Patent Application
20240280336
The present invention relates to a gas cooler.
In the gas cooler for compressor disclosed in Patent Document 1, the gas introduced from the gas inlet to the inside is cooled by passing through the heat exchanger from the upper side to the lower side, and is led out from the gas outlet. Liquid (moisture when the gas is air) in the gas condensed by cooling, that is, the drain is recovered in a drain recovery portion provided in a bottom wall of the gas cooler. The drain recovered in the drain recovery portion is discharged to the outside from an opening (drain discharge port) provided in a casing of the gas cooler.
In the gas cooler of Patent Document 1, the gas flowing toward the gas outlet is likely to leak from the drain discharge port together with the drain at the time of drain discharge. In particular, when the liquid level of the drain accumulated in the drain recovery portion is low, the gas leaks out from the drain discharge port in such a mode as to push aside the drain. When gas leaks from the drain outlet, the drain amount that can be discharged from the drain discharge port decreases accordingly. That is, the leakage of the gas from the drain outlet reduces drain discharge performance.
An object of the present invention is to improve drain discharge performance of a gas cooler.
An aspect of the present invention provides a gas cooler including: a casing provided with a gas inlet and a gas outlet; a cooling unit provided inside the casing, the cooling unit being configured to divide the inside of the casing into an upstream space to which the gas inlet opens and a downstream space to which the gas outlet opens, the cooling unit being configured to cool gas introduced into the inside of the casing; a drain recovery portion being a recess locally provided in a bottom wall defining the downstream space of the casing, the drain recovery portion being configured to accumulate drain separated from the gas by cooling the gas in the cooling unit; and a drain discharge port being an opening provided to penetrate a wall portion of the casing, the drain discharge port being configured to guide the drain accumulated in the drain recovery portion to an outside of the casing.
Since the drain recovery portions are recesses locally provided in the bottom wall of the casing, even when the liquid amount of drain is relatively small, a state in which the liquid level of the drain in the drain recovery portions is high, and the drain discharge ports are below the liquid level of the drain can be maintained. As a result, it is possible to prevent or suppress gas leaking out from the drain discharge ports in a mode such as pushing aside the drain. By preventing or suppressing the leakage of the gas from the drain outlet, it is possible to avoid a decrease in the drain amount that can be discharged from the drain discharge ports due to the leakage of the gas, and to improve the drain discharge performance.
A peripheral wall of the drain recovery portion may be cast to be a wall different from a peripheral wall defining the downstream space of the casing.
With this configuration, local recesses of the drain recovery portions can be easily formed, and drain discharge performance can be improved as described above. That is, in order to improve the drain discharge performance, increase in the number of parts and complication of the structure are not caused.
A width being a dimension in a direction orthogonal to a direction toward the drain discharge port of the drain recovery portion may be 0.2 times or more and 0.5 times or less a width being a dimension in a direction orthogonal to a direction toward the drain discharge port of the downstream space.
The bottom wall of the casing may have a first inclination downward toward the drain recovery portion. A bottom wall of the drain recovery portion may have a second inclination downward toward the drain discharge port. The second inclination may be larger than the first inclination.
With this configuration, the drain can be easily collected to the drain recovery portion by the first inclination, and since the drain discharge port can be easily sealed with the drain while suppressing the increase in the height of the casing by the second inclination, the drain discharge performance can be improved.
A height position of an upper end of the drain discharge port may be lower than a height position of an upper end of the drain recovery portion.
With this configuration, even when the liquid level of the drain in the drain recovery portions is relatively low, it is possible to prevent or suppress the gas leaking out from the drain discharge ports, and the drain discharge performance is improved.
An ascending flow path extending upward from the gas outlet may be formed in the casing. The drain recovery portion may be provided to face a lower end of the ascending flow path.
With this configuration, the distance between the gas flow ascending through the ascending flow path and the liquid level of the drain can be increased, and the drain leaking out together with the gas flow can be prevented or suppressed.
The drain recovery portion may locally protrude from the casing in appearance.
With this configuration, it is possible to minimize an increase in size of the casing due to the provision of the drain recovery portions and an increase in weight associated therewith.
According to the present invention, drain discharge performance of a gas cooler can be improved without increasing the number of parts and complicating the structure.
Referring to
Referring also to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Similarly, in the second space 11B, the seal plates 14 and 14 of the heat exchanger 12B of the aftercooler 2B are supported on the support ribs 23B and 23B provided on the side wall 7B and the partition wall 9, and a seal portion is formed. Therefore, over between the end walls 6A and 6B, the second space 11B is partitioned into an upstream space 24B above the heat exchanger 12B and a downstream space 25B below the heat exchanger 12B.
Referring to
Referring to
The gas (for example, compressed air) exhausted from the exhaust port of the low-stage side screw compressor is introduced into the intercooler 2A. Specifically, the gas exhausted from the exhaust port of the low-stage side screw compressor is introduced from the gas inlet 26A into the upstream space 24A of the intercooler 2A through the inlet port 28A, passes through the heat exchanger 12A from the upper side to the lower side, and flows into the downstream space 25A. The gas flowing into the downstream space 25A flows from the gas outlet 27A to the ascending flow path 29 and is led out from the outlet port 30. The gas led out from the intercooler 2A is sucked into the suction port of the high-stage side screw compressor.
The gas exhausted from the exhaust port of the high-stage side screw compressor is introduced into the aftercooler 2B. Specifically, the gas exhausted from the exhaust port of the high-stage side screw compressor is introduced from the gas inlet 26B into the upstream space 24B of the aftercooler 2B through the inlet port 28B, passes through the heat exchanger 12B from the upper side to the lower side, and flows into the downstream space 25B. The gas flowing into the downstream space 25B is led out from the gas outlet 27B and sent to the downstream side.
In the heat exchanger 12A of the intercooler 2A and the heat exchanger 12B of the aftercooler 2B, the gas comes into contact with the tube nest 15 and the fins 16, thereby exchanging heat with the cooling water in the tube nest 16 to be cooled. The liquid components in the cooled gas are condensed to form droplets and fall to form drain.
As shown most clearly in
As shown most clearly in
Referring also to
Referring also to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Since the drain recovery portions 31A and 31B are recesses locally provided in the bottom wall 5 of the casing 4, even when the liquid amount of drain is relatively small, a state in which the liquid level of the drain in the drain recovery portions 31A and 31B is high, and the drain discharge ports 32A and 32B are below the liquid level of the drain can be maintained. As a result, it is possible to prevent or suppress gas leaking out from the drain discharge ports 32A and 32B in a mode such as pushing aside the drain at the time of drain discharge. By preventing or suppressing the leakage of the gas from the drain discharge ports 32A and 32B, it is possible to avoid a decrease in the drain amount that can be discharged from the drain discharge ports 32A and 32B due to the leakage of the gas, and to improve the drain discharge performance.
The drain recovery portion 31A is a recess locally provided in the bottom wall 5 of the casing 4, and the peripheral wall of the drain recovery portion 31A, that is, the bottom wall 34 and the four side walls 35a to 35d are cast as a peripheral wall defining the downstream space 25A, that is, walls different from the bottom wall 5, the end walls 6A and 6B, the side wall 7A, the top wall 8, and the partition wall 9 of the casing 4. Similarly, the drain recovery portion 31B is a recess locally provided in the bottom wall 5 of the casing 4, and the peripheral wall of the drain recovery portion 31B, that is, the bottom wall 36 and the four side walls 37a to 37d are cast as a peripheral wall defining the downstream space 25B, that is, walls different from the bottom wall 5, the end walls 6A and 6B, the side wall 7B, the top wall 8, and the partition wall 9 of the casing 4. Therefore, local recesses of the drain recovery portions 31A and 31B can be easily formed, and drain discharge performance can be improved as described above. That is, in order to improve the drain discharge performance, increase in the number of parts and complication of the structure are not caused.
As described above, the bottom walls 34 and 36 of the drain recovery portions 31A and 31B have downward inclinations θ2 and θ4 toward the drain discharge ports 32A and 32B. By the downward inclinations θ2 and θ4, the flow toward the drain discharge ports 32A and 32B of the drain in the drain recovery portions 31A and 31B is promoted. Therefore, the drain discharge performance from the drain discharge ports 32A and 32B is improved also by the inclination of the bottom walls 34 and 36.
As described above, the downward inclinations θ2 and θ4 of the bottom walls 34 and 36 of the drain recovery portions 31A and 31B are larger than the downward inclinations θ1 and θ3 of the bottom wall 5 of the casing 4. The setting of the inclinations makes the flow velocity of the drain toward the drain discharge ports 32A and 32B in the drain recovery portions 31A and 31B larger than the flow velocity of the drain on the bottom wall 5 of the casing 4. As a result, the downward inclinations θ1 and θ3 of the bottom wall 5 of the casing 4 of the drain recovery portions 31A and 31B make collection of the drain into the drain recovery portions 31A and 31B easier, and the downward inclinations θ2 and θ4 of the bottom walls 34 and 36 of the drain recovery portions 31A and 31B make sealing the drain discharge ports 32A and 32B by the drain easier while suppressing an increase in the height of the casing 4, and the drain discharge performance is improved also in this respect.
As described above, the height positions H1 and H3 of the upper ends of the drain discharge ports 32A and 32B are lower than the height positions H2 and H4 of the drain recovery portions 31A and 31B. Therefore, even when the liquid level of the drain in the drain recovery portions 31A and 31B is relatively low, the drain discharge ports 32A and 32B are maintained in a state of being entirely immersed in the drain. As a result, even when the liquid level of the drain in the drain recovery portions 31A and 31B is relatively low, it is possible to prevent or suppress the gas leaking out from the drain discharge ports 32A and 32B, and the drain discharge performance is improved.
As described above, in the intercooler 2A, the drain recovery portion 31A being a local recess is provided so as to face the lower end of the ascending flow path 29 extending upward from the gas outlet 27A to the outlet port 30. Therefore, the distance between the gas flow ascending through the ascending flow path 29 and the liquid level of the drain can be increased, and the drain leaking out from the intercooler 2A together with the gas flow can be prevented or suppressed.
As described above, in the appearance of the gas cooler 1, the drain recovery portions 31A and 31B locally protrude from the bottom wall 5 of the casing 4. Therefore, it is possible to minimize an increase in size of the casing 4 due to the provision of the drain recovery portions 31A and 31B and an increase in weight associated therewith.
As respectively indicated by reference numerals 42A and 42B in
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-109505 | Jun 2021 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2022/023063 | 6/8/2022 | WO |
