Patent Application
20170356674
Heat exchangers are devices for transferring heat from one medium to another, typically from one fluid to another or to a surrounding environment, without allowing the fluids to mix. Some examples are: automobile radiators; air conditioners, and steam hot water radiators, and water boilers and heating systems, which are used to produce or remove heat.
Commercial and residential water heaters typically heat water by generating tens of thousands, and even hundreds of thousands, of British Thermal Units (“BTUs”). The performance of a water heater may be considered in terms of the efficiency of the water heater, that is, the effectiveness of the water heater in transferring heat to an associated fluid flow. Various factors, such as the physical configuration of the water heater and/or the physical configuration of other components in a water heater system, for example, may impart undesirable characteristics to the fluid flow that can, in turn, adversely affect the performance of the fluid heater. For example, the number of times a fluid passes a heat source and/or the load of the water heater, i.e., the amount of temperature change necessary, directly affects the efficiency of a water heater.
Various heat exchangers are used for different applications. A different heat exchanger might be used for an application requiring a large temperature change between a cold fluid inlet and a warm fluid outlet as opposed to an application requiring a smaller temperature change.
To improve heat exchanger efficiency and versatility as well as provide other benefits, disclosed is an inventive water management header that can be used with a heat exchanger such as a boiler or water heater. The water management header includes a shell that at least partially defines an interior region.
An inner series of heat exchange tubes and an outer series of heat exchange tubes extends within the interior region of the shell from a lower end of the shell to an upper end of the shell. The water management header is positioned in the upper and/or lower end of the shell and receives water from the heat exchange tubes within the shell. The shell is generally cylindrical.
The header includes a cover and an interior region. A plurality of crossovers may be within the interior region of the cover and in fluid flow communication with the outer series of heat exchange tubes. A waterway primary outlet is within the interior of the cover and in fluid flow communication with the inner series of heat exchange tubes. A retainer is also within the interior of the cover and divides the interior of the cover into an undivided waterway and a divided crossover area.
The present apparatus is capable of providing a unique fluid flow throughout the inner series of heat exchange tube and/or the outer series of heat exchange tubes. The plurality of crossovers along with the waterway primary outlet may customize the fluid flow via various placements and a plurality of supports alternately positioned between a plurality of through holes and a plurality of barriers.
A method of manufacturing a boiler or water heater includes positioning a waterway primary inlet such that inlet openings of the waterway primary inlet are aligned to receive water from the heat exchange tubes. The method also includes selecting from among the inlet openings of the waterway primary inlet a set of inlet openings to be in flow communication with one another. Barriers are positioned in the waterway primary inlet such that they are retained by supports of the waterway primary inlet, permit flow between the set of inlet openings, and restrict flow between the set of inlet openings and other inlet openings of the waterway primary inlet.
c show perspective, top, and cross-sectional views, respectively, of a bottom cover of the water management header of
Disclosed is an inventive water management header that can be attached to a heat exchanger, such as a boiler or water heater 2, as shown in
The water management header 10 includes a shell 4 that at least partially defines an interior region 48. The shell 4 may have a generally cylindrical shape. The shape of the shell 4 is not limited to any particular geometrical shape. An inner series of heat exchange tubes 6 and an outer series of heat exchange tubes 8 extends within the interior region 48 of the shell 4 from a lower end of the shell 4 to an upper end of the shell 4.
The water management header 10 is positioned in the upper end of the shell 4 and receives water from the outer series of heat exchange tubes 8. The water management header 10 includes a cover 12 and an undivided waterway 18. A retainer 16 is within the interior of the cover 12 and divides the interior of the cover 12 into the undivided waterway 18 and a divided crossover section 20. A plurality of crossovers 14 are within the crossover section 20 of the cover 12 and in fluid flow communication with the outer series of heat exchange tubes 8, a waterway primary outlet 26 within the interior of the cover 12 and in fluid flow communication with the inner series of heat exchange tubes 6. A gasket 17 is provided between the retainer 16 and the waterway primary outlet 26.
The lower header 52 includes a lower cover 44 (shown in
The cover 12 and the waterway primary outlet 26 are separate components. The cover 12 may be drawn from a metallic sheet. Also, the cover 12 and the crossovers 14 are separate components. The geometry of the crossovers 14 is shown in
Each crossover 14 is preferably molded from polymeric material. Other materials including various metals, such as copper and aluminum are also possible. The crossovers 14 and retainer 16 may also be separate components. Together, the crossovers 14 and the retainer 16 contain water and direct water flow between the inner series of tubes 6 and the outer series of tubes 8.
The inner series of tubes 6 and the outer series of tubes 8 selectively connect to any of the crossovers 14 to provide for a selective and unique water flow pattern between the water inlet 22 and water outlet 24 throughout the series of tubes 6, 8. As such, the fluid flow path between any of the tubes is determined, in part, by how the crossovers 14 are configured. Each crossover 14 connects at least two of the ends of the series of heat exchange tubes 6, 8. Longer crossovers 14 can be used to connect three or more tubes or tubes that are in close proximity to each other but not necessarily neighboring each other.
The fluid flow path, along with the fluid flow characteristics, may also be adjusted by way of various configurations in the waterway primary outlet 26 and/or waterway primary inlet 38. The waterway primary outlet 26 directs the fluid flow from one tube to another tube, e.g., of the inner series of heat exchanger tubes 6. In one embodiment, illustrated in
As shown in
With reference to
The barriers 36 can be placed in any of the supports 34 to produce redirecting compartments 35. As such, fluid flow of a water heater or boiler 2 using aspects of the inventive subject matter may not be limited to one path. During construction of the water heater or boiler, fluid flow is determined based on where barriers 36 are positioned in the waterway primary outlet 26. The barriers 36 can be positioned in every other support, or they can be positioned in an asymmetrical pattern within the waterway primary outlet 26. Placement of the barriers 36 is dependent on the requirements of the water heater or boiler and the desired fluid flow path throughout the water heater or boiler. Accordingly, in one embodiment of this invention, the water management header 10 can provide flexibility in the arrangement, reconfiguration, and modification of the fluid flow path.
Barriers 36 work in conjunction with the waterway primary outlet 26 and a waterway primary inlet 38 (discussed below) in that water enters the waterway primary outlet 26 from one of the tubes of the inner series of tubes 6 into a redirecting compartment 35 that may be bound by the waterway primary outlet 26 on three sides, barriers 36 on two sides, and a tube sheet 27 on a sixth side. After entering into the redirecting compartment 35, the direction of the fluid flow is directed into another tube, e.g., of the inner series of tubes 6, that is fluidly connected to the same redirecting compartment 35; or, alternatively, the fluid flow is directed toward the waterway outlet 43 to exit the water heater or boiler 2.
The redirecting compartment 35 in the waterway primary outlet 26 and/or waterway primary inlet 38 can be expanded by removing one of the barriers 36 so that multiple tubes provide fluid to the same redirecting compartment 35 and/or multiple tubes provide an outlet for the same redirecting compartment 35. Alternatively, the redirecting compartment 35 in the waterway primary outlet 26 can be reduced in size by adding barriers 36.
Any number of variables helps dictate where barriers 36 should be positioned in the waterway primary outlet 26 and/or waterway primary inlet 38 as the number, size, and relative location of the redirecting compartments 35 may be modified based on various positioning of the barriers. For instance, in applications where fluid flow through the boiler or water heater 2 is low, e.g., when the load on the water heater (volumetric flow rate) is low during a given time, fewer passes through the inner and outer heat exchange tubes are necessary to maximize heat transfer to the fluid within the tubes. With fewer passes, fewer barriers 36 are required. The barriers can be spaced out around the waterway primary outlet 26 or, perhaps less preferably, they can be concentrated in one section of the waterway primary outlet 26. In contrast, in applications where fluid flow through the water heater is high, e.g., when the load on the water heater (volumetric flow rate) is high during a given time, the water heater or boiler 2 can be designed to have additional passes. In such an application, more barriers 36 are required in order to help redirect flow throughout the heat exchange tubes 6 and 8. A maximum number of passes throughout the heat exchange tubes requires a barrier 36 to be placed in every other support 34 of the waterway primary outlet 26.
The barriers 36 are preferably affixed to the waterway primary outlet 26 in any manner that provides a watertight seal. Suitable means for affixing the barriers 36 to the waterway primary outlet 26 and/or water primary inlet 38 include adhesives, mechanical means, fastening, bolting, screwing, friction, fusing, welding, etc. It is possible that the waterway primary outlet 26 can be used without the supports 34. In such an instance, the barriers 36 are not limited to the location of the supports 34. Rather, the barriers 36 are placed anywhere in the waterway primary outlet 26 and/or water primary inlet 38 that is necessary to provide the desired number of passes of the fluid flow through the water heater or boiler 2.
The geometry of an embodiment of the barrier 36 is shown in
As shown in
The cover 12 has a curved cross section that reduces stress imposed on the cover 12 by fluid pressure. As can thus be seen in
Thus, the present apparatus is a system that provides a unique fluid flow throughout the inner series tubes 6 and/or the outer series of h tubes 8. The plurality of crossovers 14 along with the waterway primary outlet 26 are customizable via a plurality of supports 34 selectively positioned between a plurality of through holes and a plurality of barriers 36 engaging the plurality of supports 34.
Either or both of the waterway primary outlet 26 or the waterway primary inlet 38 can be inverted from the embodiment discussed above.
A gasket 66 is provided between the inverted waterway primary outlet 62 and the tube sheet 27. One of the benefits of employing the inverted waterway primary outlet 62 is ease of manufacturing. The crossovers 14, and if employed, the projections 68 on the crossovers 14, and the inverted waterway primary outlet 62 engage the gasket 66. This provides more stability and enhanced water tightness.
A U-shaped rectilinear bracket 70 may be placed over a retainer 72. Fasteners engage the U-shaped rectilinear bracket 70 to hold the bracket 70, the retainer 72, the inverted waterway primary outlet 62, the gasket 66, and the tube sheet 27 together in a water management header 74. Bolts or threaded fasteners may extend from either the tube sheet 27 through water management header 74 toward the U-shaped rectilinear bracket 70 or vice versa to hold the water management header 74 together. In this embodiment, it is not necessary to weld or braze the inverted waterway primary outlet 62 (or waterway primary inlet, if configured similarly) to the tube sheet 27 as sufficient compression to form a water tight seal between active components is provided by the fasteners in the water management header 74.
One or more features described herein may be integrally formed as one unitary component. Employing one component that includes one or more features of embodiments of the present invention enables simpler manufacturing, reduced build times, and is more cost efficient. However, as one or more features that enable variation of the fluid flow are formed of one integral component, the flexibility of the fluid flow (e.g., the ability to modify the fluid flow characteristics such as the number of passes, the velocity of the fluid, etc.) is reduced. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention enable one of skill in the art to advantageously design boilers or water heaters with a balance between the amount of flexibility of the fluid flow and the easy of manufacture.
With reference to
In an embodiment employing the inverted manifolds 210 and 220, depicted in
After passing through one or more of the determined outer series of tubes 8, the fluid may enter the crossover portion 214 of the upper inverted manifold 210. The crossover portion 214 of the inverted top manifold 210 preferably redirects the water into another tube of the outer series of tubes 8, but may in some embodiments redirect the water into one or more of the inner series of tubes 6. The number of additional passes through the outer series of tubes 8 depends on various factors described herein such as, e.g., the number of crossovers 214, the number of outer tubes 8, and the volumetric flow rate of the fluid. For example, the crossover portions 214 of the inverted top manifold 210 and the inverted lower manifold 220 may redirect water through the outer series of tubes 8 to produce a double pass, triple pass, quadruple pass, etc.
In accordance with the embodiment depicted in
The fluid is subsequently directed into one or more of the inner series of tubes 6 by way of redirecting compartments 235 of the inverted top manifold 210, thereby making a first pass through one or more of the determined inner series of tubes 6. After making a first pass through the one or more determined inner series of tubes 6, the fluid flows into the redirecting components 235 of the inverted water primary inlet portion 226 of the inverted lower manifold 220. The fluid may be redirected between the redirecting components 235 of the inverted top manifold 210 and the inverted lower manifold 220 numerous times depending the various factors described herein, e.g., the number of redirecting components 235, the number of inner tubes 6, and volumetric flow rate of the fluid. For example, the fluid may be redirected through the inner series of tubes 6 to produce a double pass, triple pass, quadruple pass, etc. Although the barriers 236 are depicted as integrally formed with the inverted manifolds 210 and/or 220, the barriers 236 may be affixed at various portions, e.g., by way of the supports 34, of the inverted manifolds 210 and/or 220.
After the fluid flows through the determined number of passes, the fluid enters the redirecting compartments 235 containing the waterway outlet 243, which is in fluid communication with the water outlet 24. The redirecting compartment 235 that redirects the fluid to the water outlet 24 may be larger than other redirecting compartments 235.
As a general overview, water management header 140 includes water primary inlet 38, barriers 36, and a tube sheet 27. Although
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein with reference to specific embodiments, the invention is not intended to be limited to the details shown. Rather, various modifications may be made in the details within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims and without departing from the invention. Numerous variations, changes and substitutions will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the appended claims cover all such variations as fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.
This application claims priority to and benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/349,278, filed Jun. 13, 2016, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62349278 | Jun 2016 | US |
