For general heating, cooling and heat recovery of media containing fibres and coarse particles. In addition the wide-gap channels are suitable for highly viscous fluids.     The plate heat exchanger consists of a pack of corrugated metal plates with portholes for the passage of the two fluids between which heat transfer will take place. The plate pack is assembled between a fixed frame plate and a movable pressure plate and compressed by tightening bolts. The plates are fitted with a gasket, which seals the interplate channel and directs the fluids into alternate channels. The number of plates is determined by the flow rate, physical properties of the fluids, pressure drop and temperature program. The plate corrugations promote fluid turbulence and support the plates against differential pressure. The WideGap plates feature coarse corrugations with a cross-section width between 8 and 17 mm (5/16" and 11/16") between the plates, and have flat non-corrugated portholes for the product channels. The WideGap plate heat exchanger can be used in four different configurations, wide-gap to super wide-gap. The frame plate and the pressure plate are suspended from an upper carrying bar and located by a lower guiding bar, both of which are fixed to a support column. Connections are located in the frame plate or, if either or both fluids make more than a single pass within the unit, in the frame and pressure plates.