This application is the U.S. national phase of international application PCT/F102/01058 filed 27 Dec. 2002 which designated the U.S. and claims benefit of FI 20012575, dated 27 Dec. 2001, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The invention relates to a method and a device for improving heat transfer in a plate heat exchanger composed of circular heat transfer plates, in which the heat transfer takes place between heat transfer media, such as gaseous and/or liquid substances, i.e. fluids, flowing in spaces between the heat transfer plates, in a circular plate heat exchanger which comprises a stack of plates fitted in a frame part and consisting of circular grooved heat transfer plates, which heat transfer plates are provided, at least in the direction of the diameter of the plate, with holes on, regarding each other, opposite sides of the heat transfer plate, and its central part can be provided with a hole for conducting heat transfer media in and out of the spaces between the plates. The invention also relates to a heat transfer plate.
Conventional plate heat exchangers have the shape of a rectangle with rounded edges. The heat transfer plates have typically been provided with four holes for the primary and the secondary streams. The stack of plates is sealed with rubber sealings or the like, and tensioned by clamp bolts between end plates. In such heat exchangers, the cross-section of the stream is almost constant over the whole travel length of the stream. In particular, this applies to such plate heat exchangers with plates of a long and narrow shape. The heat transfer plates are normally provided with radial or curved groovings around the openings of the primary and secondary streams, to distribute the streams as evenly as possible in the spaces between the heat transfer plates. Because the straight part of the heat exchangers is homogeneous with respect to the stream, the stream and the heat transfer are balanced in this part. A large variety of shapes and patterns is previously known for grooving the heat transfer plates. The most common groove patterns have been patterns formed of various straight elements, such as herringbone patterns or the like.
A disadvantage in plate heat exchangers equipped with sealings has been their poor resistance to pressure, temperature and corrosion. However, conventional tube heat exchangers have been placed inside a circular housing, which is advantageous in view of pressure vessel technology. Also circular plate heat exchangers are previously known, in which the stack of plates is fitted inside a circular housing. Plate heat exchanger assemblies of this type have been presented in, for example, FI patent publication 79409, FI patent publication 84659, WO publication 97/45689, and FI patent application 974476.
In the heat exchanger according to Finnish patent publication 79409, the stack of plates is composed of heat transfer plates welded to each other at their outer perimeters and having the shape of a circle or a regular polygon. The heat transfer plates do not comprise any holes, but the primary and secondary streams are introduced into the spaces between the heat transfer plates from their outer perimeters. The plates are provided with an even grooving on their whole surfaces. Because of the circular shape of the heat exchanger, the flow rates and the heat transfer properties vary at different points of the plate. In the solution according to WO publication 97/45689, the stack of plates composed of circular heat transfer plates is fitted inside a cylindrical housing as in the arrangement of FI publication 84659. In the arrangements of each publication, there are holes for the stream of a second heat transfer medium on the diameter, on opposite sides of the heat transfer plates. The heat exchanger constructions according to the above-presented publications have applied plates whose groovings are straight and extend linearly from one edge of the plate to another. The heat exchanger according to FI patent application 974476 differs from the other ones in that its heat transfer plates are provided with a central hole.
It is an aim of the present invention to provide a method and a device for improving the heat transfer of a heat exchanger, which is simple to implement and whereby an even heat transfer is achieved on a circular heat transfer plate.
A typical embodiment of the invention is based on the fact that the density or shape of groovings in the heat transfer plates, and/or the ridge angle α between groovings on adjacent plates are changed in the direction of the secondary stream of the heat transfer medium, to compensate for changes caused by the circular plate under the flow conditions of the heat transfer medium. Using circular heat transfer plates provided with a central hole, in the cases of radial flow, the flow cross-section is typically either increased or decreased, depending on whether the flow is directed towards or away from the central hole in the heat transfer plate. However, when using heat transfer plates without a central hole, wherein the flows are parallel to the diameter, the flow cross-section is typically increased towards the centre of the heat transfer plate, after which it is reduced again.
To put it more precisely, the method and the device for improving heat transfer in a circular plate heat exchanger, as well as the heat transfer plate according to the invention, are characterized in what is presented in the characterizing parts of the independent cairns.
By means of the invention, significant advantages will be achieved in comparison with prior art. By means of circular heat transfer plates, efficient heat transfer is achieved on the whole transfer surface. The circular plate is characterized in that the flow in the radial direction is naturally decelerated when moving from the inner perimeter to the outer perimeter. In the method and the device according to the invention, the reduction in the heat transfer, caused naturally by the deceleration of the flow, is efficiently compensated for by fluid flow arrangements, such as turbulence and/or flow control, as well as various patterns on the heat transfer plates. A quadratic or diamond pattern formed by ridges between the grooves in adjacent heat transfer plates will provide mechanical supporting points at the end points of the rectangular pattern elements in the stack of plates. The pattern elements form a grate in which the internal mechanical support of the stack of plates will become strong and thereby resistant to a high pressure. The flow from the distribution channels to the spaces between the plates and to the outlet duct is implemented in such a way that the fluid will flow as evenly as possible in the different spaces between plates and at each point in each space between plates. The pressure loss in the flow of gas is insignificant, because there are no structures in the gas flow channels which would cause unnecessary pressure losses.
In a typical embodiment of the invention, without a central hole, the patterning of the plate consists of parts of a parabola, which cause strong pressure losses in the flow in the central part of the plate. By patterning the plate, it is possible to compensate for the differences caused by the lengths of flow in circular heat transfer plates.
In the following, the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the appended drawing, in which
The stack 6 of plates forms the heat exchange surfaces of the plate heat exchanger 1, which are composed of circular grooved heat transfer plates 10 connected to each other. The heat transfer plates 10 are connected together in pairs by welding at the outer perimeters of flow openings 11 and 12, and the pairs of plates are connected to each other by welding at the outer perimeters 13 of the heat transfer plates. The flow openings 11 and 12 constitute the inlet and outlet passages of the primary stream inside the stack 6 of plates, through which passages the heat transfer medium is introduced in and discharged from the ducts formed by the heat transfer plates 10.
In the embodiment of
x=±r(cos Θ+Θsin Θ)
y=±r(sin Θ−Θcos Θ)
in which Θ is the angle between the line between the point and the origin and the x-axis in radians, and r is the inner radius of the family of graphs. The evolvent families in the cylindrical coordinate system are formed in relation to the origin by turning and copying the graph of a single evolvent turning in both directions, by linear level change. The surface areas of the pattern elements, formed by ideal evolvent families and resembling diamonds, are not constant in the direction of the radius, and the deviations of these pattern elements from the quadratic shape are increased when diverging from the inner radius, and no orthogonal pattern is formed by the intersections of graphs extending in opposite directions. The differences in the surface area of the pattern elements and the deviations of the graphs from the orthogonal system become the larger, the greater the ratio R/r between the radii.
The modified evolvent family formed by grooves and/or ridges 18 therebetween, shown in
The family of hyperbolas formed by grooves and/or ridges 18 therebetween, shown in
The figures and the respective description are only intended to illustrate the present invention. In detail, the method and the device for improving heat transfer in a circular plate heat exchanger, as well as the heat transfer plate, may vary within the scope of the inventive idea presented in the appended claims. It will be obvious for a person skilled in the art that the grooving of the heat transfer plates 10 may be implemented in a way different from that presented above, by using a variety of graph families.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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20012575 | Dec 2001 | FI | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
PCT/FI02/01058 | 12/27/2002 | WO | 00 | 8/12/2004 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO03/056267 | 7/10/2003 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2777674 | Wakeman | Jan 1957 | A |
5088552 | Raunio | Feb 1992 | A |
5179999 | Meekins et al. | Jan 1993 | A |
5203832 | Beatenbough et al. | Apr 1993 | A |
5343936 | Beatenbough et al. | Sep 1994 | A |
5823253 | Kontu | Oct 1998 | A |
6199626 | Wu et al. | Mar 2001 | B1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
2639371 | Mar 1977 | DE |
84659 | Jun 1991 | FI |
79409 | Feb 1992 | FI |
WO 9109262 | Jun 1991 | WO |
WO 9930099 | Jun 1999 | WO |
WO 0039516 | Jul 2000 | WO |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20050039896 A1 | Feb 2005 | US |