Patent Grant
9279624
This application is a U.S. national stage application of PCT/JP2011/001170 filed on Mar. 1, 2011, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a heat exchanger employed in refrigerators and air-conditioning apparatuses, for example, and relates to a refrigerator and an air-conditioning apparatus that are equipped with the heat exchanger.
Conventional heat exchangers employed in refrigerators and air-conditioning apparatuses include those which are called fin and tube heat exchangers. One such heat exchanger is constituted by: plate-shaped fins that are arranged at a fixed interval and between which gas (air) passes through; and heat transfer tubes that are inserted at right angle through these plate-shaped fins (hereinafter, simply referred to as “fins”) and through which a refrigerant flows. Known factors of influence on the heat transfer performance of this fin and tube heat exchanger include a heat transfer coefficient on the refrigerant side between the refrigerant and the heat transfer tubes, a contact heat transfer coefficient between the heat transfer tubes and the fins, and an air-side heat transfer coefficient between the air and the fins.
In order to increase the heat transfer coefficient on the refrigerant side between the refrigerant and the heat transfer tubes, performance inside the tubes is facilitated by increasing area of the heat transfer tubes and by cutting inner grooves, which allows a stirring effect of the refrigerant to be obtained, in the heat transfer tubes. Furthermore, in order to enhance the air-side heat transfer coefficient between the air and the fins, slit groups, which are formed by performing cutting and raising of the fins, are provided between adjoining heat transfer tubes. These slit groups are provided so that the edges of the slits face the wind direction. By thinning the hydrodynamic boundary layer and the thermal boundary layer of the air flow at these edges, heat transfer is facilitated and heat exchange capacity is increased. Furthermore, the contact heat transfer coefficient between the heat transfer tubes and the fins are influenced by the contact condition between the heat transfer tubes and the fins.
For example, as illustrated in
Accordingly, in order to reduce these gaps and increase the contact heat transfer coefficient, a technique has been proposed, for example, as illustrated in
However, the conventional technique described above has the following problem. In the technique described in Patent Literature 1, three or more bends R are provided to each fin collar 2, and, further, the bends R are smoothly connected to each other, the shape of the fin collar 2 is, as a whole, a convex to the heat transfer tube 10 side, and no straight portion exists. Accordingly, due to defective fabrication of the bend R, when the heat transfer tube 10 is disposed into the fin collar 2, increase in insertion force is caused and mass production cost is increased; thus, a problem occurs in that the intended heat transfer performance cannot be obtained.
The present invention is made to overcome the above problem and an object thereof is to provide a heat exchanger that can increase its heat exchange capacity by a reduced thermal contact resistance between the heat transfer tubes and the fin collars of the fins, and, further, to provide a refrigerator and an air-conditioning apparatus provided with this heat exchanger.
The present invention is a fin and tube heat exchanger including a plurality of heat transfer tubes arranged in parallel to each other and a plurality of plate-shaped fins provided orthogonally to the heat transfer tubes. Each of the heat transfer tubes is in contact with fin collars of the plate-shaped fins, and inserted along the fin collars.
Each fin collar is configured such that a bend is provided in each of a re-flared portion and a root portion of the fin collar, a thickness of the re-flared portion is small as compared to a thickness of the root portion, and a radius of the bend of the re-flared portion is large as compared to a radius of the bend of the root portion.
The refrigerator or air-conditioning apparatus according to the invention is provided with the above heat exchanger.
According to the present invention, a heat exchanger can be obtained in which the thermal contact resistance between the heat transfer tubes and the fin collars are reduced and in which the heat exchange capacity can be increased, and, a refrigerator and an air-conditioning apparatus provided with this heat exchanger can be obtained.
a) and 2(b) are explanatory diagrams illustrating a manufacturing method of the heat exchanger according to the first embodiment of the invention.
In manufacturing the heat exchanger, a plurality of hair-pin tubes is first fabricated by bending, into a hair-pin shape, a middle portion of individual heat transfer tubes 10 in the longitudinal direction at a predetermined bending pitch. Subsequently, each of these hair-pin tubes is inserted between the fin collars 2 and the fin collars 2, of the plurality of fins 1 that are arranged in parallel to each other at a predetermined interval. Then, each hair-pin tube is expanded by a mechanical tube expanding method in which a tube expanding ball 15 is pushed into the hair-pin tube with a rod 16, as illustrated in
The heat exchanger that is manufactured as above includes the plurality of heat transfer tubes 10 that are arranged in parallel to each other and the plurality of fins 1 that are orthogonally to the heat transfer tubes 10. The heat transfer tubes 10 are in contact with the fin collars 2 of the fins 1, along which fin collars the heat transfer tubes 10 are inserted.
As regards the shape of the fin collar 2, a re-flared portion 3 and a root portion 4 are each provided with an arc-shaped bend and each have a radius of R1 and R2, respectively; a thickness Tw1 of the re-flared portion 3 is formed to be smaller than a thickness Tw2 of the root portion 4; and a ratio (Tw1/R1) of the thickness Tw1 to the radius R1 of the bend of the re-flared portion 3 is one half or more of a ratio (Tw2/R2) of the thickness Tw2 to the radius R2 of the bend of the root portion 4. Note that an intermediate portion 5, whose outer surface side is flat, is provided between the bend of the re-flared portion 3 and that of the root portion 4. As a whole, a substantially J-shape fin is formed.
In this case, when the radius R1 of the bend of the re-flared portion 3 of the fin collar 2 is formed larger than the radius R2 of the bend of the root portion 4, then, after the expansion of the heat transfer tube 10, a contact area of a root portion 4 of the fin collar 2 of the fin 1 at the front and a re-flared portion 3 of the fin collar 2 of the fin 1 at the back is increased and thermal contact resistance is reduced; thus, heat exchange capacity is increased.
The radius R1 of the bend of the re-flared portion 3 of the fin collar 2 has a close relationship with the thickness Tw1 of the re-flared portion 3; accordingly, when the radius R1 of the bend of the re-flared portion 3 is to be increased, the thickness Tw1 of the re-flared portion 3 also needs to be increased. If the thickness Tw1 of the re-flared portion 3 is small when the radius R1 of the bend of the re-flared portion 3 of the fin collar 2 is large, stress will concentrate on the re-flared portion 3, and the contact pressure between the intermediate portion 5 and the heat transfer tube 10 will drop. Accordingly, thermal contact resistance will increase and heat exchange capacity will drop.
Furthermore, when the ratio (Tw1/R1) of the thickness Tw1 to the radius R1 of the bend of the re-flared portion 3 of the fin collar 2 is one half or less of the ratio (Tw2/R2) of the thickness Tw2 to the radius R2 of the bend of the root portion 4, then the contact pressure between the root portion 4 of the fin collar 2 of the fin 1 at the front and the re-flared portion 3 of the fin collar 2 of the fin 1 at the back will drop. Accordingly, the contact pressure between the intermediate portion 5 of the fin collar 2 and the heat transfer tube 10 will drop and the thermal contact resistance will increase, leading to drop in heat exchange capacity.
Therefore, it is desirable that the ratio (Tw1/R1) of the thickness Tw1 to the radius R1 of the bend of the re-flared portion 3 of the fin collar 2 is 0.6 or larger with respect to the ratio (Tw2/R2) of the thickness Tw2 to the radius R2 of the bend of the root portion 4.
In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a fin that is formed from a plate made of heat-resisting metal, such as copper alloy or aluminum alloy. A heat transfer tube 10 that is made from a metallic material, such as copper, copper alloy, aluminum, or aluminum alloy, and that is provided with a plurality of inner protrusions 11 arranged in the axial direction of the inner circumferential surface is provided orthogonally to the fins 1.
The heat exchanger according to the second embodiment is configured such that a bend is provided to a re-flared portion 3 and to a root portion 4 of a fin collar 2 of each fin 1; a ratio (Tw1/R1) of a thickness Tw1 to a radius R1 of the bend of the re-flared portion 3 is configured to be one half or more of a ratio (Tw2/R2) of a thickness Tw2 to a radius R2 of the bend of the root portion 4; and the result of a relational expression (3.14×D/N)×((Tw1+Tw2)/2)/Tw2 is within a range from 0.26 to 0.34, in which the relational expression is a product of a ratio (3.14×D/N) of a circumferential length (3.14×D) of the heat transfer tube 10 having an outer diameter D to the total number of threads N of the inner protrusions 11 by a ratio ((Tw1+Tw2))/2/Tw2 of a mean thickness (Tw1+Tw2)/2 of the intermediate portion 5 of the fin collar 2 to the thickness Tw2 of the root portion 4 of the fin collar 2.
Subsequently, the reason for the numerical limitation of the second embodiment will be described.
As shown in
On the other hand, if the result of the relational expression (3.14×D/N)×((Tw1+Tw2)/2)/Tw2 is less than 0.26, in which the relational expression represents the product of the ratio (3.14×D/N) of the circumferential length (3.14×D) of the heat transfer tube 10 having the outer diameter D to the number of threads N of the inner protrusions 11 by the ratio ((Tw1+Tw2)/2)/Tw2) of the mean thickness (Tw1+Tw2)/2 of the intermediate portion 5 of the fin collar 2 to the thickness Tw2 of the root portion 4 then the contact pressure between the intermediate portion 5 of the fin collar 2 and the heat transfer tube 10 will drop and the thermal contact resistance will increase; hence, the heat exchange capacity will drop.
Furthermore, if the result of the relational expression (3.14×D/N)×(Tw1+Tw2)/2)/Tw2 is larger than 0.34, in which the relational expression represents the product of the ratio (3.14×D/N) of the perimeter (3.14×D) of the heat transfer tube 10 having the outer diameter D to the number of threads N of the inner protrusions 11 by the ratio ((Tw1+Tw2)/2)/Tw2 of the mean thickness (Tw1+Tw2)/2 of the intermediate portion 5 of the fin collar 2 to the thickness Tw2 of the root portion 4, then stress will concentrate on the root portion 4 of the fin collar 2, the contact pressure between the intermediate portion 5 of the fin collar 2 and the heat transfer tube 10 will drop, and the thermal contact resistance will increase; hence, the heat exchange capacity will drop.
Note that it is especially preferable that the result of the relational expression (3.14×D/N)×((Tw1+Tw2)/2)/Tw2 is within a range from 0.27 to 0.31, in which the relational expression represents the product of the ratio (3.14×D/N) of the circumferential length (3.14×D) of the heat transfer tube 10 having the outer diameter D to the number of threads N of the inner protrusions 11 and the ratio ((Tw1+Tw2)/2)/Tw2 of the mean thickness (Tw1+Tw2)/2 of the intermediate portion 5 of the fin collar 2 to the thickness Tw2 of the root portion 4.
Accordingly, in the second embodiment, the result of the relational expression (3.14×D/N)×((Tw1+Tw2)/2)/Tw2, which is the product of the ratio (3.14×D/N) of the circumferential length (3.14×D) of the heat transfer tube 10 having the outer diameter D to the number of threads N of the inner protrusions 11 and the ratio (Tw1+Tw2)/2)/Tw2 of the mean thickness (Tw1+Tw2)/2 of the intermediate portion 5 of the fin collar 2 and the thickness Tw2 of the root portion 4, is set so as to be within a range from 0.26 to 0.34.
With this configuration, thermal contact resistance between the fins 1 and the heat transfer tubes 10 is reduced and heat exchange capacity is increased.
The third embodiment is an example in which the heat exchanger 20 according to the first embodiment or the second embodiment is employed in a heat exchanging device 30, such as a refrigerator or an air-conditioning apparatus.
Accordingly, the contact resistance between the fins 1 and the heat transfer tubes 10 of the heat exchanger is reduced, and a highly efficient refrigerator or an air-conditioning apparatus with increased heat exchange capacity can be obtained.
Note that the above refrigerator and air-conditioning apparatus according to the invention employs, as its working fluid, any one of an HC single refrigerant, a mixed refrigerant including HC, and a non-azeotropic refrigerant mixture including R32, R410A, R407C, tetrafluoropropene, and an HFC refrigerant having a boiling point that is lower than the tetrafluoropropene; and carbon dioxide is used. In the case of an air-conditioning apparatus, the heat exchanger according to the invention is employed in either one or both of an evaporator and a condenser.
A description will next be given of examples of the invention while comparing the examples with comparative examples that depart from the scope of the invention.
As illustrated in Table 1, heat exchangers were fabricated in which the bend of the root portion 4 of the fin collar 2 of the fin 1 has a radius R2 of 0.3 mm and a thickness Tw2 of 0.1 mm, and in which the bend of the re-flared portion 3 has a radius R1 of 0.4 mm and a thickness Tw1 of 0.067 mm or 0.09 mm (Example 1 and Example 2).
Furthermore, heat exchangers were fabricated as comparative examples in which the bend of the root portion 4 of the fin collar 2 of the fin 1 has a radius R2 of 0.3 mm and a thickness Tw2 of 0.1 mm, and in which the bend of the re-flared portion 3 has a radius R1 of 0.4 mm and a thickness Tw1 of 0.05 mm or 0.06 mm (Comparative Example 1 and Comparative Example 1).
As it is apparent from Table 1, both of the heat exchangers of Example 1 and Example 2 had a higher heat exchanger effectiveness compared to the heat exchangers of Comparative Example 1 and Comparative Example 2, and had an improved contact heat transfer coefficient.
Subsequently, as illustrated in Table 2, heat exchangers were fabricated in which the bend of the root portion 4 of the fin collar 2 of the fin 1 has a radius R2 of 0.3 mm and a thickness Tw2 of 0.1 mm, and in which the bend of the re-flared portion 3 has a radius R1 of 0.5 mm and a thickness Tw1 of 0.083 mm or 0.09 mm (Example 3 and Example 4).
Furthermore, heat exchangers were fabricated as comparative examples in which the bend of the root portion 4 of the fin collar 2 of the fin 1 has a radius R2 of 0.3 mm and a thickness Tw2 of 0.1 mm, and in which the bend of the re-flared portion 3 has a radius R1 of 0.5 mm and a thickness Tw1 of 0.06 mm or 0.07 mm (Comparative Example 3 and Comparative Example 4).
As it is apparent from Table 2, both of the heat exchangers of Example 3 and Example 4 had a higher heat exchanger effectiveness compared to the heat exchangers of Comparative Example 3 and Comparative Example 4, and had an improved contact heat transfer coefficient.
Subsequently, as illustrated in Table 3, heat exchangers were fabricated in which the fin collar 2 of the fin 1 has a re-flared portion 3 with a thickness Tw1 of 0.07 mm and a root portion 4 with a thickness Tw2 of 0.1 mm, and in which the heat transfer tube 10 has an outer diameter D of 7 mm and the number N of the threads of the inner protrusions 11 is 55 or 72 (Example 5 and Example 6).
Furthermore, heat exchangers were fabricated as comparative examples in which the fin collar 2 of the fin 1 has a re-flared portion 3 with a thickness Tw1 of 0.07 mm and a root portion 4 with a thickness Tw2 of 0.1 mm, and in which the heat transfer tube 10 has an outer diameter D of 7 mm and 45, 50, or 80 threads N of the inner protrusions 11 (Comparative Example 5, Comparative Example 6, and Comparative Example 7).
As it is apparent from Table 3, both of the heat exchangers of Example 5 and Example 6 had a higher heat exchanger effectiveness compared to the heat exchangers of Comparative Example 5, Comparative Example 6, and Comparative Example 7, and had an improved contact heat transfer coefficient.
Furthermore, as illustrated in Table 4, heat exchangers were fabricated in which the fin collar 2 of the fin 1 has a re-flared portion 3 with a thickness Tw1 of 0.09 mm and a root portion 4 with a thickness Tw2 of 0.1 mm, and in which the heat transfer tube 10 has an outer diameter D of 7 mm and 60 or 80 threads N of the inner protrusions 11 (Example 7 and Example 8).
In addition, heat exchangers were fabricated as comparative examples in which the fin collar 2 of the fin 1 has a re-flared portion 3 with a thickness Tw1 of 0.09 mm and a root portion 4 with a thickness Tw2 of 0.1 mm, and in which the heat transfer tube 10 has an outer diameter D of 7 mm and 50, 55, or 85 threads N of the inner protrusions 11 (Comparative Example 8, Comparative Example 9, and Comparative Example 10).
As it is apparent from Table 4, both of the heat exchangers of Example 7 and Example 8 had a higher heat exchanger effectiveness compared to the heat exchangers of Comparative Example 8, Comparative Example 9, and Comparative Example 10, and had an improved contact heat transfer coefficient.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2011/001170 | 3/1/2011 | WO | 00 | 9/3/2013 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2012/117440 | 9/7/2012 | WO | A |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 20130340986 A1 | Dec 2013 | US |
