KR20210001185A - Heat exchanger - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a 3D printing heat exchanger. The present invention provides the 3D printing heat exchanger, which has a structure capable of maximizing heat exchange performance while having a shape of being easily manufactured in a 3D printing lamination method. More specifically, the 3D printing heat exchanger allows a flow in the heat exchanger to be evenly distributed and has a shape of increasing an area of a core of the heat exchanger, thereby ultimately increasing the heat exchange performance. To this end, the heat exchanger includes a pair of manifolds, and a plurality of tubes.

Description

Heat exchanger {Heat exchanger}

The present invention relates to a heat exchanger, and more particularly, to a heat exchanger manufactured in a lamination method using 3D printing.

In general, various air conditioning systems and cooling systems are installed in vehicles. To be roughly divided, the air conditioning system includes cooling and heating modules for adjusting the air temperature and humidity of the indoor space in which the vehicle occupant exists, and the cooling system includes modules for cooling devices such as engines and motors to prevent overheating. . These various modules transfer heat while circulating a heat exchange medium such as refrigerant and cooling water to implement desired cooling, heating, cooling, and the like.

Such an air conditioning or cooling system includes various heat exchangers. Among these heat exchangers, a heat exchange medium to be cooled (for example, refrigerant, cooling water, oil, etc.) is circulated and air is blown to the outside to cool the heat exchange medium. There are air-cooled heat exchangers. The air-cooled heat exchanger refers to a heat exchanger operated in a manner that heats air while cooling the heat exchange medium by performing heat exchange between the heat exchange medium inside the heat exchanger and air outside the heat exchanger, or conversely, heating the heat exchange medium and cooling air. In general, such an air-cooled heat exchanger includes a pair of tanks for collecting and accommodating a heat exchange medium that is introduced or discharged, and a plurality of tubes that are connected between the tanks and exchange heat with the outside while circulating the heat exchange medium. Fins of various shapes may be interposed between the tubes to increase the heat exchange area with external air.

Meanwhile, 3D printing refers to a technology for manufacturing a 3D shape using a printer. Basically, a three-dimensional three-dimensional shape is decomposed into a plurality of planes, and each plane is stacked layer by layer. In other words, most 3D printers currently use the lamination method, and depending on the material, plastics are melted to create a form by stacking layers, a method to form a form by welding metal, a method to form a form by firing a laser on a liquid material, etc. Various methods are used.

3D printing technology has a great advantage of being able to manufacture objects of very complex shapes with high reproducibility and productivity. The heat exchanger described above is also a fairly complex shape, and defects sometimes occur in the process of assembling each separate parts such as tanks, tubes, fins, etc., and expensive and complex production facilities or long experience to perform these tasks well. There are many factors that limit productivity, such as requiring accumulated skilled workers. Accordingly, there have been attempts to apply the recently emerging 3D printing technology to the heat exchanger production field.

U.S. Patent Publication No. 2018-0250747 ("Additively manufactured heat exchangers", 2018.09.06.) discloses a 3D printed laminated heat exchanger in which the manifold (tank) cross-section has a square rhombus shape to be advantageous for additive manufacturing. . In the general 3D printing lamination method manufacturing process, if there is no structure at the bottom of the manufacturing direction, a structure for support is arbitrarily installed and then removed after completion of manufacturing. However, when stacking at an angle of 45 degrees, it is possible to implement a shape without a support structure, so in the prior literature, the manifold cross section is made to have a square rhombus shape.

However, according to the prior literature, there are the following problems when trying to increase the width of the heat exchanger. In the prior literature, in order to facilitate 3D lamination manufacturing, the cross section of the manifold is formed in a form in which a square, that is, a square is turned 45 degrees. When the extension direction of the manifold is the longitudinal direction of the heat exchanger, the extension direction of the tube is the height direction, the longitudinal direction and the direction perpendicular to the height direction of the heat exchanger are the width direction of the heat exchanger. The cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction becomes a rhombus shape. At this time, if the width of the heat exchanger is increased, not only the width of the manifold but also the height is increased. Meanwhile, in the heat exchanger, a portion in which heat exchange occurs substantially is a tube portion, and a portion in which the tubes form heat is generally referred to as a heat exchanger core. Since the total area of the heat exchanger is determined by the available space in the engine room, there is usually a predetermined limit. However, if the height of the manifold, that is, the tank portion is unnecessarily increased, the area of the core portion of the heat exchanger becomes narrow as a result, which consequently decreases the heat transfer area of the heat exchanger, thereby reducing the heat exchange performance.

1. US Patent Publication No. 2018-0250747 ("Additively manufactured heat exchangers", 2018.09.06.)

Accordingly, the present invention was conceived to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, and an object of the present invention is to have a structure that can maximize heat exchange performance while having a shape that is easy to be manufactured by a 3D printing lamination method, 3D To provide a printing heat exchanger. More specifically, it is intended to provide a 3D printed heat exchanger that has a shape that increases the area of the heat exchanger core while allowing the flow inside the heat exchanger to be evenly distributed, and ultimately increases heat exchange performance.

The heat exchanger 100 of the present invention for achieving the above object is a pair of heat exchangers 100 that are formed side by side by being spaced apart a certain distance and receive the heat exchange medium through the inlet 111 or discharge the heat exchange medium through the outlet 112. Manifold 110; A plurality of tubes 120 fixed at both ends of the pair of manifolds 110 to circulate a heat exchange medium to form a heat exchange area; Including, the inlet 111 or the outlet 112 is located at the most end in the extending direction of the manifold 110, the flow rate of the heat exchange medium in the manifold 110 is maximum When the position is the maximum flow rate position, and the position farthest from the maximum flow rate position along the extension direction of the manifold 110 is the minimum flow rate position, the manifold 110 has the greatest cross-sectional area at the maximum flow rate position. It is large, and the cross-sectional area at the minimum flow rate position is formed to be the smallest. In addition, the heat exchanger 100 may be manufactured in a 3D printing lamination method.

At this time, the manifold 110 has a cross-sectional area of the manifold 110 so that the flow rate of the heat exchange medium gradually decreases from the maximum flow rate position to the minimum flow rate position. It can be formed to gradually decrease to the flow rate position.

Alternatively, the heat exchanger 100 of the present invention includes a pair of manifolds 110 that are formed side by side and spaced apart a predetermined distance, and receive the heat exchange medium through the inlet 111 or discharge the heat exchange medium through the outlet 112; A plurality of tubes 120 fixed at both ends of the pair of manifolds 110 to circulate a heat exchange medium to form a heat exchange area; Including, the inlet 111 or the outlet 112 is located at an intermediate point in the extending direction of the manifold 110, the flow rate of the heat exchange medium in the manifold 110 is maximum The position is the maximum flow rate position, the farthest position from the maximum flow rate position to one side along the extension direction of the manifold 110 is the minimum flow rate position on one side, and the maximum flow rate position along the extension direction of the manifold 110 When the position furthest to the side is the other minimum flow rate position, the manifold 110 has the largest cross-sectional area at the maximum flow rate position and the smallest cross-sectional area at the one side minimum flow rate position or the other minimum flow rate position. Is formed. In addition, the heat exchanger 100 may be manufactured in a 3D printing lamination method.

At this time, the manifold 110 is in proportion to a state in which the flow rate of the heat exchange medium gradually decreases from the maximum flow rate position to the one side minimum flow rate position or from the maximum flow rate position to the other minimum flow rate position. The cross-sectional area of (110) may be formed to gradually decrease from the maximum flow rate position to the one side minimum flow rate position or from the maximum flow rate position to the other minimum flow rate position.

In addition, the manifold 110, the extension direction of the manifold 110 is the length direction of the heat exchanger 100, the extension direction of the tube 120 is the height direction of the heat exchanger 100, the length When the direction and the direction perpendicular to the height direction are the width direction of the heat exchanger 100, the cross-sectional area may be formed to gradually change along the length direction. In this case, the manifold 110 may have a constant width along the length direction, but may be formed such that its cross-sectional area gradually changes as the height changes. In addition, at this time, the heat exchanger 100 may have a uniform height along the length direction.

In addition, the heat exchanger 100, when the inlet 111 or the outlet 112 is formed on the manifold 110, the maximum flow rate at the position of the inlet 111 or the outlet 112 Position can be formed. In addition, when the heat exchanger 100 has at least two heat exchange regions, the maximum flow rate position may be formed at a position where the heat exchange medium passes from one heat exchange region to another heat exchange region.

According to the present invention, the heat exchanger has a shape that is easy to be manufactured by a 3D printing lamination method, and has a great effect of maximizing heat exchange performance. More specifically, in the heat exchanger of the present invention, the cross section of the manifold has a substantially rectangular shape similar to that of a tank of a general heat exchanger, but in the present invention, the manifold from the position where the flow rate of the heat exchange medium is maximum to the minimum is Only the cross-sectional area, in particular the height, is made in a progressively decreasing form. Accordingly, according to the present invention, the flow in the heat exchanger is evenly distributed through the change in the cross-sectional area of the manifold, and at the same time, it has a shape that increases the area of the heat exchanger core, thereby ultimately increasing the heat exchange performance. have.

In addition, according to the present invention, since the heat exchanger is basically manufactured in a 3D printing lamination method, there is also an effect of maximizing reproducibility and productivity of the 3D printing lamination method manufacturing.

1 is a perspective view of a general heat exchanger.
Figure 2 is a general heat exchanger manifold internal flow pattern.
3 is a front view of a first embodiment of the heat exchanger of the present invention.
4 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the heat exchanger of the present invention.
5 is a 3D printing additive manufacturing process in the first embodiment of the heat exchanger of the present invention.
6 is a front view of a second embodiment of the heat exchanger of the present invention.
7 is a front view of a third embodiment of the heat exchanger of the present invention.
8 is a front view of a fourth embodiment of the heat exchanger of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a heat exchanger according to the present invention having the configuration as described above will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a general heat exchanger, and FIG. 2 shows an internal flow pattern in a general heat exchanger manifold. That is, FIG. 2 is a front view of the heat exchanger of FIG. 1 and also shows an internal flow pattern. As shown in Fig. 2, in general, the flow rate of the heat exchange medium flowing into or out of the manifold becomes maximum at the inlet or outlet position, and gradually decreases as the distance increases. However, in reality, heat exchange in the heat exchanger mainly occurs when the heat exchange medium moves from one manifold to another, that is, when the heat exchange medium flows through the tube. That is, in a portion where the flow rate of the heat exchange medium in the manifold is significantly reduced, the flow rate of the heat exchange medium flowing to the tube is also significantly reduced, which causes the overall heat exchange performance to deteriorate.

In the present invention, the reduction in heat exchange performance caused by the inability to distribute the refrigerant evenly is to be solved by improving the shape of the manifold. In addition, in designing the shape improvement of such a manifold, it is further considered that the shape is advantageous even when manufactured by 3D printing lamination method.

[First embodiment]

3 is a front view of the first embodiment of the heat exchanger of the present invention, and Figure 4 is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the heat exchanger of the present invention. 3 and 4, the heat exchanger 100 of the present invention basically includes a configuration as a heat exchanger, that is, a manifold 110 and a tube 120. More specifically, a pair of the manifolds 110 are formed side by side with a certain distance apart, and receive the heat exchange medium through the inlet 111 or discharge the heat exchange medium through the outlet 112. A plurality of tubes 120 are arranged in a row so that both ends are fixed to a pair of the manifolds 110, and in particular, a heat exchange medium is circulated to form a heat exchange area.

In the heat exchanger 100 according to the first embodiment, the inlet 111 is formed in any one of the manifolds 110 of the pair of manifolds 110, and the other one of the manifolds ( The outlet 112 is formed in 110). In addition, the inlet 111 or the outlet 112 is located at the most end in the extending direction of the manifold 110. In the first embodiment, the inlet 111 and the outlet 112 are in the same direction. Is formed.

A position at which the flow rate of the heat exchange medium is maximum in the manifold 110 is referred to as a maximum flow rate position, and a position farthest from the maximum flow rate position along the extending direction of the manifold 110 is referred to as a minimum flow rate position. In Fig. 3, the maximum flow rate position is indicated as MAX, and the minimum flow rate position is indicated by MIN. In the first embodiment, since the inlet 111 or the outlet 112 is formed on all the manifolds 110, the maximum flow rate position is formed at the position of the inlet 111 or the outlet 112 do.

2, the flow rate gradually decreases as the heat exchange medium flows from the maximum flow rate position to the minimum flow rate position. Since the conventional manifold has a uniform cross-sectional area in the manifold extension direction, it is substantially near the minimum flow rate position. As a result, an unnecessarily empty excess space occurred in the manifold.

In this case, in the present invention, the manifold 110 is formed to have the largest cross-sectional area at the maximum flow rate position and the smallest cross-sectional area at the minimum flow rate position. In particular, the cross-sectional area of the manifold 110 is formed to gradually decrease from the maximum flow rate position to the minimum flow rate position so that the flow rate of the heat exchange medium gradually decreases from the maximum flow rate position to the minimum flow rate position. By doing so, the excess space as described above can be completely deleted.

The extension direction of the manifold 110 is a longitudinal direction of the heat exchanger 100, and the extension direction of the tube 120 is a height direction of the heat exchanger 100, a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and the height direction. When is referred to as the width direction of the heat exchanger 100, the manifold 110 gradually changes in cross-sectional area along the length direction. In particular, in the present invention, the manifold 110 has a constant width along the length direction, but a cross-sectional area is formed to gradually change by changing the height. In this case, as well as shown in FIG. 4, the heat exchanger 100 has a uniform height along the length direction.

With such a shape, the height of the tube 120 in the vicinity of the maximum flow rate position is the same as the tube height of a conventional heat exchanger, but the height of the tube 120 in the vicinity of the minimum flow rate position is (the manifold As the height of the fold 110 decreases), it becomes larger than the tube height of a conventional heat exchanger. As described above, according to the shape design of the present invention, the heat exchange area is increased instead of the flow rate of the heat exchange medium decreases, so that the loss of heat exchange performance due to the decrease in the flow rate can be compensated to some extent.

In addition, the heat exchanger 100 of the present invention is manufactured in a 3D printing lamination method as described above. In this case, if it is made into the shape as described above, it is quite advantageous to manufacture a 3D printing lamination method. In more detail, it is as follows.

In general, when manufacturing a three-dimensional shape by 3D printing lamination method, if there is no structure underneath, a separate support structure must be installed, and after the entire shape is completed, the support structure must be removed. However, even if there is no structure below the vertical, if there is a structure in a nearby location, a shape can be made without a separate support structure.

5 is a view for explaining a 3D printing additive manufacturing process of the first embodiment of the heat exchanger of the present invention. The three-dimensional shape of FIG. 5 corresponds to the manifold 110 disposed on the upper side in FIG. 4 of the first embodiment, and is shown more exaggerated for easier understanding. 3D printing lamination manufacturing is performed by dividing the shape to be manufactured into a plurality of layers in the height direction and stacking the shapes of each layer as shown in FIG. 5(A). At this time, in the present invention, since the height of the manifold 110 gradually changes, as shown in FIG. 5(B), even if there is no structure vertically below the layer to be manufactured, the layer stacked in the previous step Since the structure is formed at this close position, the desired surface can be stacked using this as a support. FIG. 5 shows the layer to be manufactured and the layer stacked in the immediately preceding step from the top, and indicates a region where the layer stacked in the immediately preceding step supports the layer to be manufactured. Through this intuitively, it can be seen that the shape of the manifold 110 of the present invention is very suitable to be manufactured by 3D printing lamination method.

[Second Example]

6 shows a front view of a second embodiment of the heat exchanger of the present invention. Unlike in the first embodiment in which the inlet 111 and the outlet 112 are formed in the same direction, in the heat exchanger 100 according to the second embodiment, the inlet 111 and the outlet 112 They are formed in opposite directions.

Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, so that what is not described here is considered to follow the description of the first embodiment, and further description is omitted.

[Third Example]

7 shows a front view of a third embodiment of the heat exchanger of the present invention. In the heat exchanger 100 according to the third embodiment, unlike in the first and second embodiments, the inlet 111 or the outlet 112 is located at an intermediate point in the extending direction of the manifold 110. . Therefore, in this case, it may not be possible to determine only one minimum flow rate position.

A position at which the flow rate of the heat exchange medium is maximum in the manifold 110 is a maximum flow rate, and a position farthest from the maximum flow rate to one side along the extending direction of the manifold 110 is a minimum flow rate on one side, and the A position farthest from the maximum flow position to the other side along the extending direction of the manifold 110 is referred to as the other minimum flow rate position. In Fig. 7, the maximum flow rate position is indicated as MAX, the minimum flow rate position on one side is indicated by MIN1, and the minimum flow rate position on the other side is indicated by MIN2.

In this case, in the present invention, the manifold 110 is formed to have the largest cross-sectional area at the maximum flow rate position and the smallest cross-sectional area at the one side minimum flow rate position or the other side minimum flow rate position. In particular, the cross-sectional area of the manifold 110 is in proportion to the aspect that the flow rate of the heat exchange medium gradually decreases from the maximum flow rate position to the one side minimum flow rate position or from the maximum flow rate position to the other minimum flow rate position. By forming such that it gradually decreases from the position to the minimum flow rate position on the one side or from the maximum flow rate position to the minimum flow rate position on the other side, the excess space as described above can also be completely eliminated.

Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, so that what is not described here is considered to follow the description of the first embodiment, and further description is omitted.

[Fourth Example]

8 shows a front view of a fourth embodiment of the heat exchanger of the present invention. In the heat exchanger 100 according to the fourth embodiment, a heat exchange area is divided into two. In this case, both the inlet 111 and the outlet 112 are formed in any one of the manifolds 110 of the pair of manifolds, and the inlet 111 is formed in the other manifold 110. Alternatively, the outlet 112 is not formed. Previously, in the first, second, and third embodiments, the maximum flow rate was formed at the position of the inlet 111 or the outlet 112, but the manifold 110 disposed at the lower side based on FIG. 8 Since the inlet 111 or the outlet 112 is not formed, the maximum flow rate position cannot be determined based on this reference.

However, in this case, it can be easily seen that the flow rate of the heat exchange medium will be maximum at the position where the heat exchange medium passes from one heat exchange region to the other heat exchange region, and this flow pattern is also confirmed in a conventional general heat exchanger. This is well known. That is, as in the fourth embodiment, when the heat exchanger 100 has at least two heat exchange zones, the maximum flow rate location is formed at a position where the heat exchange medium passes from one heat exchange zone to another.

Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, so that what is not described here is considered to follow the description of the first embodiment, and further description is omitted.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the scope of application thereof is diverse, as well as anyone with ordinary knowledge in the field to which the present invention belongs without departing from the gist of the present invention claimed in the claims. Of course, various modifications are possible.

100: 3D printing heat exchanger 110: manifold
111: inlet 112: outlet
120: tube

Claims (11)

A pair of manifolds 110 that are spaced apart from each other by a certain distance and are formed in parallel and receive the heat exchange medium through the inlet 111 or discharge the heat exchange medium through the outlet 112; A plurality of tubes 120 fixed at both ends of the pair of manifolds 110 to circulate a heat exchange medium to form a heat exchange area; Including, the inlet 111 or the outlet 112 is located at the most end in the extending direction of the manifold 110,
When the position at which the flow rate of the heat exchange medium is maximum in the manifold 110 is the maximum flow rate position, and the position farthest from the maximum flow rate position along the extension direction of the manifold 110 is the minimum flow rate position,
The manifold (110) is a heat exchanger, characterized in that formed such that the cross-sectional area at the maximum flow rate position is largest and the cross-sectional area at the minimum flow rate position is smallest.
The method of claim 1,
The heat exchanger is a heat exchanger, characterized in that manufactured by 3D printing lamination method.
The method of claim 2, wherein the manifold (110),
So that the flow rate of the heat exchange medium gradually decreases from the maximum flow rate position to the minimum flow rate position,
Heat exchanger, characterized in that the cross-sectional area of the manifold 110 is formed to gradually decrease from the maximum flow rate position to the minimum flow rate position.
A pair of manifolds 110 that are spaced apart from each other by a certain distance and are formed in parallel and receive the heat exchange medium through the inlet 111 or discharge the heat exchange medium through the outlet 112; A plurality of tubes 120 fixed at both ends of the pair of manifolds 110 to circulate a heat exchange medium to form a heat exchange area; Including, the inlet 111 or the outlet 112 is located at an intermediate point in the extending direction of the manifold 110,
A position at which the flow rate of the heat exchange medium is maximum in the manifold 110 is a maximum flow rate position, and a position farthest from the maximum flow rate position to one side along the extending direction of the manifold 110 is a minimum flow rate position on one side, the When the position farthest from the maximum flow rate position to the other side along the extension direction of the manifold 110 is the other minimum flow rate position,
The manifold 110 is a heat exchanger, characterized in that the cross-sectional area at the maximum flow rate position is the largest, and the cross-sectional area at the one side minimum flow rate position or the other side minimum flow rate position is the smallest.
The method of claim 4,
The heat exchanger, characterized in that the heat exchanger is manufactured by a 3D printing lamination method.
The method of claim 5, wherein the manifold (110),
So that the flow rate of the heat exchange medium gradually decreases from the maximum flow rate position to the one side minimum flow rate position or from the maximum flow rate position to the other side minimum flow rate position,
A heat exchanger, characterized in that the cross-sectional area of the manifold 110 is formed to gradually decrease from the maximum flow rate position to the one side minimum flow rate position or from the maximum flow rate position to the other minimum flow rate position.
The method of claim 5 or 6, wherein the manifold (110),
The extension direction of the manifold 110 is a longitudinal direction of the heat exchanger 100, and the extension direction of the tube 120 is a height direction of the heat exchanger 100, a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and the height direction. When is referred to as the width direction of the heat exchanger 100,
Heat exchanger, characterized in that the cross-sectional area is formed to gradually change along the longitudinal direction.
The method of claim 7, wherein the manifold (110),
A heat exchanger, characterized in that the width is constant along the longitudinal direction, but the cross-sectional area is formed to gradually change by changing the height.
The method of claim 7, wherein the heat exchanger (100),
Heat exchanger, characterized in that the height is formed constant along the longitudinal direction.
The method of claim 1 or 4, wherein the heat exchanger (100),
When the inlet 111 or the outlet 112 is formed on the manifold 110,
A heat exchanger, characterized in that the maximum flow rate is formed at a location of the inlet 111 or the outlet 112.
The method of claim 1 or 4, wherein the heat exchanger (100),
If you have at least two heat exchange zones,
The heat exchanger, characterized in that the maximum flow rate position is formed at a position where the heat exchange medium passes from one heat exchange region to another.

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