EP3832243B1

EP3832243B1 - Multi-stage flow distribution plate group for heat exchanger

Info

Publication number: EP3832243B1
Application number: EP20020579.7A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Weiqiang Shuai; Weizhe Han; Yaohua WU; Jian Yao; Xiaodong Xu
Original assignee: Weyee Heat Exchanger Co Ltd
Current assignee: Weyee Heat Exchanger Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-12-06
Filing date: 2020-12-01
Publication date: 2024-03-27
Anticipated expiration: 2040-12-01
Also published as: CN110749215A; EP3832243A1

Description

Field of the invention

The invention falls into the technical field of heat exchangers, and specifically relates to a multi-stage flow distribution plate group for heat exchanger.

Background information

The brazed plate heat exchanger is a high-efficiency heat exchanger made of a series of corrugated metal sheets stacked and brazed. Channels are formed between various sheets, and heat exchange is realized through these sheets. Compared with conventional shell-and-tube heat exchangers, its heat transfer coefficient is much higher under the same flow resistance and pump power. Therefore, this heat exchanger tends to replace shell-and-tube heat exchangers within the applicable range.
In the designing of recently market available brazed plate heat exchangers, more considerations are made to the flowability of the two ends of the heat exchanger without considering too much the flowing performance of the medium near the middle of the sheets. The medium flow in the heat exchanger can become drastically inhomogeneous with the increase of medium's flow distance, which leads to decreased performance of the heat exchanger or its insufficient stability.
WO 2010/090557 discloses a plate group for a heat exchanger with the features of the preamble of claim 1.

Principle of the invention

In order to solve the problem of poor uniformity of medium circulation in the existing heat exchangers, which leads to decreased performance of the heat exchanger or its insufficient stability, this invention discloses a multi-stage flow distribution plate group for heat exchanger. The main panel of the sheet is provided with a shunt area, a main heat exchanging area and a confluence area. Shunt ribs are set between the shunt area and the main heat exchanging area and between the main heat exchanging area and the confluence area, which is conducive to the uniform distribution of the medium and helps to improve the performance and stability of the heat exchanger.
In order to achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides a plate group for heat exchanger as defined in claim 1.
In one of preferred embodiments, the said angle α is 30- 45° which is equal to γ, and the angle β is 20-30°, if the said plate group is used for evaporators.
In another one of preferred embodiments, the said angle α is 20- 30° which is equal to γ, and the angle β is 30-45°, if the said plate group is used for condensers.
In another one of preferred embodiments, the said ridge I, ridge II and ridge III all tilt in the same direction; the second plate rotates 180° relative to the first plate; the height of the said ridge I, ridge II and ridge III are identical, equal to twice the height of the shunt rib.
In another one of preferred embodiments, the said valley II of the first plate is provided with a few convex grooves protruding toward the ridge II and, the said ridge II of the second plate is provided with a few concave grooves denting toward the valley II.
In another one of preferred embodiments, the said convex groove and the concave groove are equal in size, and are evenly distributed on their corresponding valley II and ridge II.
In another one of preferred embodiments, there are indentations denting toward the valley II alongside the top of ridge II of the said first plate and, there are bulges protruding toward ridge II alongside the bottom of the said second plate, which helps to increase the turbulence of the medium in the flow channel.
In another one of preferred embodiments, the heights of the said indentation and the bulge are equal, being half of the height of the ridge II.
In another one of preferred embodiments, the top of the ridge II of the first plate is divided by the indentations into a first ridge II and a second ridge II; the bottom of the said valley II of the second plate is divided by the bulges into the first valley II and the second valley II, the top width of the first ridge II , the top width of the second ridge II, the bottom width of the valley II of the first plate, the bottom width of the first valley II, the bottom width of the second valley II and the top width of the ridge II of the second plate are all equal; the bottom width of the indentation and the top width of the bulge are equal; the top width of the first ridge II is larger than the top width of the bulge.
The present invention has the following beneficial effects:

(1) In the present invention, a shunt area, a main heat exchanging area and a confluence area are arranged on the main panel of the heat exchanging plate, shunt ribs are set between the shunt area and the main heat exchanging area and between the main heat exchanging area and the confluence area, the shunt ribs helps to evenly distribute the medium flowing from the shunt area to the main heat exchanging area, allowing the medium to flow into the main heat exchanging area homogenously, after the heat exchanging is completed in the main heat exchanging area, the medium collected together evenly undergoes a secondary distribution through the shunt ribs located between the main heat exchanging area and confluence area, and flowed to the exit through the confluence area. The medium goes through two even distributions during the whole process, this allows more homogeneous circulation of the medium in the path, which helps to increase the efficiency and stability of heat exchange in a long run.
(2) In the present invention, the angle α formed by the ridge I and shunt rib, angle β formed by ridge II and the shunt rib, and angle γ formed by ridge III and the shunt rib can be adjusted to control the flowing speed of the medium in the three areas. Besides, by adjusting the angle β, the heat exchanging plates can be adjusted either to serve the evaporator or the condenser.
(3) The heat exchange plate of the present invention is provided with convex grooves on the valley II and concave grooves are set on ridge II. These convex grooves and concave grooves help to reduce the pressure drop in the flowing path, and making the medium circulation faster and more homogenous, which eventually helps to improve heat exchanging performance.
(4) In the present invention, the indentation is provided at the top of the ridge II of the first plate, and the bulge is provided at the bottom of the valley II of the second plate, which helps to increase the turbulent flow of the medium in the flowing path. Such an arrangement is not only beneficial to improve the heat exchanging efficiency, but also can effectively avoid the accumulation of dirt in the system.

Clarification of drawings

The present invention will be further described below with the figures and embodiments.

Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of the heat exchange plate group of the present invention;
Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of the first plate of the present invention;
Figure 3 shows an enlarged view of Part A in Figure 2;
Figure 4 shows an enlarged view of Part B in Figure 2;
Figure 5 shows a schematic view of the structure of the second plate of the present invention;
Figure 6 shows an enlarged view of Part C in Figure 5;
Figure 7 shows an enlarged view of Part D in Figure 5;
Figure 8 shows a top view of a pair of unit plate groups of the present invention;
Figure 9 shows a sectional view taken along section A-A in Figure 8;
Figure 10 shows a sectional view taken along section B-B in Figure 8;

Specific embodiment

The present invention will now be described in further details through embodiments.
Multi-stage flow distribution plate group for heat exchanger, as shown in Figs. 2, comprising at least two pairs of unit plate groups, each pair of the said unit plate group includes a first plate 1 and a second plate 2 that are stacked; both the said first plate 1 and the second plate 2 include a main panel and a surrounding baffle 3, the main panel includes a shunt area 41, a main heat exchanging area 42 and the confluence area 43; shunt ribs 44 are set between the said shunt area 41 and the main heat exchanging area 42 as well as between the main heat exchanging area 42 and the confluence area 43, which are used to evenly distribute the medium flowing from the shunt area 41 into the main heat exchanging area 42 and the medium flowing from the main heat exchanging area 42 into the confluence area 43. The shunt ribs 44 are set to make the medium flowing from the shunt area 41 to the main heat exchanging area 42 evenly distributed at the split ribs 44, which is conducive to the uniform flow of the medium into the main heat exchanging area 42. After the medium completes the heat exchange in the main heat exchanging area 42, it then collected together evenly undergoes a secondary distribution through the shunt ribs 44 located between the main heat exchanging area 42 and confluence area 43, and flowed to the exit through the confluence area 43. The medium goes through two even distributions during the whole process, this allows more homogeneous circulation of the medium in the path, which helps to increase the efficiency and stability of heat exchange in a long run.
In addition, since the main panel of the heat exchanging plate is provided with many corrugated ridges and valleys, making the structure prone to deformation, the arrangement of the shunt rib 44 can provide effective support for the entire heat exchanging plate, improve the strength of the panel, and help solve the problem of deformation.
In a specific embodiment, as shown in Figs. 2-8, the said shunt area 41 is provided with a few ridges I 411, and the neighboring ridges I 411 form valley I 412 in between, the angle formed by the ridge I 411 and the shunt rib 44 is α; the said main heat exchanging area 42 is provided with a few ridges II 421, neighboring ridge II 421 form the valley II 422 in between, the angle formed by the said ridge II 421 and the shunt rib 44 is β; the said confluence area 43 is provided with a few ridges III 431, neighboring ridge III 431 form the valley III 432, and the angle formed by the said ridge III 431 and the shunt rib 44 is γ; the angle α is not equal to β; the angle β is not equal to γ.
Since α is not equal to β, the medium will not flow directly from the shunt area 41 to the main heat exchanging area 42, rather, it will be distributed at the shunt rib 44 before entering the main heat exchanging area 42. Since the angle β is not equal to γ, the medium is thus first evenly distributed before entering the confluence area 43.
In a specific embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the said angle α is 30- 45° which is equal to γ, and the angle β is 20-30°, if the said plate group is used for evaporators. Since evaporation is the process of converting liquid to vapor, setting the angle α (or γ) to a larger value is more conducive to the rapid flow of liquid (or vapor) into (or rapid evaporation out from) the main heat exchanging area 42, thereby improving evaporation performance.
In a specific embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the said angle α is 20- 30° which is equal to γ, and the angle β is 30-45°, if the said plate group is used for condensers. Since condensation is the process of converting vapor to liquid, setting the α (or γ) angle to a larger value is more conducive to the rapid flow of vapor (or liquid) into (or out of) the main heat exchanging area 42, thereby increasing condensation performance.
In a specific embodiment, as shown in Figure 1, Figure 9 and Figure 10, the said ridge I 411, ridge II 421 and ridge III 431 all tilt in the same direction; the second plate 2 rotates 180° relative to the first plate 1; the height of the said ridge I 411, ridge II 421 and ridge III 431 are identical, equal to twice the height of the shunt rib 44.
In a specific embodiment, as shown in Figs. 3-4 and 6-7, the said valley II 422 of the first plate 1 is provided with a few convex grooves 423 protruding toward the ridge II 421 and, the said ridge II 421 of the second plate 2 is provided with a few concave grooves 424 denting toward the valley II 422. The convex grooves 423 set on valley II 422 and the grooves 424 set on ridge II 421 help to reduce the pressure drop, enable the medium to circulate faster and more homogenously, which improves the heat exchanging performance.
In a specific embodiment, as shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 5, the said convex groove 423 and the concave groove 424 are equal in size, and are evenly distributed on their corresponding valley II 422 and ridge II 421.
In a specific embodiment, as shown in Figs. 3-4 and 6-7, there are indentations 425 denting toward the valley II 422 alongside the top of ridge II 421 of the said first plate 1 and, there are bulges 426 protruding toward ridge II 421 alongside the bottom of the said second plate 2, which helps to increase the turbulence of the medium in the flow channel. As shown by the dotted line with arrows in Figure 9, the medium can form turbulence in the flow channel, which not only helps to improve the heat exchange efficiency, but also effectively avoids the accumulation of dirt.
In a specific embodiment, as shown in Figs. 9-10, the heights of the said indentation 425 and the bulge 426 are equal, being half of the height of the ridge II 421.
In a specific embodiment, as shown in Figs. 3-4, 6-7, and 9-10, the top of the ridge II 421 of the first plate 1 is divided by the indentations 425 into a first ridge II 4211 and a second ridge II 4212; the bottom of the said valley II 422 of the second plate 2 is divided by the bulges 426 into the first valley II 4221 and the second valley II 4222, the top width of the first ridge II 4211, the top width of the second ridge II 4212, the bottom width of the valley II 422 of the first plate 1, the bottom width of the first valley II 4221, the bottom width of the second valley II 4222 and the top width of the ridge II 421 of the second plate 2 are all equal; the bottom width of the indentation 425 and the top width of the bulge 426 are equal; the top width of the first ridge II 4211 is larger than the top width of the bulge 426.
The above-mentioned ideal embodiment in the present invention will serve as enlightenment for personnel to make various changes and modifications without deviating from the technical idea of the present invention. The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the content of this description, and its technical scope must be determined according to the scope of the claimed rights.
List of reference signs:

1 - first plate
2 - second plate
3 - baffle
41 - shunt area
411 - ridge I
412 - valley I
42 - main heat exchanging area
421 - ridge II
4211 - first ridge II
4212 - second ridge II
422 - valley II
4221 - first valley II
4222 - second valley II
423 - convex groove
424 - concave groove
425 - indentation
426 - bulge
43 - confluence area
431 - ridge III
432 - valley III
44 - shunt rib

Claims

Multi-stage flow distribution plate group for heat exchanger, comprising at least two pairs of unit plate groups, each pair of the unit plate group including a first plate (1) and a second plate (2) that are stacked, wherein both the first plate (1) and the second plate (2) include a main panel and a surrounding baffle (3), and the main panel includes a shunt area (41), a main heat exchanging area (42) and a confluence area (43), wherein shunt ribs (44) are set between the shunt area (41) and the main heat exchanging area (42) as well as between the main heat exchanging area (42) and the confluence area (43), the two shunt ribs (44) being used to evenly distribute the medium flowing from the shunt area (41) into the main heat exchanging area (42) and the medium flowing from the main heat exchanging area (42) into the confluence area (43), characterized in that the shunt area (41) is provided with ridges I (411) that are straight, arranged side by side so that a valley I (412) is formed between each pair of neighboring ridges I ( 411), and oriented in the same first direction so that the ridges I (411) that meet with the shunt rib (44) form with the shunt rib (44) same angle α, that the main heat exchanging area (42), which is delimited by the two shunt ribs (44) and the main heat exchanging area sides provided by the baffle (3), is provided with ridges II (421) that are straight end extend from one of the sides of the main heat exchanging area (42) to either one of the shunt ribs (44) or the other side of the main heat exchanging area (42), the ridges being arranged side by side so that a valley II (422) is formed between each pair of neighboring ridges II ( 421), and oriented in the same second direction so that the ridges II (421) that meet with the shunt rib (44) form with the shunt rib (44) same angle β, and that the confluence area (43) is provided with ridges III (431) that are straight, arranged side by side so that a valley III (432) is formed between each pair of neighboring ridges III (431), and oriented in the same third direction so that the ridges III (431) that meet with the shunt rib (44) form with the shunt rib (44) same angle γ, wherein the angle α is not equal to β, and the angle β is not equal to γ.
The multi-stage flow distribution plate group for heat exchanger according to claim 1, characterized in that the said angle α is 30- 45° which is equal to γ, and the angle β is 20-30°, if the said plate group is used for evaporators.
The multi-stage flow distribution plate group for heat exchanger according to claim 1, characterized in that the said angle α is 20- 30° which is equal to γ, and the angle β is 30-45°, if the said plate group is used for condensers.
The multi-stage flow distribution plate group for heat exchanger according to claim 1, characterized in that the said ridge I (411), ridge II (421) and ridge III (431) all tilt in the same direction; the second plate (2) rotates 180° relative to the first plate (1); the height of the said ridge I (411), ridge II (421) and ridge III (431) are identical, equal to twice the height of the shunt rib (44).
The multi-stage flow distribution plate group for heat exchanger according to claim 1, characterized in that the said valley II (422) of the first plate (1) is provided with a few convex grooves (423) protruding toward the ridge II (421) and, the said ridge II (421) of the second plate (2) is provided with a few concave grooves (424) denting toward the valley II (422).
The multi-stage flow distribution plate group for heat exchanger according to claim 5, characterized in that the said convex groove (423) and the concave groove (424) are equal in size, and are evenly distributed on their corresponding valley II (422) and ridge II (421).
The multi-stage flow distribution plate group for heat exchanger according to claim 1, characterized in that there are indentations (425) denting toward the valley II (422) alongside the top of ridge II (421) of the said first plate (1) and, there are bulges (426) protruding toward ridge II (421) alongside the bottom of the said second plate (2), which helps to increase the turbulence of the medium in the flow channel.
The multi-stage flow distribution plate group for heat exchanger according to claim 7, characterized in that the heights of the said indentation (425) and the bulge (426) are equal, being half of the height of the ridge II (421).
The multi-stage flow distribution plate group for heat exchanger according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the top of the ridge II (421) of the first plate (1) is divided by the indentations (425 ) into a first ridge II (4211) and a second ridge II (4212); the bottom of the said valley II (422) of the second plate (2) is divided by the bulges (426) into the first valley II (4221) and the second valley II (4222), the top width of the first ridge II (4211), the top width of the second ridge II (4212), the bottom width of the valley II (422) of the first plate (1), the bottom width of the first valley II (4221), the bottom width of the second valley II (4222) and the top width of the ridge II (421) of the second plate (2) are all equal; the bottom width of the indentation (425) and the top width of the bulge (426) are equal; the top width of the first ridge II (4211) is larger than the top width of the bulge (426).