Heat exchange – With adjustor for heat – or exchange material – flow – Branched flow
Patent
1998-09-08
1999-07-27
Ford, John K.
Heat exchange
With adjustor for heat, or exchange material, flow
Branched flow
165 54, 165166, 165905, 165145, F28D 900, F28F 2106
Patent
active
059273879
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a heat exchanger, preferably used for air conditioning in a fan installation where the heat exchange takes place between extract air and input air.
BACKGROUND ART
In heat exchangers of the above-mentioned type the input and extract air usually pass in opposite directions on each side of heat-exchanger sections shaped with rhomboid cross section in a drum, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,377,201, for instance. The oppositely-directed air flows are thus forced to run in meandering flow, thereby entailing relatively high power consumption.
To reduce the power consumption a heat exchanger is known through EP-A-0 462 199 in which the heat-exchanger sections are arranged with spaces aligned with each other so that one of the air flows (normally the input air) has a linear direction of flow. However, the linear flow is disturbed by the formation of eddy currents each time it enters or leaves the heat-exchanger sections. These eddy currents thus still cause increased power consumption, i.e. poorer efficiency.
In known heat exchangers of the above-mentioned types, each heat-exchanger section is surrounded by a frame. This means that the degree of heat recovery is deteriorated since a considerable part of the available heat-exchanger surface is taken up by the frame.
The principle on which the present invention is based is shown in DE,A1,3137296. However, this publication does not show the specific features of the present invention which give the heat exchanger according to the invention properties not previously achieved.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A primary object of the invention is to provide a heat exchanger in which the power consumption is minimal and which thus has a high degree of efficiency, as well as being easy to inspect and clean.
This is achieved in that, according to the invention, the extract or input air has an unbroken flow through the heat exchanger while the other air flow has a transverse flow direction that passes the exchanger at least twice.
An advantageous embodiment of the heat exchanger according to the invention comprises heat-exchanger elements in which one air flow (e.g. the extract air) passes between adjacent elements whereas the other air flow (e.g. the input air) passes in channels arranged inside each element.
Further developments of the heat exchanger according to the invention are revealed in the independent claims.
Known heat exchangers are usually manufactured of material with good thermal conductivity, see the publications mentioned above for instance. Besides entailing high material and manufacturing costs, such heat exchangers are extremely heavy. A heat exchanger according to the present invention also eliminates these drawbacks since a highly efficient heat exchanger can be made from recoverable plastic material that requires little energy for manufacture or re-use.
An extremely high degree of recovery is achieved with the heat exchanger according to the invention since no frame is used.
Another advantage of the heat exchanger according to the invention is that the exchanger can easily be adapted to requirements of double, triple or quadruple transverse-flow exchangers. The use of three and four steps is in order to obtain higher efficiency and to be able to fit the connections of the exchanger to existing ventilation connections when carrying out conversions. The exchanger sections may be varied and not all the steps need be the same size. The exchanger also has completely flat surfaces.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The heat exchanger according to the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment, in which
FIGS. 1 and 2 show the principle for two known heat exchangers,
FIG. 3 shows the principle in a part of a heat-exchanger pack for a heat exchanger according to the invention,
FIG. 4 shows a further development of a pair of elements for the heat exchanger according to FIG. 3,
FIG. 5 shows a double transverse-flow exchanger accord
REFERENCES:
patent: 2828947 (1958-04-01), Hedbom
patent: 4377201 (1983-03-01), Kruse et al.
patent: 4579163 (1986-04-01), Maendel
patent: 5181562 (1993-01-01), Kuriki
Air Innovation Sweden AB
Ford John K.
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