Plate-Fin Heat Exchangers

Plate-fin heat exchangers offer excellent thermal transfer capacity combined with small size and weight.

Aluminum vacuum-brazed plate-fin heat exchangers are widely used in military and aerospace and other high performance applications because they offer excellent thermal transfer capacity combined with small size and weight. A plate-fin heat exchanger can be designed for use with any combination of gas, liquid, and two-phase fluids (air-to-air, air-to-liquid, or liquid-to-liquid cooling). A variety of finishes are available including paint and Milspec coatings. All plate-fin heat exchangers are custom designed as every requirement is different.

Superior performance: Plate-fin heat exchanger technology, which consists of finned chambers separated by flat plates, offers our highest thermal performance. The plates and fins create a large surface area for heat transfer, and the fins create turbulence in the fluid to further improve performance.

Lightweight: The all-aluminum construction of the plate-fin heat exchanger offers superior performance/weight ratio.

Completely customizable: All our plate-fin heat exchangers are custom designed so that we can supply you with the most efficient, compact, and lightweight part possible. The number of plates and fin layers, the size of the plates and fin, the height of the fin, and the type of fin are carefully selected for optimum performance. Manifold ducting and mounting brackets are welded in place as required, and a wide variety of paint, Milspec, and other coatings are available.

High reliability and cleanliness: The plate-fin heat exchangers’ plates and fin are assembled in an environmentally controlled room for maximum reliability and cleanliness. Also, our numerically controlled vacuum brazing process and robust fixture designs ensure complete metallurgical bonding between the fins and separator plates for ruggedness and quality.

Custom testing/certification: Complete shock and vibration testing and agency approvals are also available for plate-fin heat exchangers.

Lytron specializes in the design and manufacture of custom cold plates, cooling systems, heat exchangers, and heat exchanger assemblies. Please view our custom solution gallery below, which shows a sample of some of the custom plate-fin heat exchangers we've manufactured.

Request a quote today for a custom heat exchanger or call Lytron at +1-781-933-7300 to discuss your application.

Plate-Fin Heat Exchanger for Aerospace Application This plate-fin heat exchanger was designed and manufactured by Lytron for aerospace liquid cooling. Custom plate-fin heat exchangers can be coated, plated, or painted to Mil-Spec in order to withstand harsh environments. This plate-fin heat exchanger is coated per the OEM's specifications.

Custom Evaporator with Dual Core This vacuum-brazed evaporator consists of two plate-fin heat exchanger cores. It was designed and manufactured by Lytron for use in a military ground vehicle.

Plate-Fin Heat Exchanger for Unmanned Arial Vehicle (UAV) This PAO-to-air plate-fin heat exchanger was designed and manufactured by Lytron for electronics cooling on a military helicopter. Since the heat exchanger would be exposed to the elements, Lytron manufactured custom hail fin for the exposed side of the heat exchanger, which is shown in the photo. (Photo courtesy of Pacific Design Technologies and DRS Technologies.)

Plate-Fin Heat Exchanger for Liquid Cooling in an Airplane Lytron designed and manufactured this small plate-fin heat exchanger for an airplane liquid cooling application. This plate-fin heat exchanger is approximately the size of a hand. Lytron can vacuum-braze heat exchangers that are up to 10 feet (3.05 m) long and 3 feet 2 inches (0.97 m) wide.

Plate-Fin Heat Exchanger with Coating A customer needed a lightweight heat exchanger for liquid-to-air cooling. Lytron designed a plate-fin heat exchanger with a chemical conversion coating to meet the customer's exact specifications.

Plate-Fin Heat Exchanger Inner Cooler A customer required an inner cooler for air-to-air cooling of its application. Lytron designed the cooler with plate-fin heat exchanger technology to meet the thermal and mechanical specifications outlined by the customer.

Plate-Fin Heat Exchanger for Helicopter This plate-fin heat exchanger is a duct heater for a military helicopter. Lytron specializes in the design and manufacture of plate-fin heat exchangers for military and aerospace applications. All of Lytron's plate-fin heat exchangers are custom engineered, made with aluminum in order to be light weight, and vacuum-brazed for strength and cleanliness.