Patent Application
20140116669
The present invention is related to a heat-exchanging technology, and, more particularly, to a heat-conducting structure having a heat-conducting metal layer, a heat-conducting support layer, and a heat-conducting protection layer, and a heat exchanger and a heat-exchanging system using the heat-conducting structure.
Generally speaking, the heat exchanger is operated to absorb heat contained within the high-temperature fluid, and, subsequently, transfer absorbed heat to another low-temperature fluid through principle that heat energy is transferred from a high temperature region to low temperature region due to the random molecular motion. The low-temperature fluid absorbs heat is then transmitted to a heat-required area through a circulation pipelines. The heat exchanger plays a vital role for the development of the modern industry, and, consequently, it can be applied in different fields such as fossi-fuel power plant, nuclear power plant, or incineration for waste treatment.
One major application of the heat exchanger is to be utilized in heat-recovery industrial field, wherein in refuse incineration plant or fossi-fuel power plant, for example, high-temperature waste gas with high heat capacity was generated during the treatment or reaction process, and the waste gas will be treated by a purification process, thereby forming a clean gas and, subsequently, discharging the clean gas to the atmosphere. During the purification process, in addition to filtering out the dust particles or contaminants inside the waste gas to form the clean gas, the clean gas with high temperature and heat capacity will also be conducted into the heat exchanger for heat energy recovery. The recovered heat energy is further utilized to preheat the granular material or peripheral device for filtering waste gas whereby not only can the filtration efficiency be enhanced, the energy requirement for preheating can also be saved. In power plant, after the cooling water, utilized to cool power reactor, absorbed the heat of reactor, the cooling water is then conducted into the exchanger thereby recovering the heat inside the cooling water.
However, in conventional technology, the heat-conducting material for making the heat exchanger, in addition to conducting heat energy, should also have characteristics of anticorrosion and high-temperature resistance. Conventionally, the heat-conducting material is made from a material having high-percentage of Inconel® alloy. Inconel® alloy has widely varying compositions, but all are predominantly nickel, with iron and chromium as the second elements. However, since the nickel is included with a higher percentage for forming the Inconel® alloy, the cost for making such material is expensive. Besides, although Inconel® alloys are oxidation-resistance and anticorrosion materials due to boding interaction between the metal components inside the Inconel® alloys, which is suitable for application in extreme environments subjected to high temperature, the heat conducting efficiency is insufficient due to the poor thermal conductivity.
The present invention provides a heat-conducting structure, formed by three metal layers including a heat-conducting metal layer, a heat-conducting support layer, and a heat-conducting protection layer. The heat-conducting structure has capability of anticorrosion, high-temperature resistance, and high thermal conductivity so that the heat-conducting structure can be utilized in heat exchanger or heat exchanging system in different types of industrial fields.
The present invention provides a heat exchanger and heat exchanging system, which are respectively formed by three metal layers for exchanging heat, whereby the heat exchange efficiency and heat conducting efficiency can be both enhanced and further the cost of production can also be saved due to less use of expensive nickel material.
In one exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides a heat-conducting structure, comprising: a heat-conducting metal layer; a heat-conducting support layer, formed to clad and support a surface of the heat-conducting metal layer thereby preventing the heat-conducting metal layer from thermal deformation; and a heat-conducting protection layer, formed to clad a surface of the heat-conducting support layer.
In another exemplary embodiment, the present invention further provides a heat exchanger, comprising: a plurality of heat-conducting structures, arranged spatially apart from each other, wherein a heat-conducting space is formed between two adjacent heat-conducting structures; a supporting part, arranged on the plurality of heat-conducting structures for dividing the plurality of heat-conducting structures into a heat-absorbing zone and a heat-dissipating zone; each heat-conducting structures within the heat-absorbing zone further comprising: a first heat-conducting metal layer; a first heat-conducting support layer, formed to clad and support a surface of the first heat-conducting metal layer thereby preventing the first heat-conducting metal layer from thermal deformation; and a first heat-conducting protection layer, formed to clad a surface of the first heat-conducting support layer.
In a further exemplary embodiment, the present invention further provides a heat-exchanging system, comprising: a heat exchanger, further comprising: a plurality of heat-conducting structures, arranged spatially apart from each other, wherein a heat-conducting space is formed between two adjacent heat-conducting structures; and a supporting part, arranged on the plurality of heat-conducting structures for dividing the plurality of heat-conducting structures into a heat-absorbing zone and a heat-dissipating zone, wherein each heat-conducting structures within the heat-absorbing zone further comprising: a first heat-conducting metal layer; a first heat-conducting support layer, formed to clad and support a surface of the first heat-conducting metal layer thereby preventing the first heat-conducting metal layer from thermal deformation; and a first heat-conducting protection layer, formed to clad a surface of the first heat-conducting support layer; and a heat generator, providing a first fluid to pass through the heat-absorbing zone such that the heat-conducting structure in the heat-absorbing zone absorbs heat from the first fluid, and conducts the absorbed heat to the heat-dissipating zone; and a heat storage device, coupled to the heat-dissipating zone of the heat exchanger, the heat storage device further receiving a second fluid passing through the heat-dissipating zone and absorbing the heat from the heat-conducting structure within the heat-dissipating zone.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention and wherein:
For your esteemed members of reviewing committee to further understand and recognize the fulfilled functions and structural characteristics of the invention, several exemplary embodiments cooperating with detailed description are presented as the follows.
Please refer to
Please refer to
The heat-conducting metal layer 200 can be selective to a material having a thermal conductivity in a range of 100 W/(m·K) to 400 W/(m·K), wherein the material can be, but should not be limited to, a copper, a silver a gold, an aluminum, or an alloy combining the at least two kinds of aforementioned exemplary metals. The heat-conducting support layer 201 can be selective to a material having a thermal conductivity in a range of 9 W/(m·K) to 26 W/(m·K), wherein the material can be a ferro-alloy, such as stainless steel, or carbon steel. The heat-conducting protection layer 202 can be selective to a material having a thermal conductivity in a range of 8 W/(m·K) to 72 W/(m·K), wherein the material can be, but should not be limited to, a nickel or nickel alloy. In the present embodiment, the material of heat-conducting metal layer 200 is copper, the material of the heat-conducting support layer 201 is stainless steel, and the material of the heat-conducting protection layer 202 is nickel.
In the present embodiment, the copper has superior thermal conductivity of about, for example, 352 W/(m·K) at absolute temperature 1000K, the stainless steel has thermal conductivity of about 24.2 W/(m·K) at room temperature, and the nickel has thermal conductivity of about 71.8 W/(m·K) at absolute temperature 1000K. Since the heat-conducting structure of the present invention is a multiple-layered metal structure, the thermal conductivity of the multiple-layered metal structure can be greatly improved, in which the heat-conducting metal layer 200 is utilized to conduct heat, the heat-conducting support layer 201 is utilized to support the heat-conducting metal layer 200 thereby preventing the heat-conducting metal layer 200 from thermal deformation in the high-temperature working environment, and, selectively, the outer surface of the heat-conducting support layer 201 can be wrapped by alternative kinds of heat-conducting protection layer 202 according to a need condition, such as temperature requirement, and anticorrosion requirement of the working environment, such that the heat-conducting structure 20 of the present invention can be broadly applied in different types of heat-exchanging fields.
Please refer to
It is noted that the heat exchanger 2 is accommodated within a housing 3 having insulating structure for isolating the low-temperature fluid 91 and high-temperature fluid 90. The housing 3 for isolating the low-temperature fluid 91 and high-temperature fluid 90 is related to an art that are well-known by the one having ordinary skill in the art; therefore, it would not be further described in detail hereinafter. The aforesaid fluid 90 and 91 can be a gas, a liquid or a slurry, a mixture of solid and liquid substances, wherein the fluid 90 and 91 are both gas in the present embodiment. When the high-temperature fluid 90 enters the heat-absorbing zone 23 and flows through the heat-conducting space 22 formed between two adjacent heat-conducting structure 20, the heat contained in the high-temperature fluid 90 will be transmitted to the heat-conducting structure 20 in the heat-absorbing zone 23 by heat convention due to the temperature differences therebetween.
After the heat-conducting structure 20 absorbs the heat from the high-temperature fluid 90, the heat inside the heat-conducting structure 20 in the heat-absorbing zone 23 will be transmitted to the heat-dissipating zone 24 by heat conduction due to the temperatures differences between heat-conducting structures 20 in heat-absorbing zone 23 and heat-dissipating zone. When the low-temperature 91 enters the heat-dissipating zone 24 and flows through the spaces 22 between two adjacent heat-conducting structures 20, since the temperature of the low-temperature fluid 91 is lower than the temperature of the heat-conducting structure 20 in the heat-dissipating zone 24, the low-temperature fluid 91 absorbs the heat emitted from heat-conducting structures 20 within the heat-dissipating zone 24 through heat convention, whereby the temperature of the low-temperature fluid 91 can be increased.
After the low-temperature fluid 91 absorbs the heat, it will flow out the heat-dissipating zone 24 and can be conducted though the pipeline to an area where requires the heat energy, thereby dissipating absorbed heat to the area. Referring back to
It is understood that, although the heat-conducting structure 20 within the heat-absorbing area 23 and heat-dissipating area 24 shown in
Furthermore, please refer to embodiments shown in
In an exemplary embodiment shown in
Please refer to
In an embodiment, each pipeline 41 further has a plurality of heat-conducting fins 413 for enhancing the efficiency of heat conduction. It is noted that the embodiment shown in
Please refer to the exemplary embodiment shown in
The heat-conducting metal layer 410 can be, but should not be limited to, a copper, a silver, a gold, an aluminum, or an alloy combining the at least two kinds of aforementioned exemplary metals. The heat-conducting support layer 411 can be a ferro-alloy, such as stainless steel, or carton steel. The heat-conducting protection layer 412 can be a nickel or nickel alloy. In one exemplary embodiment, the material of heat-conducting metal layer 410 is copper, the material of the heat-conducting support layer 411 is stainless steel, and the material of the heat-conducting protection layer 412 is nickel.
Please refer to
Please refer to
In the present invention, the heat generator 51 is a granular moving-bed apparatus. When a waste gas flow 92 with high-temperature passes through the heat generator 51, the dust particles or contaminants inside the waste gas flow 92 are filtered out by the granular material moving inside the heat generator 51, thereby being formed a clean and high-temperature fluid 90. The high-temperature fluid 90 is further conducted to the heat exchanger 50, and, subsequently, the high-temperature fluid 90 enters the heat-absorbing zone 23, performs heat exchange with the heat-conducting structure 20 inside the heat-absorbing zone 23, and, subsequently, flows out the heat-absorbing zone 23.
On the other hand, after the heat-conducting structure 20 inside the heat-absorbing zone 23 absorbed the heat transmitted from the high-temperature fluid 90, the absorbed heat is conducted to the heat-conducting structures 20 inside the heat-dissipating zone 24 via heat conduction. The heat storage device 52 coupled to the heat-dissipating zone 24 of the heat exchanger 50 for receiving a low-temperature fluid 91 from the heat-dissipating zone 24 flowing therethrough. It is noted that the high-temperature fluid 90 and low-temperature fluid 91 can be a gas, a liquid, or a slurry. In the present embodiment, the fluid 90 and 91 are both gas.
The temperature of the low-temperature fluid 91 is lower than the temperature of the heat-conducting structures 20 inside the heat-dissipating zone 24. Accordingly, when the low-temperature fluid 91 passes through the heat-dissipating zone 24, the low-temperature fluid 91 absorbs heat from the heat-conducting structure 20 inside the heat-dissipating zone 24, thereby increasing the temperature thereof. Thereafter, the fluid 91 is conducted to pass through the heat storage device 52. The heat storage device 52 coupled to the heat generator 51 comprises a granular material container 520 for accommodating clean granular material which moves into the heat generator 51 for filtering out the dust particles and contaminants within the waste gas flow 92. When the fluid 91 enters the heat storage device 52, it can flow through the granular material for preheating the granular material inside the granular material container 520, whereby the granular material can absorb heat from the fluid 91 so as to increase the temperature of the granular material, thereby enhancing the objective for preheating the granular material.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.
