This invention relates to heat exchangers generally, and more particularly, to a heat exchanger that may serve as a water heater and a gas cooler.
Ozone layer and/or global warming problems have focused considerable attention on the nature of refrigerants employed in refrigeration systems of various sorts. Some such systems, particularly those that do not have sealed compressor units as are commonly found in vehicular air conditioning systems, are prone to refrigerant leakage. Older refrigerants, HFC 12, for example, are thought to cause depletion of the ozone layer while many of the replacements, HCFC 134a, for example, are believed to contribute to the so-called “greenhouse effect” and thus global warming.
As a consequence, a considerable effort is underway to develop refrigeration systems employing transcritical refrigerants such as carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is plentiful in the atmosphere and may be obtained therefrom by conventional techniques and employed as a refrigerant in such systems. Should the systems leak the CO2 refrigerant, because it was originally obtained from the atmosphere, there is no net increase of the refrigerant in the atmosphere, and thus no increase in environmental damage as a result of the leak.
Transcritical refrigeration systems, such as CO2 systems, operate at relatively high pressures and require, in lieu of a condenser in a conventional vapor compression refrigeration system, a gas cooler for the refrigerant.
The heat rejected by a gas cooler can be employed for various useful purposes and one such use is for heating potable water for residential, commercial, or industrial usages. The present invention is primarily directed at providing a combination water heater and gas cooler.
It is the principal object of the invention to provide a new and improved heat exchanger. More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide a new and improved heat exchanger that can be used with efficacy in a refrigeration system for cooling gaseous refrigerant while heating potable water.
An exemplary embodiment of the invention achieves the foregoing object in a heat exchanger intended for use as a water heater/gas cooler that includes first and second generally parallel, spaced, tubular water headers. A plurality of water tubes extend in spaced, generally parallel relation between the water headers and are in fluid communication therewith. A water inlet is provided in one of the water headers and a water outlet is provided in one of the water headers.
A plurality of gas tubes, at least one for each water tube, are helically wound about corresponding ones of the water tubes in heat transfer facilitating contact therewith and each gas tube has opposed ends. First and second, generally parallel spaced gas headers are connected in fluid communication with the respective ones of the opposed ends of the gas tubes and a gas inlet is provided in one of the gas headers and a gas outlet is provided in the other of the headers.
In a preferred embodiment, there is at least one additional outlet in one of the water headers.
A preferred embodiment also contemplates that there may be at least one baffle in at least one of the water headers.
In one embodiment of the invention, a non-straight turbulator wire is disposed in the water tubes. More preferably, the turbulator wire is a helical or spirally shaped wire.
One embodiment of the invention contemplates that the water tubes are generally straight and the water headers are remote from one another.
In another embodiment of the invention, the water tubes are bent to bring the water headers into proximity to one another.
One embodiment of the invention contemplates that the tubes be formed of a metal selected from the group that consists of copper and stainless steel.
In one embodiment of the invention, the interior of the water tubes is grooved.
One embodiment of the invention contemplates that the exteriors of the water tubes have helical grooves and that the gas tubes are wound in the grooves.
In a preferred embodiment, each gas tube includes an inside diameter in the range of about 0.04 inches to 0.10 inches and is helically wound to a pitch in the range of about 0.20 inches to 2.0 inches.
In a highly preferred embodiment, the inside diameter of the gas tubes is about 0.08 inches and the pitch is about 0.30 inches.
A preferred embodiment of the invention contemplates that the water tubes have an inside diameter in the range of about 0.10 inch to 0.50 inches.
According to the embodiment mentioned immediately preceding, the water tubes include a helical internal spring wire turbulator having a diameter in the range of about 0.03 inches to 0.08 inches and a pitch in the range of about 0.20 inches to 1.0 inches and the water tube inner diameter is in the range of about 0.10 inches to about 0.40 inches.
In this embodiment, it is preferred that the water tubes be smooth walled.
In another embodiment of the invention, the water tubes each have a helical groove in which a corresponding one of the gas tubes is snugly received and each helical groove has a pitch in the range of about 0.20 inches to 2.0 inches. More preferably, the internal diameter of this embodiment of the water tubes is in the range of about 0.14 inches to 0.50 inches and includes a grooved inner wall surface.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.
The present invention will be described as being useful in the environment of a refrigeration system employing a transcritical refrigerant such as CO2. However, it is to be understood that the heat exchanger may be used in other heat exchange applications that do not involve refrigeration and/or water heating and may find use in refrigeration systems using nontranscritical and/or conventional refrigerants. Accordingly, no limitation to a water heater/gas cooler in a transcritical refrigeration system is intended except insofar as expressly stated in the appended claims.
Referring to
In the embodiment illustrated in
Regardless of the particular flow pattern used, the invention contemplates that one or both of the headers 10 and 12 may be provided with at least one outlet in addition to the outlet 20 from the header 12. Thus, an outlet conduit 28 is located in the header 10 between the baffle 24 and the end 18 while a similar outlet conduit 30 is located in the header 12 between the baffle 26 and the outlet 20. The additional outlets provide a means whereby water flowing through the tubes 14 may be outletted to a point of use at different temperatures. For example, when the baffles 24 and 26 are present, water passing to the outlet 30 will pass through all three runs of the tubes 14 illustrated and thus be more subjected to heating than water passing to the outlet 28 which only passes through two of the tubes 14 which, in turn, will be hotter than water passing out of the outlet 20 which has passed through only one of the tubes 14.
The heating of the water in the tubes 14 is obtained by wrapping a cylindrical tube 32 of smaller diameter than the tubes 14 about each of the tubes 14. Each of the helical tubes 32 is wrapped tightly about the corresponding tube 14 to be in good heat transfer contact therewith and preferably, will be metallurgically bonded to the associated water tube 14 by brazing or soldering.
The tubes 32 are gas tubes with opposed ends 34 and 36 adjacent, respectively, the headers 10 and 12. The ends 34 extend to and are in fluid communication with a gas header 40 while the ends 36 extend to and are in fluid communication with the interior of a second gas header 42 which is spaced from and parallel to the header 40. The header 40 is capped at an end 44 and thus the opposite end 46 provides a gas outlet where countercurrent flow is desired in the case where the baffles 24 and 26 are omitted. The gas header 42 has an open end 46 which serves as an inlet and a capped end 48.
In the embodiment illustrated in
As an alternative to the use of a turbulator such as the spring wire turbulator 50, the inner wall of the water tubes 14 may be provided with a conventional heat transfer enhancement in the form of multiple, small grooves 52 formed on the interior of the tube wall. This embodiment is illustrated in
In some cases, where improved heat transfer between the gas tubes 32 and the water tubes 14 is desired, the latter are provided with a helical pattern of grooves 54 which receive corresponding convolutions of the helical part of each of the gas tubes 32 as shown in
The embodiment of the invention shown in
In general, the water tubes 14 can be of three types. In the embodiment shown in
Where water tubes such as that shown in
When the embodiment illustrated in
The gas tubes 32 are preferably smooth walled (both inner and outer wall surfaces are smooth) with an inside diameter of 0.04 inches to 0.10 inches. The pitch of the helical section of the gas tubes 32 will be in the range of 0.20 inches to 2.0 inches. Of course, in the
In one example of a heat exchanger made according to the invention and used as a water heater/CO2 cooler, for an incoming water temperature of 50° F. and an incoming CO2 temperature of 250° F. and at a pressure of 1600 psia, a heat transfer effectiveness of 95% can be obtained with a construction employing a water tube 14 having an inside diameter of 0.19 inches, a spring wire turbulator diameter of 0.051 inches, a spring wire turbulator pitch of 0.25 inches with the water entering at a Reynolds number of about 1,000. The gas tube or CO2 tube 32 will have an inside diameter of 0.08 inches and a pitch of 0.30 inches. CO2 flow entering the tubes 32 should be at a Reynolds number of about 130,000.
It should be appreciated that while the embodiments discussed above describe one preferred arrangement wherein there is a one-to-one correspondence between the gas tubes 32 and the water tubes 14, in some applications it may be desirable to have one or more of the gas tubes 32 helically wound about each of the water tubes 14. This can be desirable, for example, when a lower pressure drop is desired for the gas flow through the gas tubes 32 and/or an increased amount of gas flow is required through the gas tubes 32 to improve the performance of the water heater/gas cooler. One example of this construction is shown in
From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that a relatively simple design of a heat exchanger is provided which allows assembly by brazing and/or soldering. Wall thickness of the gas tubes 32 will be dependent upon the pressure that they must withstand for any given inside diameter in the specified ranges. Suitable fixturing can be readily brazed or soldered to the ends of the header tubes servicing as inlets and/or outlets as well as to the additional outlets provided. As a consequence, heated potable water may be readily supplied relatively inexpensively by capturing the heat that would ordinarily be rejected from the hot gas and utilizing the same to heat water. The use of plural outlets at different locations allows the desired water temperature to be selected without affecting the operation parameters on the gas side of the system.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20040154787 A1 | Aug 2004 | US |