US2508815A - Condenser - Google Patents

Description

B. P. DAWES May 23, 1950 CONDENSER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 25, 1944 STEAM INLET WATER INLET WATER OUTLET INVENTOR. Bfl/LE P! DAWES,

CONDENSR E HTTORNEVS.

May 23, 1950 p; DAWES 2,508,815

CONDENSER Filed Sept. 25, 1944 3 Sheets Sheet 3 oo 0 o o o 0 0300.0 0 0 0 1N VEN TOR. 50/1. 5y P. D0 W55 5% MSM arr-arms v4",

Patenieci May 23,

eaisily' serviceu'and repalre 7. W th efl t. conventmnar q t 59, P ic n o dlx dwmififi 8,@= ?"i ,1 la i ztgr forming the central portion of said bottom L-r u s 9 five; T is g w i ar itrt landi a ingfs may iii ealblh gioup 9r riatiofi's are possible ms will b latr ea k i a bm i d he;

3 so that the ends of each tube, exclusive of the spines, will lit in each opening 15.

At the ends of tubes If that are opposite each plate It are separate plates 58 respectively formed with openings ll (Figs. 5, 6, 8). One plate it is provided for each group of tubes. The plates [8 are outwardly of wall 3, while plates l3 are inside wall 4. The marginal portions of plates I8 extend a sufiicient distance over the marginal portions of slot it to form a tight seal between said plates and said wall upon the latter being moved into tight engagement with a gasket l9 positioned between each plate and wall 3.

Between adjacent pairs of openings 9 in plate 4 are bolt openings 2| for bolts 22 that are adapted to threadedly engage in registering openings 23 in plates 16 (Figs. 7, 8). Thus upon tightening the nuts 24 on said bolts the plates 56 will be drawn toward end wall 4 and gasket 20 will provide a fluid tight seal between the plate and wall.

Wall 3 is formed with rows of spaced, threaded openings 25 (Fig. 6) between adjacent pairs of the plates l8 that are in superposed relationship. Bolts 25 are threadedly secured in said openings 25, which bolts have nuts 2'5 thereon that function to tightly draw the adjacent pairs of plates l8 toward wall 3 so that gasket 19 will form a fluid tight seal between said plates and wall 3. Relatively narrow strips 33 at the upper and lower ends of the vertical rows of plates I8 provide means for engagement by the nuts 2i that engage the uppermost and lowermost plates 18 in said vertical rows along the outermost edges thereof, as best seen in Fig. 6 and Fig. 3.

From the above it will be seen that each of the separate groups of tubes H is a unit with a plate [6 at one end of the tubes and a plate I8 at the opposite end that function to hold the tubes together in proper side by side relationship for handling as a unit. The withdrawal of any group of tubes is quickly effected by removing the nuts 24 and 2i that secure any particular group in place, after which the group, including plate I6, is withdrawn through a slot iii in end wall 3. Inasmuch as each tube, even in a condenser of large capacity, is only several feet long, there is no difliculty in effecting the desired removal of any particular group of tubes or of all the tubes or any number of groups thereof.

To facilitate the insertion and withdrawal of groups of tubes a pair of tracks 3i (Figs. 1, 5, 6) is provided, each of which may be a strip of angle iron on one leg 32 of which the opposite outer tubes of each group may be supported While the other leg 33 may extend alongside each of the said outer tubes. The upper and lower edges of each plate l6 are parallel and the ends are curved to correspond with a circular line defining the outline of the outer ends of the spines l2 in direction transversely of the axis of each tube, therefore said plate will also slide on said tracks upon insertion or withdrawal of a group of tubes from the condenser. It is particularly desirable that each plate US should be sure to slide on each pair of tracks provided therefor inasmuch as the track functions also to guide the plates l6 to wall 4 for registration of bolts 23 with openings 9.

The tubes ll of each group are preferably arranged so that the adjacent outer ends of the spines l2 of adjacent pairs of tubes in each group should be in substantially adjoining relationship, although the groups themselves may be spaced apart for the tracks 3|. ne of the ends of tracks 36 is secured to wall 3 while the opposite ends may be secured to vertical strips 35 (Fig. 8), said strips being slightly spaced from wall 4 and supported at their lower ends on projections 36 that are on wall 4. This enables longitudinal expansion and contraction of the tracks without influencing the walls 3, 4. Inasmuch as the tubes carry a cooling medium, such as water, the tracks will become appreciably hotter than the tubes which makes the above structure important where tracks are employed. The gasket 23 (Fig. 5) is slightly compressible under any longitudinal expansion of the tubes themselves, therefore no objectionable strain occurs by reason of such expansion, and gasket l9 may function for relieving any possible strain due to contraction of the tubes longitudinally. With respect to said expansion and contraction of the tubes, it is pertinent to note that even in installations of large capacity the tubes are only from two to three feet in length and carry the cooling medium.

Extending across the upper portion of plate 4 and over openings 9 is an inlet header 3'! for whatever coolant is used, such as water, said header being formed with an inlet opening 33 and having a closure 39 bolted thereto with bolts 4H for quick removal of said closure and access to nuts 24 upon removal of said closure without interfering with the connections of inlet pipe 4! with the header.

Extending across the lower portion of plate 4 and over the remaining openings 9 other than those covered by the upper header is an outlet header 42 having an outlet 43. A closure 44 is removably secured on header 42 by bolts 45 so that quick removal of said closure may be accomplished for the same reason as given relative to the upper header. Outlet pipe 46 may remain connected while the desired nuts 24 are removed.

Extending across the plate 3 and over all of the tube openings that open outwardly of said plate is a single header 4'! that functions as a return bend for coolant passing through the pipes fed from header 3'! for return of such coolant to header 42.

At any desirable point within the housing and spaced above sump 8 is a shroud or air trap in the form of an inverted generally U-shaped member 48 (Figs. 3, '7) that extends between walls 3, 4 and over certain central groups of tubes. The opposed sides of this member extend downwardly between the adjacent pairs of tracks 3| that are at opposite sides of the said central groups of tubes (Fig. '7) and an outlet conduit 49 leads outwardly from the said member through side wall 2 of the housing (Fig. 1).

Condensate that drains into sump 3 may be pumped or drained from the latter through conduit 50 and baffies 5| (Fig. 3) may extend transversely across said sump if desired.

The general manner in which the condenser functions as a steam condenser is obvious. The steam entering through inlet '1 is immediately in heat transfer relation to the coolant flowing through the pipes H from header 3?. At this point the widest divergence exists between the temperature of the coolant or pipes and the steam inasmuch as the steam is hottest and the coolant coolest. By the time the steam and whatever condensate may have formed reaches the tubes returning the coolant to outlet header 42 the temperatures are more nearly equalized. This direction of flow of the coolant may be said to be generally concurrent to the flow of the steam in that both flows are generally in the same direction, and said generally concurrent flow is desirable in most instances over the opposite or reverse flow in which the inlet and out let 38, 43 are reversed.

In actual practice with a condenser in which the housing is only about thirty inches in each dimension about seven thousand pounds of steam at 266 F. may be condensed per hour with water at the inlet header of about 77 F. moving through the tubes at about six feet per second and in an amount of about 3200 lbs. per minute. These results may obviously vary as temperature conditions vary and as the pressures vary, but insofar as I am aware, the invention herein disclosed has an increase in efiiciency of conventional condensers of from about fifty to about one hundred per cent.

One of the features that appears to have an appreciable bearing on the increased efficiency of the condenser herein described is the provision of means providing not only separate paths of travel for the condensate on the heat transfer surfaces, but also the provision of points from which the innumerable droplets of condensate may form and drop on the outside of the tubes carrying the coolant. Most condensers pass the steam through the tubes and the coolant over the outer sides of the tubes.

The extended heat transfer surface afforded by the spines I2 is believed to also have an appreciable bearing on the accomplishment of the improved results and their arrangement in each group insures a direct heat transfer relationship between the steam and the spines as well as between the condensate and spines in the final run of tubes in the lower portion of the housing.

The arrangement of the tubes in groups whereby any one of the groups may be readily withdrawn from one end of the housing is of great benefit in that a defective tube or packing may be quickly replaced without burning away any welding or the like, and the compactness of the groups Of tubes permits the carrying of extra tubes without inconvenience, and the defective tubes, if any, can be quickly serviced or repaired at leisure as an ordinary shop job.

It is to be understood that the drawings and description are merely illustrative of a preferred form of the invention and are not to be considered restrictive thereof.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A heat transfer device comprising a housing having an inlet in one wall thereof for a fluid, a tortuous conduit for another fluid having a plurality of straight lengths thereof extending between two opposed walls of said housing, an inlet and an outlet for said last mentioned fluid at opposite ends of said tortuous conduit, means removably securing said straight lengths at their ends to said opposed walls in sealing relation with the latter, said opposed Walls being formed with spaced openings for the said ends of said lengths, said lengths of said conduit being arranged in separate groups and separate means outwardly of one of said opposed walls rigidly securing the tubes of each of said separate groups together, one of the ends of the said straight lengths of each group extending through one of each of the openings in the wall adjacent said last mentioned means whereby each group may be withdrawn from the housing through each of said last mentioned openings as a unit, tracks within said housing for slidably supporting said lengths during such withdrawal and for aligning the opposite ends of said straight lengths with the openings formed in the other of said opposed Walls.

2. A heat transfer device comprising a housing having opposed end walls, opposed side walls, and a top and a bottom wall, a plurality of parallel open-ended tubes extending between said end walls, means between said end walls and at one of the ends of said tubes securing certain of said ends together in separable groups and removably securing said groups to the end wall adjacent thereto, means outwardly of the other end wall at the opposite ends of said tubes securing the tubes of each of said groups together separate from the other groups and removably securing said tubes to the said other end wall, said last mentioned end wall being formed with openings through which said groups of tubes may be withdrawn upon releasing said last mentioned means from said other end wall, said groups being in superposed relationship, and means supporting each of said groups for sliding through said openings independently of the other groups.

BAILEY P. DAWES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 403,799 Tucker May 21, 1889 722,627 Richmond Mar. 10, 1903 1,812,591 Grace June 30, 1931 1,875,142 Price Aug. 30, 1932 1,884,080 Miller Oct. 25, 1932 1,894,284 Smith Jan. 1'7, 1933 1,957,779 I-Ioppes May 8, 1934 2,047,459 Chamayou July 14, 1936 2,247,243 Kritzer June 24, 1941 2,256,882 Sebald Sept. 23, 1941 2,292,524 Jacocks Aug. 11, 1942 2,298,154 Pennella Oct. 6, 1942 2,313,052 Dean Mar. 9, 1943

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