🔍 Key Concepts

• Plate type heat exchanger construction – plates, gaskets/seals, and covers (pressure plates) • Flow paths of hot and cold fluids – how each fluid is routed through alternate channels • Primary sealing surfaces – what actually forms the barrier between the two different fluids

💭 Think About

• On a plate heat exchanger, where do the two different fluids actually flow in relation to the plates – inside the covers, or between each pair of plates? • Which component creates the fluid-tight barrier around each flow channel: the plate surface itself, the corrugations, the covers, or the seals/gaskets between plates? • If a seal in the correct location failed, which choice describes the part that, if compromised, would allow the two different fluids to mix directly?

✅ Before You Answer

• Identify which option directly describes the physical barrier that separates the two different fluids, not just something that improves turbulence or heat transfer. • Distinguish between seals that keep fluid from escaping the unit and seals that keep the two circuits separated from each other. • Ask: which component is positioned exactly at the interface between adjacent flow channels where hot and cold fluids are side‑by‑side?