Heat exchange – Structural installation – Related to wall – floor or ceiling structure of a chamber
Patent
1992-02-12
1993-06-22
Ford, John K.
Heat exchange
Structural installation
Related to wall, floor or ceiling structure of a chamber
165122, 165164, 165909, F24H 306, F24F 1200, F04D 2958
Patent
active
052209555
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to heat exchange apparatus for exchanging heat between fluids. The heat exchange apparatus may, for example, find application as part of an air conditioning unit or a heat pump. The invention relates in particular to a compact heat exchange apparatus suitable for application as a room or car air conditioner/heater.
According to the present invention there is provided heat exchange apparatus, comprising a first heat exchange unit and a second heat exchange unit, each heat exchange unit having a fluid impeller and a heat conductive wall about the impeller, wherein each said unit has a first flow pathway, about the impeller, internally of the wall, and a second flow pathway, externally of the wall; the first and second units being so connected that the first flow pathway of the first unit communicates, via the impeller of the first unit, with the second flow pathway of the second unit; and the first flow pathway of the second unit communicates, via the impeller of the second unit, with the second flow pathway of the first unit.
Preferably the wall of each heat exchange unit is of spiral form thereby enclosing a volute within which the impeller is located. Preferably, the first pathway of each unit continues beyond the volute in a spiral conformation.
Suitably a second heat conductive wall of spiral shape is provided in each heat exchange unit, serving as the outer wall of the second flow pathway. Each heat exchange unit may thus comprise two flow pathways of spiral conformation, interleaved with each other, and isolated from each other by means of two heat conductive walls.
Fluid flow in the second pathway of each heat exchange unit is preferably in the spiral direction, though could, in certain embodiments, be in the axial direction.
The second flow pathway of each heat exchange unit may communicate with a transfer port located substantially at the innermost region of the pathway, the transfer port permitting fluid to enter or leave the pathway by flow in a direction which is transverse to the flow, in a spiral direction, within the pathway.
Preferably, in use, the fluid is moved in one sense along one pathway and in the opposite sense along an adjacent pathway, in each unit. Each unit may have two fluid pathways as described, or may have further such fluid pathways, each fluid pathway being separated from each adjacent pathway by a heat conductive wall.
Preferably, the heat conductive wall(s) is/are constituted by flexible strip(s), preferably of a metallic material. Preferably the metallic material is thin, suitably about 0.1-0.5 mm, so that its heat capacity is low, whereby the thermal lag of the heat exchange unit is low.
In a heat exchange apparatus as previously described, each said heat exchange unit comprises a fluid impeller, for example a centrifugal fan, located in its eye, suitably a volute. The fluid impellers are preferably driven by a common motor, suitably located between the impellers. In this way, a heat exchange unit in accordance with the invention may be compact, yet provide efficient heat transfer.
In a particularly compact heat exchange apparatus the first and second units are located together substantially in face-to-face contact, the first and second units defining respective hollows, which oppose each other but with a lateral offset from each other, wherein the units have partitioning between them, the arrangement being such that the communication between the second flow pathway of the first unit and the first flow pathway of the second unit is via a transfer port in the partitioning at the position at which the second hollow extends laterally beyond the first hollow, and via the impeller of the second unit; and the communication between the second flow pathway of the second unit and the first flow pathway of the first unit is via a transfer port in the partitioning at the position at which the first hollow extends laterally beyond the second hollow, and via the impeller of the first unit. Preferably, the second heat unit is arranged upside down relative to th
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patent: 4577683 (1986-03-01), Kelch
patent: 4711293 (1987-12-01), Niwa et al.
Dunsley Heat Limited
Ford John K.
Jenkins Richard E.
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