The Diffusion-bonded Compact Heat Exchanger (DCHE) is KOBELCO’s PCHE (Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger) which has significant compactness with excellent heat transfer performance and high pressure resistance.In a DCHE, several hundreds of plates are stacked, each with flow passages. Significant features are the flow passage size and joining. Flow passage diameters are each several millimeters in size, to ensure a large heat transfer area per unit volume of at least 1000 m²/m³. The joining is accomplished by diffusion bonding, which offers high pressure resistance up to 100 MPa.

* Diffusion bonding is defined as
"a method for joining comprising the steps of closely sticking base materials together and pressing these materials against each other at a temperature not exceeding their melting points, while suppressing their plastic deformation to a minimum, so as to cause the diffusion of atoms at the joining interface to complete the bonding."

Fabrication flow and applicable code for DCHE are shown in below.
Stainless steel material is used as a standard material.

Applicable Code & Certificate