JPH01111194A - Heat exchanger - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To permit the adjustment of the area of the opening of a flow passage so as to be suitable for the supplying flow rate of fluid and restrain the deterioration of heat exchanging efficiency while maintaining the flow speed of the fluid constant substantially, by a method wherein the flow passage of the fluid is provided with a mechanism, which opens and closes the opening port of the flow passage to increase or decrease the number of effective flow passages, at the inlet port thereof. CONSTITUTION:The flow passage 2 of fluid A and the flow passage 3 of fluid B are provided alternately in parallel in the main body 1 of a heat exchanger through partitioning plates 4 and respective flow passages 2 of the fluid A are communicated with an inlet port 5 and an outlet port 6 while respective flow passages 3 of the fluid B are communicated with the inlet port 7 and the outlet port 8. A number of flow passage increasing and decreasing mechanism 9 for the flow passage of the fluid A is provided at the inlet port 5 of the fluid A at the upper end of the main body 1 of the heat exchanger while the same mechanism 10 for the flow passage of the fluid B is provided at the inlet port 7 of the fluid B. The number of flow passage increasing and decreasing mechanism 9 of the flow passage of the fluid A is constituted of a slide gate plate 13, opening and closing the opening 2a of the flow passage 2 of the fluid A, and a driving means 14 for the opening and closing of the slide gate plate 13 while the same mechanism 10 for the flow passage of the fluid B is constituted of the slide gate plate 31 for the opening 3a and the driving mechanism 14 for the gate plate 31. The effective number of flow passages is adjusted by said mechanisms 9, 10 whereby the flow resistance of the fluid in respective passages may be maintained at a predetermined set value.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention relates to a heat exchanger in which A fluid passages and B fluid passages are alternately arranged in parallel via partition plates, that is, generally a plate type heat exchanger. It is related to a heat exchanger called.

(Conventional technology and its problems) Conventional heat exchangers have a constant heat exchange area, so
If the flow rate and exchange heat amount of one fluid increases due to load fluctuations, the flow resistance increases and the fluid delivery capacity becomes insufficient, and if it decreases, the flow rate becomes too low. Heat exchange efficiency decreases, and in any case, the target function of the heat exchanger cannot be achieved, resulting in a decrease in efficiency, and the desired function is achieved only under a limited range of optimal conditions. It was possible.

Therefore, in systems where the supply heat fluctuates greatly over time or season, such as in the case of cogeneration (combined heat and power generation), or systems with large load fluctuations, such as fuel cells, the conventional heat exchanger as described above cannot be used. If used, the heat exchange efficiency cannot be maintained at the highest level, and the efficiency of the entire system will also decrease. One possible way to solve these problems is to connect multiple small heat exchangers in parallel and switch the number of heat exchangers used according to load fluctuations, but this would increase the overall size of the equipment. , a significant cost increase cannot be avoided.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention proposes a heat exchanger that can solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its features include a fluid flow path A and a fluid flow path B. In the heat exchangers, which are arranged alternately in parallel via partition feet, a mechanism is provided at the inlet of at least one of the fluid channels to open and close the opening of the channel to increase or decrease the number of effective channels. At the point.

(Operation of the Invention) When only the A fluid flow path is configured such that the number of effective flow paths can be increased or decreased by the flow path number increasing/reducing mechanism, the main fluid to be heated or cooled by the heat exchange medium is the A fluid. The heat exchange medium is fed to the A fluid flow path, and the heat exchange medium is fed as B fluid to the B fluid flow path. For example, when the electrode gas of a fuel cell is cooled by air, the electrode gas is fed to the A fluid flow path, and the air as a cooling medium is fed to the B fluid flow path.

However, when the flow rate of fluid A decreases due to load fluctuations and the flow velocity in each channel becomes too low, the channel number increase/decrease mechanism closes the openings of an appropriate number of channels to actually The number of effective channels through which the fluid flows can be reduced, and the flow velocity of fluid A flowing through each effective channel can be maintained at the desired set flow velocity. Conversely, when the flow resistance in each flow path increases due to an increase in the flow rate of the fluid A, the number of effective flow paths is increased by opening the closed flow paths by the flow path number increasing/reducing mechanism; The flow resistance in each flow path of the A fluid can be maintained at the desired set value.

When the effective method number increase/decrease mechanism is provided in both the A fluid flow path and the B fluid flow path, the number of flow paths on the A fluid flow path side can be increased or decreased in response to fluctuations in the feeding flow rate of A fluid as described above. When the number of effective channels through which fluid A actually flows is increased or decreased by operating the mechanism, the number of channels increasing/reducing mechanism on the other B fluid channel side is also operated synchronously to increase or decrease the effective channel number of fluid B. The number is increased or decreased in accordance with the number of effective flow paths of the A fluid flow path. Of course, at this time, both flow path number increasing/decreasing mechanisms are of course controlled so that the B fluid is supplied only to the B fluid flow path adjacent to the effective flow path through which the A fluid is flowing.

(Example) An example of the present invention will be described below based on the attached illustrative drawings.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a rectangular cylindrical heat exchanger main body, and inside thereof, an A fluid flow path 2 and a B fluid flow path 3 are arranged alternately through a partition plate 4. They are arranged in parallel, and each person's fluid flow path 2 is connected to the inlet part 5 at the upper end of the main body 1 in the longitudinal direction and the main body 1.
Each B fluid flow path 3 communicates with the inlet section 7 at the lower longitudinal end of the main body 1 and the side surface thereof.
The upper end in the length direction is communicated with the outlet section 8 on the other side surface. Since the specific configuration of this heat exchanger main body 1 is conventionally well known, illustration and description thereof will be omitted.

At the A fluid inlet 5 at the upper end of the heat exchanger main body 1, a mechanism 9 for increasing and decreasing the number of fluid channels is provided. 10 is a mechanism for increasing and decreasing the number of B fluid channels provided in the B fluid inlet section 7, 11 is a duct for A fluid inlet, and 12 is a duct for A fluid outlet.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the mechanism 9 for increasing and decreasing the number of channels in the A fluid channel is composed of a slide gate plate 13 that opens and closes the opening 2a of the A fluid channel 2, and an opening/closing drive means 14 for the slide gate plate 13. has been done. The slide gate plate 13 is supported by a pair of left and right guide rails 15 so as to be slidable in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the length direction of the main body 1, and rack gears 16a and 16b are formed on both sides. The driving means 14 includes a pair of left and right pinion gears 17 and 18 that mesh with the rank gears 16a and +6b, respectively, and one pinion gear 17.
A servo motor 19 rotates the shaft 17a of the pinion gear 18 in any forward or reverse direction, and an intermediate shaft 21 is interlocked and connected to the shaft 18a of the other pinion gear 18 via a pair of gears 20a and 20b.
and the shaft 17a of the pinion gear 17 are connected to the gear wheels 22a, 2
It is composed of a chino 23 which is interlocked and connected via 2b. 24 is a shaft joint.

The pair of left and right guide rails 15 are supported inside a case 25 that covers the entire reciprocating path of the slide gate plate 13, and the pinion gear shafts 17a, 10a are supported so as to vertically pass through the case 25, and the servo The motor 19 is attached to the bracket 2 attached to the case 25.
6 is supported. Further, the intermediate shaft 21 is supported on the lower side of the case 25, and has gears 20a, 20b, gears 22a, 22
b and chino 23 are arranged under the case 25, and can be covered with a cover if necessary.

The case 25 is provided with a partition wall 28 that constitutes a relay flow path 27 between the A fluid inlet portion 5 and the A liquid inlet duct 11, and the slide gate plate 13 slides through this partition wall 28. . 29 is a sealing backing provided on the partition wall 28, and 30 is a sealing backing provided in the case 25 at equal intervals in order to extend each fluid flow path 2 to the sliding path of the slide gate plate 13. It is a flow path partition wall.

Note that the passage number increasing/reducing mechanism 10 for the B fluid passage has substantially the same structure as the passage number increasing/reducing mechanism 9 for the A fluid passage, and the first
As shown in the figure, a slide gate plate 31 for opening and closing the opening 3a of the B fluid flow path 3 and its opening/closing driving means are provided.

According to the above configuration, the A fluid fed from the A fluid inlet duct 11 passes through the relay flow path 27 in the flow path number increase/decrease mechanism 9 to the A fluid inlet portion 5 of the heat exchanger body 1. from the A fluid flow path 2, and flows through each A fluid flow path 2 to reach the outlet section 6.
The A fluid is sent out from the A fluid outlet duct 12. On the other hand, B
The fluid is distributed from the B fluid inlet 7 of the heat exchanger main body 1 to the B fluid flow paths 3 via the relay flow path in the flow path number increase/decrease mechanism 10, and the inside of each B fluid flow path 3 is connected to the A fluid. flows in the opposite direction and is sent out from the outlet section 8. In this way, fluid A and fluid B exchange heat with each other via the partition plate 4 while flowing in opposite directions within each flow path 2.degree. 3 in the heat exchanger body 1.

However, when the flow rate of the A fluid sent to this heat exchanger is the maximum, the A fluid flow path 2 as shown in FIGS.
The slide gate plate 13 in the flow path number increase/decrease mechanism 9 is at the fully open position (retraction limit position), and the openings 2a of all the A fluid flow paths 2 are open. Fluid A flows at a predetermined flow rate. When the flow rate of fluid A to be fed decreases due to load fluctuation, the opening/closing driving means 14 of the flow path number increasing/decreasing mechanism 9 is operated to close the slide gate plate 13 to a predetermined position.

That is, one pinion gear 1 is driven by the servo motor 19.
7 is driven in the forward direction, the rotation causes the gear 22a and the chain 2
3. Gear wheel 22b, intermediate shaft 21, and gears 20b, 20a
is transmitted to the other pinion gear 18 via
The slide gate plate 13 moves forward in the closing direction via the rack gears 16a and 16b that mesh with the slide gates 8, and sequentially closes the openings 2a of the parallel A fluid flow paths 2 from one end. Therefore, the number of A-fluid channels 2 to which A-fluid is actually fed (effective number of channels) can be reduced by the slide gate plate 13 to a number corresponding to the A-fluid flow rate after the reduction fluctuation. As a result, the flow rate of the A fluid in the effective A fluid channel 2 to which the A fluid is actually fed can be maintained at approximately the same rate as when the feeding flow rate was at the maximum.

Also, when the decreased flow rate of fluid A increases again,
By driving the pinion gear 17 in reverse by the servo motor 19, the slide gate plate 13 is moved through the pinion gears 17 and 18 and the rack gears 16a and 16b.
moves backward, and the openings of the A fluid flow path 2 that were closed by the slide gate plate 13 are sequentially opened in the reverse order from when they were closed. Therefore, the number of A-fluid channels 2 to which A-fluid is actually fed (effective number of channels) is increased to the number corresponding to the A-fluid flow rate after fluctuation of the slide gate plate 1.
3, the flow velocity of fluid A in the effective fluid flow path 2 to which fluid A is actually fed can be maintained substantially constant.

When the effective number of channels of the A fluid channel 2 is adjusted by the channel number increase/decrease mechanism 9 as described above, the B
Flow path number increase/decrease mechanism 10 for increasing/decreasing the number of effective flow paths of the fluid flow path 3
The number of B fluid channels 3, which is the same as the number of A fluid channels closed by the slide gate plate 13 of the channel number increasing/reducing mechanism 9, is activated.
By closing with the slide gate plate 31, the B fluid is allowed to flow only into the B fluid passage 3 adjacent to the A fluid passage 2 through which the A fluid flows, and the fluid passage 2 is closed with the slide gate plate 13. It is possible to perform heat exchange between the two fluids without feeding the B fluid to the B fluid flow path 3 adjacent to the fluid B. In this case, the flow rate of fluid B to be fed to this heat exchanger can also be adjusted in accordance with the number of effective channels adjusted as described above.

Of course, if the flow rate of B fluid supplied to this heat exchanger decreases or increases due to load fluctuation, the number of channels increasing/reducing mechanism 10 provided at the inlet portion 7 of the B fluid channel 3 may be opened or closed. The driving means is operated to slide the slide gate plate 31 (FIG. 1) in the closing direction or in the closing direction in the same manner as explained for the passage number increasing/decreasing mechanism 9, and the B fluid actually flows. The number of fluid channels 3 is adjusted to increase or decrease depending on the flow rate of fluid B fed to this heat exchanger, and the number of fluid channels 3 is adjusted to be effective.
The flow velocity of the B fluid inside can be maintained substantially constant at all times. In this case as well, the number of effective channels of the other A fluid channel 2 may be adjusted by the channel number increase/decrease mechanism 9 in accordance with the increase/decrease adjustment of the effective channel number of the B fluid channel 3 as described above.

However, for example, if fluid B is air as a cooling medium,
When this heat exchanger is used as a processing gas for fluid A to be cooled by fluid B (air), the flow rate of the processing gas (fluid A) to be supplied changes due to load fluctuations as described above. In response to this, Ai! in the heat exchanger! i! body flow path 2
Even if the number of effective channels is adjusted by the channel number increase/decrease mechanism 9, the B fluid channel 3 in which air as a cooling medium (B fluid) flows
Air (B fluid) may be constantly supplied to all B fluid channels 3 without adjusting the number of channels 3. In this case, the mechanism 10 for increasing and decreasing the number of effective channels of the B fluid channel 3 can be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 1, the flow of fluid A and fluid B is controlled by sensors 32 and 33 installed in the A fluid feeding path and the B fluid feeding path on the upper side of the flow path number increasing Ha structures 9 and 10. Salary status (
Flow rate, temperature, pressure, etc.) are automatically detected, and based on the detection results, an increase/decrease in the number of channels is automatically calculated by a microcomputer, etc., and based on the calculation results, the above-mentioned channel number increase/decrease mechanism 9. 10 can be operated automatically to achieve the desired purpose.

Furthermore, the mechanism for increasing and decreasing the number of channels is not limited to the one using the slide gate plate of the above embodiment, but may have any structure as long as it is suitable for the type of fluid to be supplied, pressure, temperature, and other usage conditions. It may be something. For example, a mechanism for increasing and decreasing the number of fluid channels using valves that individually open and close the openings of each fluid channel may be used.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the heat exchanger of the present invention, even if the feed flow rate of the main fluid to be cooled or heated increases or decreases due to load fluctuations, it is possible to cope with the fluctuation in the feed flow rate. By increasing or decreasing the number of channels through which the fluid is fed, the effective heat exchange area of the heat exchanger can be adjusted to an area that matches the flow rate of the fluid being fed. The flow rate of the fluid on the exchange surface can be maintained substantially constant, thereby suppressing a decrease in heat exchange efficiency.

Furthermore, compared to the case where a plurality of heat exchangers connected in parallel are selectively used, the entire apparatus can be made smaller and lighter, and the intended purpose can be achieved economically.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an overall front view, Fig. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing the heat exchanger body and a slide gate plate for increasing/reducing the number of channels, and Fig. 3 is a partially longitudinal front view showing the configuration of the mechanism for increasing/reducing the number of channels. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional plan view of the same, and FIG. 5 is a side view illustrating the transmission system of the mechanism. 1... Heat exchanger main body, 2... A fluid flow path, 3...
B fluid flow path, 4... partition plate, 5... A fluid inlet section, 6... A fluid outlet section, 7... B fluid inlet section,
8... B fluid outlet section, 9, 10... Channel number increase/decrease mechanism, 13, 31... Slide gate plate, 14... Opening/closing drive means, 15... Guide rail, 16a, 16b.
... Rack gear, 17.18 ... Pinion gear, 19
... Servo motor, 28 ... Partition wall, 30 ... Channel partition wall.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a heat exchanger in which A fluid flow path and B fluid flow path are arranged side by side alternately via partition plates, the opening of the flow path is opened and closed at the inlet of at least one of the fluid flow paths. A heat exchanger equipped with a mechanism that increases or decreases the number of effective flow paths. (2) The mechanism for increasing and decreasing the number of channels comprises a slide gate plate that is movable in and out in the parallel direction of the channels, and a drive means that drives the slide gate plate in and out. Heat exchanger described in section ).