This invention relates generally to air conditioning and refrigeration systems and, more particularly, to parallel flow evaporators thereof.
A definition of a so-called parallel flow heat exchanger is widely used in the air conditioning and refrigeration industry now and designates a heat exchanger with a plurality of parallel passages, among which refrigerant is distributed and flown in the orientation generally substantially perpendicular to the refrigerant flow direction in the inlet and outlet manifolds. This definition is well adapted within the technical community and will be used throughout the text.
Refrigerant maldistribution in refrigerant system evaporators is a well-known phenomenon. It causes significant evaporator and overall system performance degradation over a wide range of operating conditions. Maldistribution of refrigerant may occur due to differences in flow impedances within evaporator channels, non-uniform airflow distribution over external heat transfer surfaces, improper heat exchanger orientation or poor manifold and distribution system design. Maldistribution is particularly pronounced in parallel flow evaporators due to their specific design with respect to refrigerant routing to each refrigerant circuit. Attempts to eliminate or reduce the effects of this phenomenon on the performance of parallel flow evaporators have been made with little or no success. The primary reasons for such failures have generally been related to complexity and inefficiency of the proposed technique or prohibitively high cost of the solution.
In recent years, parallel flow heat exchangers, and brazed aluminum heat exchangers in particular, have received much attention and interest, not just in the automotive field but also in the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R) industry. The primary reasons for the employment of the parallel flow technology are related to its superior performance, high degree of compactness and enhanced resistance to corrosion. Parallel flow heat exchangers are now utilized in both condenser and evaporator applications for multiple products and system designs and configurations. The evaporator applications, although promising greater benefits and rewards, are more challenging and problematic. Refrigerant maldistribution is one of the primary concerns and obstacles for the implementation of this technology in the evaporator applications.
As known, refrigerant maldistribution in parallel flow heat exchangers occurs because of unequal pressure drop inside the channels and in the inlet and outlet manifolds, as well as poor manifold and distribution system design. In the manifolds, the difference in length of refrigerant paths, phase separation and gravity are the primary factors responsible for maldistribution. Inside the heat exchanger channels, variations in the heat transfer rate, airflow distribution, manufacturing tolerances, and gravity are the dominant factors. Furthermore, the recent trend of the heat exchanger performance enhancement promoted miniaturization of its channels (so-called minichannels and microchannels), which in turn negatively impacted refrigerant distribution. Since it is extremely difficult to control all these factors, many of the previous attempts to manage refrigerant distribution, especially in parallel flow evaporators, have failed.
In the refrigerant systems utilizing parallel flow heat exchangers, the inlet and outlet manifolds or headers (these terms will be used interchangeably throughout the text) usually have a conventional cylindrical shape. When the two-phase flow enters the header, the vapor phase is usually separated from the liquid phase. Since both phases flow independently, refrigerant maldistribution tends to occur.
If the two-phase flow enters the inlet manifold at a relatively high velocity, the liquid phase (droplets of liquid) is carried by the momentum of the flow further away from the manifold entrance to the remote portion of the header. Hence, the channels closest to the manifold entrance receive predominantly the vapor phase and the channels remote from the manifold entrance receive mostly the liquid phase. If, on the other hand, the velocity of the two-phase flow entering the manifold is low, there is not enough momentum to carry the liquid phase along the header. As a result, the liquid phase enters the channels closest to the inlet and the vapor phase proceeds to the most remote ones. Also, the liquid and vapor phases in the inlet manifold can be separated by the gravity forces, causing similar maldistribution consequences. In either case, maldistribution phenomenon quickly surfaces and manifests itself in evaporator and overall system performance degradation.
In tube-and-fin type heat exchangers, it has been common practice to provide individual capillary tubes or other expansion devices leading to the respective tubes in order to get relatively uniform expansion of a refrigerant into the bank of tubes. Another approach has been to provide individual expansion devices such as so-called “dixie” cups at the entrance opening to the respective tubes, for the same purpose. Neither of these approaches are practical in minichannel or microchannel applications, wherein the channels are relatively small and closely spaced such that the individual restrictive devices could not, as a practical manner, be installed within the respective channels during the manufacturing process.
In the air conditioning and refrigeration industry, the terms “parallel flow” and “minichannel” (or “microchannel”) are often used interchangeably in reference to the abovementioned heat exchangers, and we will follow similar practice. Furthermore, minichannel and microchannel heat exchangers differ only by a channel size (or so-called hydraulic diameter) and can equally benefit from the teachings of the invention. We will refer to the entire class of these heat exchangers (minichannel and microchannel) as minichannel heat exchangers throughout the text and claims.
Briefly, in accordance with one aspect of the invention, a comb-like insert having a body and a plurality of fingers is installed in a bank of adjacent channels such that the individual fingers are inserted into the ends of the respective adjacent channels to thereby present a restriction to the flow of refrigerant therein. As the refrigerant flows past the restrictions and into the unrestricted portion of the channels, expansion of the refrigerant occurs so as to thereby provide a homogeneous flow of refrigerant into the respective channels.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the body of the insert is supportably attached in an orthogonal relationship to a plate disposed within an inlet header and extending longitudinally therewith. The plate is secured in its installed position by brazing or the like.
By yet another aspect of the invention, the plate has a plurality of openings formed therein, between individual channels, so as to equalize the pressure on either side of the plate.
By still another aspect of the invention, the comb-like insert is fabricated by a stamping from a metal sheet with its fingers having increasing thickness and width as they approach the body portion of the insert.
In the drawings as hereinafter described, preferred and alternate embodiments are depicted; however, various other modifications and alternate designs and constructions can be made thereto without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention.
Referring now to
In operation, two-phase refrigerant flows into the inlet opening 14 and into the internal cavity 16 of the inlet header 11. From the internal cavity 16, the refrigerant, in the form of a liquid, a vapor or a mixture of liquid and vapor (the latter is a typical scenario) enters the channel openings 17 to pass through the channels 13 to the internal cavity 18 of the outlet header 12. From there, the refrigerant, which is now usually in the form of a vapor, passes out the outlet opening 19 and then to the compressor (not shown).
As discussed hereinabove, it is desirable that the two-phase refrigerant passing from the inlet header 11 to the individual channels 13 do so in a uniform manner (or in other words, with equal vapor quality) such that the full heat exchange benefit of the individual channels can be obtained and flooding conditions are not created and observed at the compressor suction (this may damage the compressor). However, because of various phenomena as discussed hereinabove, a non-uniform flow of refrigerant to the individual channels 13 (so-called maldistribution) occurs. In order to address this problem, the applicants have introduced design features that will create a restriction to the flow of refrigerant into the individual channels such that when the refrigerated flow exits the restrictions it will expand to provide a homogenous refrigerant mixture to the channels.
Referring now to
An insert 31, having a body portion 32 and a plurality of teeth 33-39 extending therefrom in a comb-like fashion, is provided to restrict the flow of refrigerant into the inlet end 29 of the minichannel element 21. The insert 31 is preferably formed of a metal material such as aluminum and is fabricated by a process such as stamping from a metal sheet. The individual teeth 33-39 are preferably tapered, both in the width and thickness dimensions (i.e. X and Y planes) as they extend from the body 32 to the ends of the teeth. In this way, easy insertion of the individual teeth into their respective minichannels 22-28 is facilitated. Further, the flow of the refrigerant along the length of the individual teeth 33-39 is streamlined so as to improve the efficiency of the refrigerant flow pattern.
As is seen in
Referring now to
An alternative approach is shown in
The applicants have recognized that, as the refrigerant mixture flows into the inlet manifold 44, it will flow on both sides of the plate 47 and, unless accommodated, the pressure could vary substantially on either side of the plate 47. Thus, the plate 47 is preferably modified as shown in
It should be noted that both vertical and horizontal channel orientations will benefit from the teaching of the present invention, although higher benefits will be obtained for the latter configuration.
While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred and alternate embodiments as illustrated in the drawings, it will be understood by one skilled in the art that various changes in detail may be effected therein without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims.