KR100918552B1 - Heat exchanger and boiler comprising the heat exchanger - Google Patents

Abstract

The heat exchanger for exchanging heat between the first medium and the second medium includes a compartment surrounding a plurality of substantially parallel tubes 24 and an inlet in a flow direction R in which the first medium is substantially parallel to the tube. A casing having an inlet and an outlet arranged to flow to the outlet, and an enhanced heat exchange having a first end, each attached to each tube, inclined relative to the flow direction and extending generally transversely to the second unattached end; A plurality of elongate surface magnification elements 28, the second unattached end being located upstream of the first end with respect to the flow direction.

Heat exchanger, tube, casing, surface enlargement element, compartment

Description

Heat exchanger and boiler with heat exchanger {HEAT EXCHANGER AND BOILER COMPRISING THE HEAT EXCHANGER}

The present invention relates to heat exchangers, and more particularly to heat exchangers employed in boilers and exhaust gas boilers.

It has been recognized that undesired and unacceptable high noise levels may occur in any state during operation of a pin tube boiler. Tubes with surface magnification elements such as fins used in boilers have prior patent applications such as US Pat. No. 5,626,187, WO 03/005467 A1, WO 03/033969 A1, and WO 90/02916 A1. All of which are incorporated herein by reference.

The present invention relates to a boiler having a convection chamber comprising a plurality of tubes for the exchange of heat, and more particularly to a boiler comprising a tube fitted with a surface expanding element such as a plurality of fins for improved heat exchange.

Any boiler of this type produced an unacceptable high level of noise, which required to suppress or eliminate the noise. It can be seen that this noise is formed by a single frequency tone in the 300-700 Hz range. The study of the noise generation mechanism has analyzed the source of tones and found that the tones are generated in the convection chamber of the boiler.

The solution is divided into four categories. The first and simplest is to reduce the noise by installing a duct silencer at the source, eg the exhaust of the boiler.

The other categories consist of forestalling or disrupting the feedback mechanism. The results of the cold test showed that the feedback mechanism can be reduced by 60 dB when the feedback mechanism is pointed in or suppressed.

The second method is to introduce damping in the convection chamber in order to prevent the sonic response from reaching a level that starts to significantly affect the abnormal flow structure, thus precluding feedback in advance.

The third method is to introduce a separation plate to move to a frequency in a mode that is easy to feed back out of the range of excitation frequencies.

The fourth method is to modify the pins to sufficiently reduce the separated excitation to stop the interaction mechanism that causes no feedback or causes the transfer of energy from the normal flow to the fluctuating flow and sound regions.

These general categories are not excluded from each other and one final solution may include all four elements.

Acoustic or noise suppression means have been described in patent publications, such as EP 0 876 539, incorporated herein by reference.

The above necessity, together with a number of objects, advantages and features, which will become apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the heat exchanger for exchanging heat between the first and second media according to the invention, Obtained in accordance with the teachings of the present invention by a heat exchanger for exchanging heat between second media, the heat exchanger comprises a casing having a compartment surrounding a plurality of substantially parallel tubes, and attached to each tube; A plurality of elongated surface magnification elements each having one end and for enhanced heat exchange that extends obliquely and generally transversely to the flow direction to the second unattached end, the compartment having a first medium substantially parallel to the tube; An inlet and an outlet arranged to flow from the inlet to the outlet in the flow direction.

The tubes may be arranged in the heat exchanger in a number of geometrical configurations, such that they are placed side by side in an overall contour resembling a square or rectangular shape, preferably the tubes are composed of a honeycomb-like structure.

The surface magnification element may be formed from a sheet comprising a base and a portion comprising a number of elements with free ends. Alternatively, the surface magnification element may be formed separately, for example, the surface magnification element may be formed by a separate process and may be continuously attached to the tube. Alternatively, the surface magnification element may be integrally formed in the tube.

In a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, the second unattached end is located upstream of the first end with respect to the flow direction. Surface magnification elements known in the art have been directed such that the free end of the surface magnification element is located downstream of the first end with respect to the flow direction, resulting in problems with condensate that accumulates in and on the connection of the surface magnification element and tube. It became. Previously, the surface magnification element was directed this way because of the presumption that this orientation would result in the lowest pressure drop with maximum or near maximum heat transfer, but surprisingly the surface magnification element directed this way remains the same in pressure drop. As a result, it has been recognized that it has an increased noise level.

In a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, the heat exchanger further comprises at least one sound suppression plate mounted between at least two tubes such that the compartment is divided into two or more secondary compartments. Surprisingly the plate attenuates the noise generated in the boiler without causing further loss of pressure. Tubes with surface magnification elements may be positioned so that the highest number per area is achieved to minimize the space between the surface magnification elements. The plate may comprise several pieces of material assembled into a single structure. Alternatively, the plate is a single piece of material and may be bent or shaped such that the plate fits snugly into the space between the tubes, for example between the surface expanding elements.

In a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, the surface magnifying element may be substantially tubular in shape. The surface magnification element is preferably tubular, ie pin-shaped. The cross section of the surface magnification element may take other shapes such as trapezoidal, square, rectangular, oval or any combination and / or modification thereof.

The surface expanding element has a length between the first end and the second end in the range of 10 to 60 mm, preferably 20 to 55 mm, preferably 40 to 50 mm, preferably 41 to 50 mm, or preferably 43 mm. You may. The length of the surface magnification element may be the same or vary in length for all surface magnification elements, for example the surface magnification element may have two different lengths. Alternatively, the length of the surface magnification element may be chosen arbitrarily or pseudorandomly. Alternatively, the length of the surface magnification element may also be varied as a function of distance from a particular point of the tube, for example from the first surface magnification element.

Preferably the surface magnification element consists of steel, preferably stainless steel, or alternatively aluminum or copper. The surface magnification element is preferably made of a material having a melting point at high temperature and high thermal conductivity.

Alternatively, the surface magnification element may define one curvature. The surface magnification element may define differentiable curvatures or alternatively curvatures including bends or breaks, and the surface magnification elements may also alternatively comprise many bends or breaks.

The sound suppression plate comprises a plurality of openings having a size in the range of 0.01 mm to 2 mm, preferably 0.5 to 1.5 mm, preferably 0.75 mm to 1.25 mm, preferably substantially 1 mm. The openings of the sound suppression plate may have different sizes, or all the openings may be substantially the same size. The location or distribution of the openings may be substantially even across the plate or the openings may be located in a number of specific areas.

The openings may be substantially oval, circular, square, rectangular or any combination thereof. Preferably the openings are all substantially elliptical. Alternatively, since the plurality of first openings may have one geometry and the plurality of second openings may have another geometry, and alternatively the plurality of plurality may each have one particular geometry, It is also possible to combine all the geometric shapes mentioned above.

Preferably the sound suppression plate consists of steel, stainless steel, aluminum, galvanized steel or alternatively a ceramic material.

The acoustic suppression plate has a thickness of 0.508 mm (0.02 ") to 5.080 mm (0.2"), preferably 1.016 mm (0.04 "), preferably 2.032 mm (0.08"), preferably 3.048 mm (0.12 "), preferably 1 mm It may be.

In a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, the first medium is a flue gas or air and the second medium is mainly water and / or steam. The first medium is preferably located between the tubes and carries heat from the furnace or the like to the heat exchanger chamber. However, other embodiments using other fluids may be contemplated. Heat is absorbed from the first medium through the surface magnification element into the second medium, the second medium becomes water, and the water may eventually reach the point where the water evaporates to steam, depending on the pressure in the tube.

In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, boilers for installation in boilers, in particular marine vessels, may comprise a heat exchanger comprising any of the aspects mentioned above. Boilers according to the teachings of the present invention may be installed in marine navigation ships, transport ships, cargo ships, cargo ships, general ships, tankers and the like.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The present invention reduces noise and prevents the sonic response from reaching levels that begin to significantly affect the abnormal flow structure.

1 is a horizontal sectional view of a boiler comprising a heat exchanger according to the invention, the boiler as a whole being indicated by reference numeral 10. The boiler 10 comprises a burner outlet 12 mounted on top of the boiler 10. The burner outlet 12 is in fluid communication with the furnace chamber 14 located inside the boiler 10. Burner outlet 12 discharges flame 16 into furnace chamber 14. The hot gas exits the furnace chamber 14 through the opening 18 in the side wall 20. Hot salt tube gas passes from the bottom of the convection chamber 22 along a number of tubes 24. Tube 24 fits into a plurality of fins having at least two different lengths. In the presently preferred embodiment of the present invention, the bottom of the tube 24 is fitted with 15 rows of fins having a length of 34 mm. These short fins fit into the tube to receive the salt pipe gas directly from the furnace chamber 14 and cool it to approximately 150 ° C. The fitting of the long fins into the tube in this cross section causes the long fins to melt. In an area above the area containing the short pins 26, at least one area containing long pins may be included. In the presently preferred embodiment the long pin has a length of about 43 mm.

All pins are resistive welded, butt-welding, resistive flash-welding, resistive-welding, resistive seam welding, and spot-welding. Or, alternatively, welding on the tube by another welding technique, or alternatively a combination thereof. The pin may be integrally formed with the tube 24 while forming the tube or part of the tube. In a presently preferred embodiment of the present invention, the pins on the tube 24 are pulled or pushed through a matrix having a cross section smaller than the cross section of the tube 24 in which the plurality of pins are fitted, such that the long pins are the surface of the tube 24. It is bent at a predetermined angle with respect to. Preferably the short pin 26 is not bent, but embodiments in which smaller pins are also bent may be considered. Because of tension and other physical phenomena, long fins bend approximately 5 mm from the surface of the tube 24. If the pin is to be bent at a different distance from the tube 24, the pin may be weakened in certain locations.

In a presently preferred embodiment of the invention the pin is positioned in substantial detail, but a configuration in which the first pin is moved relative to the second pin located above or below the first pin may also be considered. As an alternative to positioning fins in the level range near the tube, the fins may be positioned to form a step-like structure, which is commonly seen in heat exchangers employing surface magnification elements with continuous surfaces. See U.S. Pat. .

Boilers, including fin tubes, and heat exchangers are known to produce unacceptably high levels of noise. This noise was mainly perceived as a single frequency tone in the 300-700 Hz range. The study of the noise generation mechanism has analyzed the source of the tones and found that the tones originated from the convection of the boiler.

Periodic fluctuations in the air flow behind the fins on the tube 24 may themselves cause abnormal pressure fluctuations on the fins, which internally act as acoustic sources. Assuming no feedback, these sources can be reasonably close together as point dipoles with frequency distributions near their peaks that can be derived from a small Strouhal number, where straw The number is defined as the peak frequency of the pressure fluctuation multiplied by the diameter of the fin and separated by the free flow average flow velocity.

Without feedback, assuming that the frequency response of the sound applied in the convection chamber 22 depends on the structure of the chamber and that there is little or no damping, the maximum frequency given in response to a given forcing is the natural frequency of the convection chamber 22. Is the same as However, when there is considerable damping, the frequency given in the maximum response is derived from the actual part of the complex natural frequency of that mode. This mathematical fine distinction has important consequences for the prediction of observed frequencies.

It is experimentally determined that the flexure pin bent toward the air flow configures the tube 24 to reduce the noise generated by the periodic fluctuations in the air flow behind the fin without further loss of pressure. In all previous embodiments of a boiler including a tube having a surface expanding element such as a fin or fin, the surface expanding element bends in a direction along the direction of the air flow, ie downstream.

Noise may be reduced on the side wall of the convection chamber 22, alternatively by introducing an acoustic absorbing material, for example Rockwoll, between the outer surfaces of the walls 36, 44, 40, 42. Also alternatively, the sound absorbing material may be applied or attached to the outside of the boiler, for example on or alternatively within the exhaust duct leading out of the boiler.

After the salt pipe gas passes through the region containing the short fins 24 and the region including the long fins 26 and 28, the salt tube gas is exhausted from the boiler 10 through the exhaust outlet 30.

The boiler 10 is also equipped with a water reservoir 32 in fluid communication with the tube connection 24. The hot salt tube gas transfers heat to the tube 24 through the surface of the tube 24 and the surface expanding element, for example a pin on the tube, thereby collecting water or vapor inside the tube 24 collected from the water reservoir 32. To transfer heat. Water is heated and evaporated inside the tube 24 and vapor rises into the vapor room 34. In the steam room 34 the steam may again condense into water and may be returned to the water reservoir 32 via a tube in the side wall of the furnace chamber 14. In a presently preferred embodiment of the present invention, steam is released into an unexplained system where steam is used for other purposes such as heating the oil used in burner 12 and driving a pump system. Not explained. The water inside the boiler 10 may be replenished from an external source of water.

2 is a sectional view of the boiler of FIG. 1 along line A-A. 2 shows the position of the tube 24 in the convection chamber 22, which consists of four rows of tubes 36, 38, 40, 42. The tube is interconnected with a metal bar welded between neighboring tubes, thereby creating a wall. The furnace chamber 14 is constituted by a panel wall 44. At the top of the tubes that make up the wall 42, a portion of the tube is bent outward to achieve the exhaust outlet 30, and there are no metal bars welded to the tube in this region.

2 also shows the position in the case of burner outlet 12 in the furnace chamber 14. Multiple stays 46 are adapted to support the top and bottom of the vapor chamber 34.

In the convection chamber 22, two acoustic absorbing elements 50, 52 are shown positioned between the tubes 24. The acoustic absorbing elements 50, 52 help to partially divide the convection chamber 22 and thereby alter the acoustic characteristics of the convection chamber 22. The acoustic absorbing elements 50, 52 are preferably of a type which is characterized in that they do not cause a loss of pressure. In the presently preferred embodiment of the invention, the sound absorbing elements 50, 52 are plates of the material described in EP 0 876 539 B1. The sound absorbing element adopted in the presently preferred embodiment of the present invention is marketed by the Swedish company Sontech Noisecontrol under the product name AcustiMet.

3 shows a number of tubes 24 and sound absorbing elements 52 of the boiler of FIGS. 1 and 2. The tube 24 is positioned in a honeycomb form to achieve the highest density of fins and tubes, but other shapes such as square, circular or other geometric shapes or combinations thereof may be contemplated. The sound absorbing element 52 is curved to be located in a narrow space between at least two adjacent fins 28. In a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, the space between the pins varies between 3 and 5 mm. The theoretical spacing between the pins is 6 mm.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view along line C-C of FIG. 3 showing the spatial distribution of the fin 28 and the position of the acoustic absorbing element 52 with respect to the flow of hot gas, shown by arrow R. FIG.

Once the noise is generated in the boiler, it first propagates through the ship through exhaust ducting. Any noise transmitted to the machine room through the boiler structure is very small, for example, against a much higher internal background noise level from the ventilation system.

The everyday duct muffler provides sound reduction with the sound absorbing material behind the perforated metal sheet disposed in the baffle. The installation of a muffler in the boiler's exhaust duct does not remove the source of noise, but instead absorbs the noise after it is generated. The 1 m silencer can provide attenuation in the range of approximately 15-30 dB (A), depending on the acceptable pressure drop.

The installation of a silencer is a simple, effective and flexible solution.

It is a relatively simple engineering process to select a suitable silencer that gives the required acoustic attenuation for an acceptable pressure loss without the accompanying increase in noise caused by the flow through the silencer itself.

It should also be noted that in the presence of noise propagation paths other than through exhaust ducting, the likelihood of the tones to be observed will fail to address the noise problem at the source.

The introduction of acoustic absorption into the convection chamber is designed to prevent the chamber's initial acoustic response from achieving a level sufficient to facilitate the feedback process. The results from the objective test indicate a very successful way of eliminating the interaction mechanism and thus dramatically reducing the acoustic level.

The acoustic absorption in the convection chamber may be a plate such as a solid plate or a through plate.

The through plate acts to support the pressure differential across it while allowing flow through the small holes in the plate. The pressure drop is caused by a combination of inertial and viscous forces resulting in a loss of acoustic energy corresponding to the difference in work done by the pressure on the two sides of the plate. Physically, this energy is converted to heat by viscous action in the flow through the plate. By strategically placing the plate within the chamber, very high absorption can be achieved for any mode.

The results from the objective test show that significant attenuation can be achieved using perforated plates. In one test, all the tones are completely removed, leading to approximately 50 dB of attenuation.

The first problem that needs to be addressed when installing the through plate as an acoustic solution is the placement of the plate that gives the maximum damping and the amount of damping that is required to overtake the feedback mechanism. Unfortunately, the result from the objective test is that the shape of the boiler chamber is very different from that of the objective test chamber and cannot be applied directly to the boiler. This is partly due to the different geometries and partly due to the large vertical temperature gradient in the boiler.

The first step is to confirm the correspondence between the frequencies in the natural mode of the unprocessed boiler and the observed frequencies. This requires not only the measurement of the frequency of the tone from the untreated boiler, but also the calculation of the natural frequency of the boiler's convection chamber. Once the modes that are easy to feed back are identified, the optimal placement of the plate can be determined by calculating the damping in each mode for the other placement. By appropriately sized results from the objective test, it is possible to make an expert assessment of the appropriate amount of damping to assess whether the selected arrangement provides sufficient damping to outperform the feedback mechanism.

The procedure for determining the best placement of the plates in the convection chamber is similar for each boiler size.

The acoustic properties of the plate are described by their resistance, which describes the relationship between the pressure drop across the plate and the flow rate through it. The resistivity has the same unit as the acoustic impedance and the optimum resistivity of the plate is equivalent to the impedance of the air in which it is located. This is a significant problem that must be addressed when approaching through plates as a solution in hot boilers, where the temperature varies considerably along the axis of the chamber. The issue of adequate resistance must be addressed in the calculations to determine the optimal plate placement. The problem of hole size giving optimum resistance at a given temperature should also be addressed.

An alternative to the through plate is absorbent material located on the walls of the chamber. One of the most important practical problems is to identify these materials that can withstand the high temperatures in the boiler while providing sufficient acoustic absorption to outperform the feedback mechanism.

Insulating material located on the wall experiences some degradation of the acoustical properties of the material over time if not uniformly and properly cleaned.

Providing suitable materials that can be found for proper installation is generally similar to that for through plates. In this case, however, the question of how much damping needs to outperform the feedback mechanism is of primary importance, the main problem being the number and amount of walls where the absorbent material needs to be placed, in particular the need to achieve the required damping. It is about the depth of the material that is present.

Scaling the results from the objective test, along with the calculation of the damping in each mode, allows a skilled assessment of whether it consists of sufficient damping or whether a given arrangement provides enough damping to outperform the feedback mechanism.

An alternative solution to introduce absorption into the chamber is to divide the chamber into solid plates in an attempt to create a number of small chambers whose cross-sectional mode has a frequency greater than the peak excitation frequency of the maximum flow rate observed in the boiler.

It is the temperature at the top of the chamber that determines the lowest frequency at which a given cross-sectional mode can exist. The temperature at the top of the boiler is approximately 300 ° C. In order for the frequency of the natural mode of the lowest cross section to be greater than 700 Hz at a temperature of 300 ° C., the longest length of the subchamber should be only approximately 30 cm. This corresponds to dividing the chamber into triangular subchambers each surrounding two fin tubes.

The final solution strategy is to focus on abnormal flow in an attempt to generate excitation that does not lead to an acoustic response that can interact significantly with the flow. There are two ways to approach this. First, if the number of straws can be reduced to keep the peak excitation frequency below the lowest frequency in the cross-sectional mode, feedback may be avoided or delayed at higher flow rates. Secondly, three-dimensional effects may be used in the flow to produce less uniform, less correlated, and less sensitive excitation to the effects of the acoustic response.

The test shows that a significant improvement is seen when the 43 mm pins are bent in a standard manner such that the unattached end of the pins is tilted upstream of the attached end, not in the opposite direction, to the flow. This configuration results in an improvement in noise level and one delay at the onset of the tone at higher speeds.

The onset of the tone near 250 Hz was delayed from 8.7 ms-1 to 9.3 ms-1 (7%) compared to the standard 43 mm pin configuration, but the attenuation noise level was 7 dB higher at initiation and 3 dB at maximum. The tone near 420 Hz was delayed from 13.9 ms-1 to 15.8 ms-1 (14%) with a decrease of 7 dB at the noise level at the start and 5 dB at the maximum. Finally, the 690 Hz tone was delayed from 21.1 ms-1 to 23.6 ms-1 (12%) with 16 dB at the noise level at initiation.

These appear to exhibit a delay of approximately 10% at the onset of the tone. When applied to a boiler, this means that the tones seen at 70% load are delayed by about 75%. After deformation, the tone seen at 93% is delayed to 96%.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a boiler including a heat exchanger according to the present invention.

2 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a comprehensive view of a schematic cross section of the convection chamber of the boiler of FIG.

4 is a schematic elevated view of the portion of FIG.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: boiler

12: burner exit

14: furnace chamber

16: flame

18: opening

20: sidewall

22: convection chamber

24, 48: tube

30: exhaust outlet

32: water reservoir

34: steam chamber

36, 38, 40, 42, 44: wall

Claims (14)

A casing having a compartment, A vapor chamber 34 for receiving water and steam on top of the compartment, Walls 36, 38, 40, 42, 44 formed longitudinally with respect to the compartment, A burner having an outlet 12 installed on top of the compartment to create flame 16, A furnace chamber 14 which generates a hot salt pipe gas by the flame 16 generated from the burner and is formed inside the compartment and is connected to the burner outlet 12, A convection chamber 22 adjacent to the furnace chamber 14 formed in the side region of the compartment, A wall 38 eccentric across the compartment from the center of the compartment to separate the convection chamber 22 from the furnace chamber 14, An opening 18 formed at the bottom of the wall 38 to convey the hot salt pipe gas generated in the furnace chamber to the convection chamber 22; A vapor guide tube received in the convection chamber 22 and connected to the vapor chamber 34 to direct steam from the water received by the salt pipe gas generated in the furnace chamber 14 toward the vapor chamber 34. 24) with, A tube 48 located within the sidewall of the furnace chamber 14 to transfer the received water from the vapor chamber 34 to the water reservoir, A heat formed between the first medium and the second medium formed at an upper end of the convection chamber 22 and connected to the convection chamber and having an exhaust outlet 30 for discharging the salt pipe gas passing through the convection chamber 22. Heat exchanger for exchange, The walls 36, 38, 40, 42, 44 are a plurality of tubular members that form a wall between the tubular members by welding one side of the bar with one tubular member and the other side of the bar with another adjacent tubular member. And a bar, The steam guiding tube 24, which guides steam towards the vapor chamber 34, is distributed inside the convection chamber 22, and the steam guiding tube 24 transfers heat from the salt pipe gas to the steam guiding tube 24. A plurality of fins 28 extend outwardly from the outside of the vapor guide tube 24 for delivery, The exhaust outlet (30) is formed in an upper portion of the convection chamber (22) and consists of a hole formed by removing a bar between the tubular members. 2. The compartment of claim 1 wherein said compartment encloses a plurality of parallel vapor guide tubes (24), said compartments being arranged such that said first medium flows from inlet to outlet in a flow direction parallel to said vapor guide tubes (24). Said inlet and said outlet, A plurality of elongate surface magnification elements for improved heat exchange, each surface magnification element having a first end attached to each of the vapor guide tubes 24 and inclined relative to the flow direction to a second unattached end; Heat exchanger extending laterally. 3. The heat exchanger of claim 2, wherein the second unattached end is located upstream of the first end with respect to the flow direction. The heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein the heat exchanger comprises at least one sound suppression plate mounted between at least two vapor guide tubes 24 such that the compartment is divided into two or more secondary compartments. Heat exchanger containing more. The heat exchanger according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the surface expanding element is tubular in shape. 4. The heat exchanger of claim 2 or 3, wherein the surface magnification element defines a length between the first end and the second end in the range of 10 to 60 mm. The heat exchanger according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the surface expansion element is made of steel, aluminum or copper. 4. The heat exchanger of claim 2 or 3, wherein the surface magnification element forms a bend. The heat exchanger of claim 4, wherein the sound suppression plate comprises a plurality of circular openings having a size in the range of 0.01 mm to 2 mm. The heat exchanger of claim 4, wherein the sound suppression plate comprises a plurality of openings, the openings being elliptical, round, square, rectangular or any combination of elliptical, round, square and rectangular. The heat exchanger of claim 4, wherein the sound suppression plate is made of steel, stainless steel, aluminum, galvanized steel, or ceramic material. 5. The heat exchanger of claim 4, wherein said sound suppression plate is between 0.508 mm (0.02 ") and 5.080 mm (0.2") thick. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the first medium is a gas and the second medium is mainly water, steam or water and steam. A boiler comprising a heat exchanger according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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