Brazed plate heat exchangers for refrigerated transport
The right temperature, from departure to destination.
Davhex supplies brazed plate heat exchangers for refrigeration units on trucks, semi-trailers and containers, sized for high power in limited space and weight, with vibration and thermal-cycling requirements verified together with the customer.
→ Production capacity and samples
Built in Schio, ready to validate on your unit.
A refrigeration unit on the road cannot wait for a missing component. Our production is entirely in Italy, with available capacity for both series production and samples, so you can validate quickly.
Available production capacity
Reliable delivery dates
A date committed in the quotation that you can plan your production around.
Samples on request
Test it on your unit before moving to production.
Solutions built on your design
Custom variants on specification when the layout requires it.
→ The role of the BPHE
Fewer kilos, same cooling power.
Refrigeration in transport has constraints that no stationary application shares. Weight directly reduces payload and therefore the economics of the trip. Space is set by a rigid technical compartment. Power is limited, whether it comes from the vehicle engine or from a self-contained unit. And ambient conditions change dramatically along the same route, from a Mediterranean port in summer to an Alpine pass in winter. On top of this comes continuous mechanical stress: road vibration, shocks and start-stop cycles far more frequent than in a fixed plant. The component is not sized for a single design point but for a fatigue profile.
| Position in the unit | Function | Dominant criticality |
|---|---|---|
| Suction gas heat exchanger | Subcools the liquid using the suction vapor | Increases the refrigerating effect and protects the compressor from liquid return, which matters with continuous transients |
| Evaporator or condenser | Indirect architectures with a secondary circuit | Compactness and low refrigerant charge |
| Subcooler | Recovers capacity when ambient temperature is high | Performance at the upper end of the ambient range |
→ Selection parameters
From the van to the multi-temperature semi-trailer.
The operating range of a transport unit is wide: the selection must be verified at the extremes, not only at the nominal point.
| Parameter | Typical range | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Cooling capacity | 5 – 30 kW | From the van to the multi-temperature semi-trailer |
| Weight | To be minimized | Primary constraint: it affects payload |
| Ambient temperature | −30 / +50 °C | Very wide operating range: sizing must be verified at the extremes |
| Compartment temperature | +2 / +8 °C (fresh) · −18 / −25 °C (frozen) | Multi-temperature units handle several levels at the same time |
| Vibration resistance | Specific requirement | Affects mounting and must be verified with dedicated tests |
| Thermal cycles | Very frequent | Fatigue stress on the brazed joints: this is the real durability criterion |
→ The Davhex solution
Performance and weight, in balance.
In transport, selection is dominated by the ratio between performance and mass. The choice therefore leans towards a contained plate count and an efficient geometry, accepting a higher pressure drop, which has little impact in the short circuits of a mobile unit. The decisive advantage of brazed construction here is the ratio between power exchanged, weight and volume: in a vehicle, every kilogram saved is payload gained.
High Heat Transfer
High chevron angle and a contained plate count: the most compact configuration for a given power, the right choice when weight and space come first.
Low Pressure Drop
Low chevron angle and more open channels, selected where the gas side must keep pressure drop at a minimum.
Mixed Geometry
Asymmetric configuration for the suction gas heat exchanger, which works gas to liquid with very different coefficients on the two sides.
→ The Polidoro advantage
Sized for the duty, validated with you.
Mobile applications require components verified on fatigue profiles, not just on a design point. Davhex operates within an industrial group with eighty years of experience in thermal components, with the R&D laboratory and production in the same plant in Schio: each configuration is validated together with you, on your unit.
80
years of thermal components
Made in Italy
Designed in our Schio headquarters
Available
production capacity
In-house R&D center
CFD simulation and thermal validation
Dedicated test rooms
Performance and life testing
Co-development with OEMs
Dedicated configurations, European supply chain
Tell us about your project
Developing a refrigeration unit for transport?
Send us the power, the ambient temperature range and your weight and space constraints: we will propose the most compact configuration.
Parameters to share