US2439208A - Heat exchanger - Google Patents

Description

W. GLOYER HEAT EXCHANGER April 6, 1948.

Filed Sept. 25, 1 945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIC.2.- l5 3 "7m INVENTOR Wa/fer G/m er Patented Apr. 6, 1948 HEAT EXOHANGER Walter Gloyer, Port Washington, N. Y., assignor to American Locomotive Company, New York, N Y a corporation of New York Application September 25, 1945, Serial No. 618,556

2 Claims. (Cl. 257-245) This invention relates to heat exchangers.

An object of the present invention is to provide a heat exchanger having a shell divided into a plurality of narrow passages by a row of spaced thin plates disposed between exterior opposed plates forming side walls of the shell. There are corrugated fin elements in the passages bonded to the adjacent plates, and headers at each end Each header of the other two sides of the shell. heads a plurality of the passages, the fin elements in the headed passages being mitered adjacent the headers for directing the fluid flowing through the passages at the ends of the shell toward or away from the headers.

Another object is to provide a heat exchanger as aforesaid having headers at the opposite end walls of the shell for heading at least one passage having a corrugated fin element which extends straight, without mitering, from one end wall of the shell to the other end wall thereof.

A further object is to provide a heat exchanger as aforesaid in which the corrugated elements have parallel legs which form tension members is a section on the line m-m of Fig. 2; Fig. d.

is a section on the line IV.IV of Fig. 2, showing a portion of the structure thereof with only a portion of the mitered elements; Fig. 5 is a reduced section on the line VV of Fig. 3', the

corrugated elements being indicated by solid lines; Fig. 6 is a reduced section on the line VI-VI of Fig. 3, the corrugated elements being indicated by solid lines; Fig. 7 is an enlarged section on the line VII-VII of Fig. '2, the' corrugated element of each passage being indicated at the ends only thereof, in solid lines, and the elements having more corrugations than in Figs. 2-6, wherein the corrugations are enlarged for clarity; Fig. 8 is an enlarged view of thefront right corner of Fig. '7; Fig. 9 is an enlarged section on the line IX-IX of Fig. 5 showing one passage with'its corrugated element; Fig. 10 is a reduced view of a portion of an inner plate showing the solder winding thereof preparatory to fabrication of the exchanger; Fig. 11 is a view,.similar to Fig. 10, of an outer plate with solder bands thereon; and Fig. 12 is an end view of Fig. 11, taken from the left thereof.

A heat exchanger constructed in accordance with the present invention, and indicated generally by the reference numeral I, is shown in vertical position in the drawings and will be so described, it being understood that the exchanger may be disposed horizontally if desired. While the invention is applicable to exchangers having two'or more passages for two or more fluids, it is shown in connection with seven passages for three fluids.

The exchanger includes a shell 2,'rectangular in cross section, having similar top and bottom end walls 3, similar front and rear walls 4 and similar side walls 5. Six spaced plates 6, parallel to walls 4, partition the shell into seven passages I. Passages. ,1 have their length vertically.

Plates 6 are preferably considerably thinner than walls 4 (Fig. '7).

walls 4 are permanently attached, as by welding, to the inner faces of walls 3. Walls 3 are each provided with along slot 8 disposed over the center passage l. The walls 5 are thinner than the walls 4 and are bent to provide vertical outer longitudinal loops 9 and inner longitudinal loops" Ill (Fig. 7) all opening inwardly.

The longitudinal margins of walls i and plates 4 6 arepermanently secured in looped and iii ree spectively, as by soldering, and the outer loops s are further strengthened by bolts it passing through orifices therein and in. the enclosed margins of the walls d.

fluids. Due to the thinness of the plates 6 and of the narrow width of the passages l, as well as the small cross-sectional dimensions of the .ex-

changer, the actual size of which is shown in Fig. '7, there is not room enough for conventional I ,type headers placed at the ends of the shell. Acicording to the present invention, a new header construction is employed, which solves the aforementioned problem. l

The exchanger is provided with six headers. There is aheader I2 secured to each wall 3 over the slot 8 therein, heading the center passage I for one fluid. Each header I2 has a nozzle l3. The side walls 5 do not extend the full length of the shell but are each spaced at its ends from the walls 3. Each of the spaces thus formed is covered by a header I4 secured to the adjacent portions The top and bottom edges of 5 the plates ,6 are permanently attached as by soldering, and the top and bottom edges of the heating furnace where it is heated to a soldering temperature. The bands 28 and ribbon 21 are also employed in soldering the margins of walls 4 and plates 8 in the loops 8 and i respectively.

The headers id at the left side of the shell,

Fig. 3, head the second, fifth and seventh passages! for another fluid, while the headers II at the right side of the shell head the first, third and sixth passages I for a third fluid. The second, fifth and seventh passages are closed from the right side headers H, the first, third and sixth passages are closed from the left side headers it, and the center passage is closed from all of the headers It, by wall portions ll. It will be noted that no adjacent passages open to the same nozzle. the correspondingnozzles at opposite ends of the exchanger serving one as an inlet and the other as an outlet for the passage or passages communicating therewith. V

The center passage I headed by the headers I! has therein a corrugated fin element or membrane It, the corrugations extending vertically from one end wall 3 to the other end wall 3. The fluid flowing through the center passage l flows in the spaces of the corrugations of the element II.

It is desired to employ a corrugated element in each of the other passages 1.. Such elements must be different from .the element It due to the fact that the headers ll are laterally disposed of the shell. The element of each of these other passages is made in three parts, there being a part It having its corrugations extendin vertically, and a part at each end portion thereof having its corrugations extending horizontally for permitting flow of fluid from one correlated lateral header to the other. These parts "-20 are mitered along the diagonals 2| providing elbows. Thus the spaces 22 between the corrugations of the parts 20 run horizontally from their respective headers until they meet The legs 24 are perpendicular to the plates 8 and walls 4 and extend the heat exchanger surfaces thereof and further form tension members preventing distortion of the plates 6 and walls 4 by pressure of the fluids passing through the passages l.

The features of the heat exchanger bearing on the side wall loops and the corrugated members form no part of the'present invention except as they bear on the miterin" and headers of the with the vertical spaces 23 of the corrugations of opposite edge extends between its correlated headers. Each space 23 meets a space 22 at each of its ends.

The elements, in cross section through their corrugations, appear as shown in Fig. 8 wherein they are shown slightly enlarged over actual size. The cross-sectional appearances .of element iii and parts i2@ are similar. It will be seen that the corrugations have straight legs 24 connected by U-bends 25. The elements are bonded to the plates t and walls 6 by solder. This is accomplished by fastening bands of solder 28 on the walls t as shown in Figs. 11 and 12 and by wrapping a long ribbon of solder 21 helically around each plate 8, as shown in Fig. 10, then inserting the corrugated elements in the passages, and placing the entire structure into the present invention. Fora further understanding of a heat exchanger having these features reference may be had to the application of Walter Gloyer and John M. Gantvoort, Serial No. 618,- 554, filed of even date herewith.

. While there has been hereinbefore described an approved embodiment of this invention, it will be understood that many and various changes and modifications in form, arrangement of parts and details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit of the inven-' tion, and that all such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims are contemplated as a part of this invention.

The invention claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A three-fluid heat exchanger comprising a rectangular shell having front and rear walls, side walls connecting said front and rear walls, and end walls connected to said front, rear and side walls; a plurality of separate spaced parallel plates disposed in said shell extending from one of said endwalls to the other of said endwalls and from one of said side walls to the other of said side walls, dividing said shell into a central passage and other passages on each side of said central passage, each of'said passages being entirely separated from the remaining passages, said central passage being open at its opposite ends through said end walls for flow of one fluid through said exchanger, and said otherpassages being open at their opposite end portions laterally and alternately through said side walls, said other passages being for flow of two other fluids through said exchanger whereby said other two fluids are in heat exchange relation with each other; a header secured to each of said end walls for heading said central passage; a. header at each end portion of each of said side walls, the headers of one sidewall heading some of said other passages and the headers of the other side wall heading the remaining ofsaid other passages, no two adjacent of said other passages opening into the same headers; a straight corrugated fln in said central passage for guiding said fluid flowing therethrough from one of said end wall headers to the other of said end wall headers; and a corrugated fin element disposed in each of said other passages, each of said corrugated fin elements including a portion having corrugations running lengthwise of said shell, the opposite ends of said portion each being mitered with another corrugated fin portion having its corrugations normal to the corrugations of said first mentioned portion and extending to the adjacent side wall header whereby each of said elements guides fluid from one of said side wall headers laterally into said shell, then longitudinally through said shell, and then laterally from said shell into the other correlated side wall header, said corrugated fin elements thereby assuring fluid flow through every part of each of said other passages.

2. A heat exchanger as defined in claim 1 Y wherein each of the side wall headers includes a REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number Number 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Forssblad Aug. '7, 1928 Shipman June 8, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain July 11, 1938 Great Britain July 31, 19411 France June 2, 1919

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