with its viscosity, solids and fat content so the plate pattern, channel gap and gasket compound can be matched to it.
Operating Conditions
| Design pressure | Project-specific; set by the selected frame, plates and gaskets and confirmed at design review |
| Design temperature | Project-specific; set by the selected gasket compound and materials |
| Heat transfer area | 0.5 – 800 m² per unit |
| Surface finish (product side) | Project-specific; controlled finishes selectable and confirmed against the specification |
| Connections | Tri-Clamp, DIN 11851, SMS, IDF |
Materials of Construction
| Product-wetted parts | AISI 316L available; electropolishing selectable on request, subject to the confirmed specification |
| Gaskets | EPDM, NBR, HNBR or FKM; food-contact grades and metal-detectable variants selectable on request, with certificates supplied when included in the confirmed order |
| Frame | Painted carbon steel or fully stainless cladded for washdown environments |
Selection Parameters
Information our engineering team uses to size and quote this unit.
- Product and service media, including viscosity, particle size and fat content
- Heat duty, or flow rate with inlet and outlet temperatures on both sides
- Required pasteurization / sterilization profile (temperature and hold time)
- Allowable pressure drop on product and service sides
- CIP chemistry, concentration and temperature
- Sanitary connection standard required
- Surface finish and any certification or documentation required (state the certifying body and scope)
- Available footprint and clearance for opening the plate pack
RFQ Data Checklist
Send the items below with your inquiry for the fastest accurate quotation.
- Product description, process flow and product characteristics (viscosity, particles, fat content)
- Heat duty and required temperature profile, including hold time where applicable
- Flow rates and allowable pressure drop on product and service sides
- CIP and SIP regime (chemistry, concentration, temperature)
- Sanitary connection standard, size and orientation
- Required surface finish, certifications and documentation scope
- Site utilities (hot water, steam, chilled water) and their conditions
- Available footprint and clearance for plate-pack opening
Food Grade Heat Exchanger Industry Applications
Three-section regenerative pasteurizer for milk: regeneration / hot-water heating / chilled-water cooling, with regeneration ratio set by the confirmed process design.
Two-stage cooler taking hot wort from 95 °C to pitching temperature using process water and glycol.
316L plates with FKM gaskets for elevated-temperature service on refined oils.
Inline pasteurization of juice on a bottling line, with sanitary clamp connections and CIP loop.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related industries
Other products
Related Guides
Sourcing, verification and next steps
Every unit is engineered to the confirmed duty, materials and inspection scope of the order. Design codes, test certificates and third-party inspection are quoted as options and confirmed per project rather than assumed. See our heat exchanger manufacturing and OEM capability, the quality control and inspection workflow, and the heat exchanger cost guide for what drives price. For a first-pass thermal check, use the heat exchanger sizing calculator, then send your process data for a quotation.
Need a Heat Exchanger for Your Project?
Send your working conditions, drawing or datasheet. Blair will review your request and help confirm the next step.