Heat exchange – Flow passages for two confined fluids – Interdigitated plural first and plural second fluid passages
Patent
1996-08-12
1998-10-20
Rivell, John
Heat exchange
Flow passages for two confined fluids
Interdigitated plural first and plural second fluid passages
165166, 72385, F28F 308
Patent
active
058232532
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to a heat exchanger made of round, corrugated plates interconnected in pairs along the outer circumference, the pairs of plates being interconnected at flow openings so that the primary side will be closed. A tool for manufacturing the corrugated plates of the device is so designed that the angle between the corrugations of adjacent plates can be varied within certain limits. The manufacturing method according to the invention comprises the use of a single pressing tool.
A conventional plate-structure heat exchanger is usually rectangular, and flow passages on both the primary and the secondary side are positioned within the stack of plates. Passages between the plates and ridge profiles vary in plate heat exchanges. The angle between the ridges of opposite plates affects substantially the flow conditions in the passage between the plates. Conventional plate heat exchangers have required several separate pressing tools for each ridge angle. The method is expensive, and it has not been possible to adjust the ridge angles sufficiently accurately. Ridge angles between the plates have been adjustable to some extent by arranging together plates made with different tools.
Finnish Patent Specification 79 409 describes a plate heat exchanger made of round, corrugated plates. In the solution the ridge angles between the adjacent plates can be varied freely. However, the publication does not disclose any detailed technical solution for realizing the construction described in it. This construction is not obvious to one skilled in the art, as it comprises technical details that have not been solved. Accordingly, the corner between the chambers 4 and the plates 1 has not been sealed, as a result of which flows will inevitably intermix in the different passages between the plates. The publication does not disclose how this sealing is realized. Of course, the sealing can be made by soldering or welding, but this makes the chambers 4 extremely expensive in construction. In addition, in the construction according to the publication, it is very expensive to tighten the end plates by means of bolts particularly if the plate heat exchanger is used as a high-pressure pressure vessel. As a matter of fact, the solution according to the invention is speculative rather than technically realizable. Finnish Published Specification 64 459 also describes a round, plate heat exchanger solution. This construction, however, differs essentially from the plate heat exchanger and manufacturing method according to the present patent application. The plate heat exchanger disclosed in the published specification differs completely in flow type from the heat exchanger according to the invention. It employs a spiral-type solution, whereby the device solution is different as regards flows and flow resistances.
A drawback of present-day plate-structure heat exchangers is undoubtedly the method for their manufacture, if the ridge angle has to be varied due to heat-exchanging media, which is usually difficult with the constructions used at present. The costs of the tools for manufacturing plate heat exchangers are usually so high that the manufacture of small series is not feasible. In addition, conventional plate heat exchangers provided with rubber gaskets and pressed between end plates are disadvantageous in construction from the point of view of service life. A problem with rubber gaskets is that they begin to leak when aging. The service life can be increased to some extent by various soldering or welding techniques. In most cases, this, however, eliminates the advantage offered by conventional plate heat exchangers, i.e. that they can be disassembled and cleaned.
The device according to the invention and the method for its manufacture provide a decisive improvement with respect to the above-described drawbacks. To achieve this, the device according to the invention is characterized by what is disclosed in the accompanying claims.
The most important advantage of the invention is that plate heat exchangers with adequately s
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Atkinson Christopher
Rivell John
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