The field of the present invention is that of heat exchangers, in particular heat exchangers for motor vehicles.
Motor vehicles are commonly equipped with heat exchangers. These allow heat energy to be transferred from one fluid to another fluid and are used for example to cool internal combustion engines.
Some of these heat exchangers are plate heat exchangers and they are used to cool liquids such as oil. These heat exchangers comprise a stack of plates between which a plurality of channels are formed.
The effectiveness of these heat exchangers depends on the intensity of the heat exchange between the fluids, but also on the distribution of the fluids in the channels. The plate heat exchanger also comprises a header, which distributes the fluid into each of the channels to which it is connected. This header is formed by openings provided in each of the plates.
In a known manner, this header has a circular section and the openings that form it are likewise circular in shape.
However, it has been found that this opening shape is not optimal. Specifically, a lack of uniformity in the supply of fluid to the channel has been observed. The circular shape of the opening creates regions of the channel in which the fluid flows with difficulty. Such defects create regions in which there is less heat exchange.
Therefore, the aim of the present invention is to overcome the above-described drawback by improving the distribution of the fluid over a major part of the width of the channel.
Therefore, the subject of the invention is a heat exchanger circulation plate intended to delimit at least one channel for circulation of a fluid, the circulation plate being provided with a bottom and a raised rim that surrounds the bottom, the circulation plate comprising at least one opening through which a fluid can enter the channel, characterized in that the opening is delimited by at least one at least partially rectilinear edge.
The presence of an at least partially rectilinear edge to define the opening optimizes the circulation of the fluid, forcing the latter to be distributed over a greater width of the circulation plate. This makes the circulation of the fluid more uniform over the width of the channel, thereby reducing temperature differences over the surface of the plate.
This opening shape also optimizes the circulation of the fluid by limiting the obstruction of the at least one circulation channel and by preventing the formation of dead zones over the circulation plate.
According to the invention, the two fluids circulating on either side of the plate are a refrigerant and a heat-transfer liquid. The circulation plate is thus configured to delimit a first channel through which the refrigerant passes and a second channel through which the heat-transfer liquid passes.
According to one feature of the invention, the rectilinear part of the edge forms part of the bottom.
According to another feature of the invention, the at least partially rectilinear edge forms a first edge, the opening being delimited by a second edge that forms part of the raised rim. In such a case, the opening is delimited by a first at least partially rectilinear edge that is provided in the bottom, and by the second edge that forms part of the raised rim. The position of the second edge on the raised rim makes it possible to limit the dead zones that are usually found between the opening and the raised rim. The dead zones are characterized by low heat exchange, and so they reduce the performance of plate heat exchangers.
According to an alternative, the at least partially rectilinear edge forms a first edge, the opening being delimited by a second edge that forms part of the bottom. In such a case, the second edge can follow a profile that is homothetic with a curved part of the raised rim. The first edge and the second edge that delimit the opening may both form part of the bottom.
In accordance with the invention, the fluid moves along the circulation plate in a direction of flow, the rectilinear part of the edge extending along a straight line transverse to the direction of flow.
Advantageously, the bottom comprises a rib arranged such that the channel has a U-shaped profile.
Also advantageously, at least the opening is at least partially surrounded by a shoulder which protrudes from the bottom and at least one top side of which extends in a plane substantially parallel, advantageously parallel, to a plane in which the bottom extends. The top side is configured to come to bear against a bottom of an adjacent plate.
The shoulder at least partially surrounds the opening that has the at least partially rectilinear edge. In such a case, the at least partially rectilinear edge is formed on the top side of the shoulder.
According to one feature of the invention, the shoulder comprises a flank that at least partially surrounds the opening and is interposed between the bottom and the top side.
According to another feature of the invention, the circulation plate has a rectangular shape and comprises a first longitudinal end and a second longitudinal end, a first opening that does not have a shoulder being provided at the first longitudinal end of the circulation plate, while a second opening having a shoulder is provided at the second longitudinal end of the circulation plate.
Likewise, the bottom comprises at least one disruptor for the flow of the fluid. The bottom may comprise a plurality of disruptors that protrude from the bottom and extend in the channel. The flow disruptors make it possible to create a turbulent flow along the circulation plate. They disrupt the boundary layer of the refrigerant and/or of the heat-transfer liquid that circulates in the channel(s).
Advantageously, at least one opening has an elongate shape.
According to one embodiment of the invention, at least one opening may have a triangular or rectangular shape.
The shape of the opening that is intended here is observed at a viewing angle with a direction perpendicular to a plane in which the bottom extends.
These opening shapes allow the fluids to be distributed over a larger part of the width of the circulation plate and thus make it possible to maximize the surface areas for heat exchange. They also make it possible to reduce the space between the two openings, which usually exhibits low thermal activity.
Advantageously, the heat exchanger comprises at least one circulation plate according to any one of the preceding features. In such a case, the plate is a closure plate of the heat exchanger or a circulation plate of this heat exchanger.
According to another feature of the invention, the heat exchanger comprises two circulation plates that are nested one inside the other and delimit between one another the channel that is able to be taken by a refrigerant or a heat-transfer liquid.
According to yet another feature of the invention, three circulation plates are nested one inside another and delimit in pairs a first channel and a second channel, the first channel being configured to be taken by a refrigerant while the second channel is configured to be taken by a heat-transfer liquid.
Further features, details and advantages of the invention will become more clearly apparent from reading the description given below by way of indication and with reference to the drawings, in which:
It should first of all be noted that the figures set out the invention in detail for implementing the invention, it being, of course, possible for said figures to serve to better define the invention if necessary.
In the rest of the description, the designations longitudinal or lateral, top, bottom, front, rear refer to the orientation of the plates according to the invention. A longitudinal direction A corresponds to the main axis of the plates along which they mostly extend, while the lateral orientations correspond to concurrent straight lines, that is to say straight lines which cross the longitudinal direction, notably perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the plates. This is for example the lateral direction B or the stacking direction d. The longitudinal direction A is parallel to a longitudinal axis l of a trihedron l, v, t, while the lateral direction B is parallel to a transverse axis t of the trihedron, the stacking direction being parallel to a vertical axis v of the trihedron.
The heat exchanger 20 implements an exchange of heat energy between a first fluid and a second fluid. The first fluid is for example a refrigerant and the second fluid is for example a heat-transfer liquid.
The heat exchanger according to the invention is configured such that the refrigerant and the heat-transfer liquid exchange heat energy without coming into contact. This feature will be described in more detail later on in the detailed description.
The heat exchanger 20 comprises a heating body 15 where the exchange of heat between the refrigerant and the heat-transfer liquid takes place. The heating body 15 is formed by a superposition of plates in a stacking direction d. The plates according to the invention are the circulation plates 1 and at least one closure plate 2a, which is intended to close the upper part of the heating body 15 in a sealed manner in the stacking direction d. This closure plate 2a is positioned on top of the set of circulation plates 1 of the heating body 15, in the stacking direction d.
The closure plate 2a and the circulation plate 1 are subsumed under the term plate in the present document, and the feature(s) described in relation to this term apply identically to the closure plate 2a and to the circulation plate 1.
The heat exchanger 20 also comprises a closure endplate 2b intended to close the lower part of the heating body 15 in a sealed manner in the stacking direction d. This closure endplate 2b is positioned underneath the set of circulation plates 1 of the heating body 15, that is to say on the opposite side from the closure plate in the stacking direction d with respect to the circulation plates 1.
The circulation plates 1, the closure plate 2a and the closure endplate 2b exhibit a configuration in the form of a trough. A rim of the plate according to the invention, that is to say at least the circulation plate 1 or the closure plate 2a or the closure endplate 2b, is a raised rim 5 that surrounds a bottom 3, thereby forming a bottom of the trough. The bottom 3 of the plate has a rectangular shape with rounded rims. The raised rim 5 of the plate according to the invention, which surrounds the bottom 3, extends continuously all around the bottom 3 and has longitudinal and lateral rectilinear parts that are joined by curved parts provided at each corner of the plate according to the invention.
The closure plate 2a and at least one circulation plate 1 comprise at least one opening 7. According to the example in
The first opening 7a, the second opening 7b, the third opening 7c and the fourth opening 7d each have an elongate shape in this
Thus, the first opening 7a has a side that extends in the longitudinal direction A of the circulation plate 1 or closure plate 2a and follows a part of the raised rim 5 provided at the first longitudinal end 110 of the plate. This feature also applies to the second opening 7b, third opening 7c and fourth opening 7d.
The closure endplate 2b positioned under the stack of circulation plates 1 in the direction d does not have any openings, so that the heat-transfer liquid and the refrigerant do not escape from the heating body 15.
The heat exchanger 20 extends in the longitudinal direction A and, for its part, also comprises a first longitudinal end 110 and a second longitudinal end 120, the first longitudinal end 110 being on the opposite side from the second longitudinal end 120.
The heat exchanger 20 has four headers 8, a first header 8a, a second header 8b, a third header 8c and a fourth header 8d. The first header 8a and the fourth header 8d are each positioned in a corner of the first longitudinal end 110 of the heat exchanger 20. The second header 8b and the third header 8c are each positioned in a corner of the second longitudinal end 1 of the heat exchanger 20.
The first header 8a, the second header 8b, the third header 8c and the fourth header 8d are volumes that extend in the stacking direction d of the heating body 15. The function of these headers is to distribute or collect the heat-transfer liquid or the refrigerant in the first channels 30a and in the second channels 30b (visible in
The heat-transfer liquid and the refrigerant circulate separately in the heat exchanger 20. The first header 8a and the fourth header 8d are the headers 8 reserved for distributing or collecting the heat-transfer liquid in the heating body 15. For their part, the second header 8b and the third header 8c are the headers intended to distribute or collect the refrigerant in the heating body 15.
The first header 8a is the inlet for the heat-transfer liquid into the heating body 15 and the fourth header 8d is the outlet for the heat-transfer liquid from the heating body 15. In an equivalent manner, the second header 8b is the inlet for the refrigerant into the heating body 15 and the third header 8c is the outlet for the refrigerant from the heating body 15.
The superposition of the circulation plates 1 delimits channels 30 which are separate from one another. A first channel 30a is designed for the refrigerant to pass through and a second channel 30b is designed for the heat-transfer liquid to pass through. The heating body is organized so as to have an alternation of first channel 30a and second channel 30b in the stacking direction. The refrigerant and the heat-transfer liquid therefore flow in the heating body alternately between the first channel 30a and the second channel 30b.
The function of the disruptors 13 is to disrupt the boundary layer of the heat-transfer liquid and/or of the refrigerant in the first channel 30a and in the second channel 30b, respectively. Thus, the disruptors 13 maximize heat exchanges between the refrigerant and the heat-transfer liquid.
The circulation plate 1 in
The raised rim 5 comprises an upper face 38 and a lower face 39. A part of the lower face 39 of the raised rim 5 of a first circulation plate 1 comes into contact with a part of the upper face 38 of the raised rim 5 of a second circulation plate 1. This contact between walls, which is realized around the entire perimeter of the raised rim 5, creates a seal between two circulation plates 1, so as to form the first channel 30a or the second channel 30b. This feature applies to all of the raised rims of the circulation plates 1, of the closure plate 2a and of the closure endplate 2b of the heat exchanger 20 of the invention.
As illustrated in
The circulation plate 1 has a bottom 3 having an upper face 100 and a lower face 101. The stack of the circulation plates 1 in the stacking direction d is characterized by the fact that the lower face 101 of the bottom 3 of a first circulation plate 1 faces and is at a nonzero distance from the upper face 100 of the bottom 3 of a second circulation plate 1 that is immediately adjacent to the first circulation plate 1. In this way, the first channel 30a and the second channel 30b are created.
The circulation plate 1 is in the form of a trough, meaning that it comprises the bottom 3, surrounded continuously around its periphery by the first longitudinal raised rim 5a, the second longitudinal raised rim 5b, the first lateral raised rim 5c, the second lateral raised rim 5d, a first curved raised rim 5e, a second curved raised rim 5f, a third curved raised rim 5g and a fourth curved raised rim 5h.
The curved raised rims are disposed at the corners of the plate according to the invention and join a longitudinal raised rim to a lateral raised rim.
The circulation plate 1 extends in the longitudinal direction A between the first longitudinal end 110 and a second longitudinal end 120, the first longitudinal end 110 being at the opposite end from the second longitudinal end 120 with respect to the bottom 3.
Each circulation plate 1 comprises at least one opening 7. In the example in
In the exemplary embodiment in
The first opening 7a, the second opening 7b, the third opening 7c or the fourth opening 7d in the circulation plate 1 have the rectilinear first edge 9a that is parallel to the lateral raised rim 5c, 5d. The opening in question is also delimited by the second edge 9b, which follows the lateral raised rim 5c, 5d and the curved raised rim 5e, 5f, 5g, 5h.
The rectilinear first edge 9a and the second edge 9b form an edge face of the bottom 3 of the circulation plate 1. The second edge 9b that delimits the opening 7 illustrated in this
According to
It will be noted that only the second opening 7b and the third opening 7c at the second longitudinal end 120 are provided with a shoulder, the first opening 7a and the fourth opening 7d at the first longitudinal end 110 not having a shoulder. The first opening 7a and the fourth opening 7d are thus made directly in the bottom 3.
In order that the refrigerant and the heat-transfer liquid circulate alternately in the first channel and in the second channel, it will be understood that, in the stack of circulation plates 1, one circulation plate 1 will comprise at least one shoulder positioned on at least one opening 7 at a first longitudinal end 110 and the adjacent circulation plate 1 in the stack will comprise at least one shoulder on at least one opening 7 at a second longitudinal end 120. Put another way, the heating body comprises a plurality of circulation plates 1 in which at least one shoulder is formed alternately at one longitudinal end of the heating body or at the other longitudinal end of the heating body.
All of the features of the openings 7 in the circulation plate 1 that are described in
According to one feature of the invention, each pair of openings 7 positioned at the first longitudinal end 110 and at the second longitudinal end 120 of the circulation plate 1 correspond separately to an inlet and to an outlet for the refrigerant or for the heat-transfer liquid. According to one nonlimiting example, the first opening 7a corresponds to an inlet for the heat-transfer liquid and the fourth opening 7d corresponds to the outlet for the heat-transfer liquid. The second opening 7b corresponds to the inlet for the refrigerant, while the third opening 7c corresponds to the outlet for the refrigerant.
The circulation plate 1 also comprises a rib 11, which protrudes from the bottom 3 of the circulation plate 1 and extends in the longitudinal direction A. This rib 11 starts at the first lateral raised rim 5c, between the first opening 7a and the fourth opening 7d, and extends in the direction of the second longitudinal end 120 of the circulation plate 1. The rib 11 ends at a nonzero distance from the second lateral raised rim 5d and thus divides the volume delimited by two circulation plates 1 to form the U-shaped channel.
This feature will be understood as meaning that the circulation of the fluids along the circulation plates 1 takes place with a U-shaped circulation, meaning that the heat-transfer liquid or the refrigerant will enter the channel in question through an opening 7 disposed at one longitudinal end of the circulation plate 1, will follow the rib 11 and then pass around it, in order to exit through another opening 7 disposed at the same longitudinal end of the circulation plate 1.
In
According to the example in
Although not shown, a shoulder can be formed around these openings 7 of triangular shape.
The opening 7 delimited by this rectilinear first edge 9a and by this curved second edge 9b is provided in the bottom 3. The rectilinear first edge 9a and the curved second edge 9b are therefore edge faces of the bottom 3 of the circulation plate 1.
The opening(s) 7 illustrated in this
The circulation plate 1 according to the variant illustrated in
Four openings 7 can be seen therein, made up of the first opening 7a, the second opening 7b, the third opening 7c and the fourth opening 7d. The first opening 7a and the fourth opening 7d have a rectilinear first edge 9a formed by the bottom 3 of the circulation plate 1. The rectilinear first edge 9a is an edge face of the bottom 3 of the circulation plate 1 and the rectilinear part is parallel to the first lateral raised rim 5c. The second opening 7b and the third opening 7c, for their part, also have a rectilinear first edge 9a formed by the shoulder 10 that protrudes from the bottom 3 of the circulation plate 1, as described in detail in
The opening(s) 7 illustrated in this
The second edge 9b, in particular its first portion and its second portion, is part of the raised rim 5. More specifically, the first portion of the second edge 9b is an edge face of the lateral raised rim 5c and the second portion of the second edge 9b is an edge face of the curved raised rim 5e, which adjoins the lateral raised rim 5c.
It will be understood from the above that the opening(s) 7 in the third embodiment, as illustrated in
The above description of the opening 7 applies, of course, to the openings 7c, 7d that are surrounded by the shoulder 10, such as those provided at the second longitudinal end 120. In such a case, the first edge 9a and the rectilinear part thereof belong to the shoulder 10, while the second edge 9b is part of the raised rim 5.
Although these openings 7 are delimited by the raised rim 5, the latter nevertheless maintains a sufficient height for leaktight contact to be made between the raised rim of a first circulation plate and the raised rim of a second circulation plate.
The invention thus achieves its stated objective by improving the distribution of the fluid over the width of the channel, thereby improving the uniformity of temperatures over this width.
The invention is not intended to be limited to the means and configurations exclusively described and illustrated, however, but also applies to all equivalent means or configurations and to any combination of such means or configurations. In particular, while the invention has been described here in its application to a heat exchanger involving refrigerant and heat-transfer liquid, it goes without saying that it applies to any shape and/or size of plate or to any type of fluid circulating along the plate according to the invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
1858762 | Sep 2018 | FR | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/FR2019/052272 | 9/25/2019 | WO |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2020/065227 | 4/2/2020 | WO | A |
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2075236 | Seligman | Mar 1937 | A |
2181230 | Groat | Nov 1939 | A |
2193405 | Goodman | Mar 1940 | A |
2610834 | Dalzell | Sep 1952 | A |
3334399 | Teeguarden | Aug 1967 | A |
3532161 | Loebel | Oct 1970 | A |
3631923 | Izeki | Jan 1972 | A |
3862661 | Kovalenko | Jan 1975 | A |
Number | Date | Country |
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101228408 | Jul 2008 | CN |
102498362 | Jun 2012 | CN |
203464814 | Mar 2014 | CN |
104303002 | Jan 2015 | CN |
106246334 | Dec 2016 | CN |
102016006127 | Dec 2016 | DE |
102016201712 | Aug 2017 | DE |
3203171 | Aug 2017 | EP |
3301390 | Apr 2018 | EP |
3035488 | Oct 2016 | FR |
655075 | Jul 1951 | GB |
1288887 | Sep 1972 | GB |
2018054265 | Apr 2018 | JP |
Entry |
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International Search Report with Written Opinion in corresponding International Application No. PCT/FR2019/052272, dated Nov. 26, 2019 (10 pages). |
Office Action Issued in corresponding CN Application No. 201980077277.5, dated Mar. 16, 2023. (10 Pages). |
First Office Action in corresponding Chinese Application No. 201980077277.5, dated Jun. 21, 2022 (17 pages). |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20210396475 A1 | Dec 2021 | US |