US3046957A - Tubular wall arrangement and support therefor - Google Patents

Description

y 1962 E. c. WITZKE 3,046,957

TUBULAR WALL ARRANGEMENT AND SUPPORT THEREFOR Filed Dec. 10', 1958 2 SheetS Sheet 1 INVENTOR Ernest C. Whzke ZAEAL A4 046% ATTORNEY July 31, 1962 E. c. WITZKE 3,046,957

TUBULAR WALL ARRANGEMENT AND SUPPORT THEREFOR Filed Dec. 10, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 34 INVENTOR Ernest G. Wifzke Fig. 2. fl/Jp ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,046,957 TUBULAR WALL ARRANGEMENT AND SUPPORT TEEREFOR Ernest C. Witzlre, Bayside, N.Y., assignor to Combustion Engineering, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 10, 1958, Ser. No. 779,334-

' 6 Claims. (Cl. 122-510) This invention relates generally to a wall structure comprised in part of side by side tubular elements, such as the walls found in modern steam generators wherein the inner wall surface is formed of adjacently disposed tubes.

More particularly the invention relates to a tubular wall construction wherein the tubes are bent in unison so that they extend horizontally back and forth across the wall with the tubes increasing in temperature throughout their length and with the wall structure being supported by a support organization that permits the necessary differential expansion that is encountered in such an arrangement. v

In accordance with the invention there is provided a vapor generator which has an upright furnace with a lateral gas pass extending from the rear wall of the furnace and connecting with a vertical gas pass that extends down along side the furnace. The wall with which the invention is concerned is made up of economizer tubes .which line each side of these horizontal and vertically disposed gas passes. The economizer tubes that line each of these walls comprise a group of tubes that are in side by side relation and are connected at their outlet with a header positioned above the steam generator. These tubes extend down from this header, are bent in unison so that they extend back and forth generally throughout the length of the horizontal gas pass so as to form, in effect, horizontally extending superimposed panels that line the inner surface of the side walls of this horizontal gas pass. These tubes also extend downwardly from a location generally at the upper end of the vertical gas pass and thus line the inner wall surface of the side walls of this vertical gas pass. The superimposed tubular panels are supported from above through a suitable support organization which permits the panels to move relative to one another with this being essential since the temperature of these economizer tubes progressively in creases throughout their length so that the panels expand different amounts.

This support arrangement comprises pairs of flexible bars that are connected together at their upper ends, where they are supported from a suitable support rod, and that extend down alongside the outer surface of these panels with each bar of the pair being welded generally to the tubes of alternate and different panels and with the bars being sufiiciently flexible to accommodate, by bending, relative movement between the alternate panels to which they are welded.

With this wall organization an extremely simple construction is provided for lining the side walls of the vertical and horizontal gas passes with economizer tubes with the support for these tubes providing the required diflerential movement while doing away with the requirements of close tolerances and relatively intricate constructions in previously employed supports of this nature.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved tubular wall and support arrangement wherein the tubes increase in temperature throughout their length and wherein the support provides the necessary differential expansion that occurs within the wall.

Other and further objects of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as the description proceeds.

With the aforementioned objects in view, the invention comprises an arrangement, construction and combination of the elements of the inventive organization in such a manner as to attain the results desired as hereinafter more particularly set forth in the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment, said embodiment being shown by the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a view in the nature of a vertical section through a steam generator embodying the present invention;

'FIG. 2 is a more detailed illustration of the tubular wall construction that lines the side wall of the hori invention depicted therein comprises a furnace 10 of a steam generator which has its walls lined with heat exchange tubes 12 and which is fired through suitable burners 14. Combustion gases generated in the furnace pass upwardly therethrough over heat exchange surface 16 and 18, which may be the superheater and reheater, respectively, of the generator, with the gases exiting through the laterally disposed outlet 20 in the rear wall 22 of the furnace. These gases then pass through the horizontally extending gas pass 24 and down through the vertically disposed gas pass 26 with which the horizontal gas pass connects and which extends down alongside the furnace in spaced relation therewith. The combustion gases traverse various heat exchange surface in the horizontal and vertical gas passes, such as superheater surface 28 and economizer 30, as well as the heat exchange surface or tubes that line the inner surface of the walls of these gas passes, with the combustion gases passing from the lower end of vertical gas pass 26 to a suitable point of discharge.

The present invention is concerned with tubular arrangement that lines the inner surface of the side walls of gas pass 24 and gas pass 26 and the support for this tubular arrangement. The tubular arrangement lining one of these side walls will now be explained with it being understood that a similar arrangement is provided for the other side Wall. As embodied, header 32 is provided above the side wall of gas pass 24 at the front end of this gas pass and extending downwardly from this header and a group of tubes in side by side parallel relation. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, these tubes, which are identified as 34, are bent in unison so thatthey extend back and forth generally throughout the length of horizontal gas pass 24 and form the super-imposed tubular panels 36, 38 and 40 (FIG. 2) with panels 36 and 38 being interconnected by internested U bends while panels 38 and 40 are similarly interconnected. The tubes of panel 40 are bent so that they extend vertically downward in spaced side by side relation along the inner surface of the side wall of vertical gas pass 26.

The spacing of the tubes 34 on the sidewall of gas pass 26 is substantially greater than the spacing of the tubes in the panels 36, 38 and 40 with the tubes in these panels being very close together and having a space only suflicient to accommodate the expansion of the tube diameter when they are heated to their operating temperature from normal room temperature. The tubes 34 that extend down along the side walls of vertical gas pass 26 may be suitably 3 a finned so that the fins will occupy the space between adjacent tubes or, if desired, the tubes may be left without fins with the conventional outer casing or wall structure providing a gas tight wall.

Tubes 34 are economizer tubes of the steam generator and these tubes or some of these tubes make up each of the economizer sections 30 with the details of this construction being shown and described in my copending application Serial No. 762,383, filed September 22, 1958, now Patent No. 2,980,083, and forming no part of the present invention wherefore they are not illustrated herein. These tubes 34 are connected to the header 42 which is the inlet header of the economizer With the feed water passing from this header throughthe tubes 34 to the outlet header'32. from which it is conveyed in conventional manner to the steam and water drum or the steam generat ing portion of the steam generator. 1 I

The temperature of the water in the tubes 34 and accordinglythe temperature of the tubes themselves, progressively increases from inlet header 42 to outlet header 32 wherefore the length of the tube runs that make up eachof the panels 36, 38 and 40, increases different amounts as a result of thermal expansion. With the amount of thermal expansion of panels 36, 38 and 40 progressively'increasing, there is ,a requirement that the support for these tubular panels permit them to move horizontally relative to each other a suflicient distance to accommodatet-his differential expansion.

' The panels are supported from above and for this purpose a plurality of pairs of vertically disposed support 1 bars 44 are provided with these pairs of bars being inllorizontally spaced relation at intervals throughout'the length of the panels. Each pair and bars 44 includesa left bar 46. and a right bar 48 as viewed in FIG. '2 and these bars 46 and 48 are interconnected at their upper ends by means of a short filler plate 50 that is interposed between and welded to these bars. This filler plate is bored to receive the lower end of support rod 52 which is connected to the filler plate as by means of a suitable nut threaded onto the end of the support rod. i This support rod is in turn hung from suitable structural members such as channels 54 that form a part of the steel support struc ture of the steam generator. Support bar '46 iswelded to each 'of the tubes of panel 36 and each of the tubes of panel 40 but is not welded to and remains free of the tubes of panel 38. This provides a length of this-support bar 46, identified as 56, that is equal to the width of panel 38 with this length being sufiicient so that the bar can bend the amount required by the difit'erential horizontal movement of panels 36 and 40. Support bar 48 is, on the other hand, welded to each of the tubes of panel 38, is entirely free of panel 40 and is welded to a few of the uppermost tubes of panel 36 with the latter welding being for the ptupose of providing a more rigid structure. Thus support bar 48 is free of the tubes of panel 36 for the distance identified as 58 and is free of all of the tubes of panel 40 or is unattached for the distance identified as'60 which corresponds to the panel width 40. The length or distance identified as 58 is sufficient to accommodate the relative movement between panels 36 and 38 that occurs as a result of differential expansion while the distance or length identified as 60 is sufiicient to accommodate the corresponding relative movement between panels 38 and 40. 'It will be appreciated that the lengths identified as 56, 58 and 6ll may vary so long as they do not become so short that the support bar cannot readily and-easily bend within these lengths to accommodate necessary relative movement of panels and accordingly the bar at the extremity of each of theselengths. Each of the bars 46 and 48 is connected primarily to the tubes of 'diiferent panels with the bars being free of the tubes of a panel adjacent to one to which it is primarily'con nected for atleast a length or distance suflicient to allow' the bar to easily bend to accommodate ,the'diflierential' horizontal movement that is encountered. The several pairs of support bars 44 are connected together at their lower ends by means of transversely extending member 62 for the purpose of providing a more rigid construction.

Each of the support bars 46' and 48 is rectangular in transverse section, as clearly shown in FIGS. 3'and 4,

with the major axis thereof being normal to the plane of the wall so that the bar may readily bend in a horizontal direction as required to accommodate relative movement overlyu'ng or tangent relation with the tubes and a suitable skin casing in the form of flexible sheet metal sections is disposed over the outer surface of the tubular panels intermdiate the support bars with thesesheet metal sec:

tions being identified as 64 and being provided with flexible flanges or lips 66 that are bentoutwardly as shown in FIGS.-3 and 4 and are welded to these support bars thereby forming, in effect, a gas tight structure.

The wall, of course, wil include thermal insulation,

buckstay stifieners, and the other conventional outer wall elements and these will be supported from the support bars. However, since the outer yvall structure is conven tional it does not form partQof the present invention, and accordingly is not illustrated.

It will be thus appreciated that applicant has provided. an improved tubular walla-rrangement for lining the inner surface of the walls of a steam generator and animproved organization for supporting this wall structure and permitting the necessary expansion between portions thereof with the entire arrangement being simple and economical but extremely reliable and satisfactory in operation. I

While I have illustrated and described a preferred em-- bodiment of my invention it is to be understood that such is merely illustrative and not restrictive and that variations and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. I therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth but desire to avail myself of such changes as fall within the purview of my invention. v WhatIclaim is: 1

1. In an organization ofthe type described, an upright elongated furnace forming part of a vapor generator, a passageway extending laterally therefrom for the conveyance of combustion gases from the furnace and a vertically extending passageway in spaced relation with said furnace and connected with the lateral passageway to forman extension thereof, a group of economize-r tubes of the vapor generator extending vertically along each of the side walls of the vertical passageway and at the upper region thereof being bent in unison and internested fashion so that they extend laterally along the corresponding side wall of the lateral passageway with the group of tubes-extending back and forth as a group horizontally along this wall forming panels and effectively covering generally area thereof with the ends of the horizontal runs of the group forming adjacent panels being interconnected by U bends that are internested, and means supporting these tubes lining the side walls of the lateral passageway from above including vertically extending-support bars constructed and arranged to provide for relative horizontal movement between the several superimposed panels said barsbeing disposed solely on the side of the panels remote from the interior of the lateral passageway and means to rigidly secure said bars to various tubes of some of the panels, and

so arranged to permit the tubes of adjacent panels to move horizontally relative to each other.

2. The organization of claim 1 wherein the support for the tubes comprises pairs of closely spaced vertical support bars disposed at horizontal intervals along the wall and.

which are relatively flexible in a horizontal direction, means tieing each pair of bars together at their upper end, a support hanger connected to said means whereby the bars eifectively hang from said hanger, said bars being welded to the horizontal runs in a manner to support the same with the bars having a sufficient length free of the tubes to permit the bars to bend to accommodate differential movement between different panels.

3. A vapor generator comprising in combination an upright furnace, a horizontal passageway for combustion gases extending from the upper end thereof and a vertical passageway extending down from the end of the horizontal passageway in spaced relation with the furnace, a group of tubes in closely spaced side by side relation extending down from a header above said horizontal passageway and being bent in unison so they extend horizontally back and forth along a side wall of the horizontal passageway with the horizontal tube runs of the group forming in effect panels that are vertically superimposed, the lowermost horizontal run of the group extending to the vertical passageway and thereat being bent to extend down along the corresponding wall of this vertical passageway with the tubes being spaced further apart on this wall, and with the lower end of the tubes being connected with a header, said tubes forming part of the economizer of the vapor generator, means supporting the tubes lining the horizontal passageway wall from above, said means comprising vertically extending bars disposed on the side of the panels remote from the passageway interior and horizontally spaced along the wall and having a rectangular transverse section the major axis of which is normal to the wall, each of said bars being connected with horizontal tube runs to support the same, and with relation to adjacent panels each bar being free of a sufiicient number of the tubes of one of the adjacent panels to provide a length of the bar sufficient that it will bend to accommodate the differential movement that is encountered between the tubes of different panels.

4. The organization of claim 3 wherein the bars are disposed in closely spaced pairs with the bars of each pair being spaced longitudinally of the tubes and connected generally to difierent tube runs with the two bars together connected generally to all the tube runs, means joining the 5 bars together at their upper end and a hanger rod connected to this last named means.

5. In an organization of the type described a group of side by side tubes connected between inlet and outlet header means and progressively increasing in temperature from the inlet to the outlet header, said group including a portion where the tubes extend in unison back and forth with each horizontal run of the group forming a panel, with the panels being superimposed in a common vertical plane and interconnected by internested U-bends, means supporting the panels from above in a manner permitting the limited relative horizontal movement therebetween lengthwise of the horizontal runs resulting from differential expansion, said means comprising flexible bars, means to rigidly secure said bars with the horizontal tube runs of at least alternate panels and at most, with the tube runs of adjacent panels at a location from the nearest connection with the alternate panels so that a free length of the bar is had such that will flex to accommodate the necessary diiterential horizontal movement.

6. The organization of claim 5 wherein the bars are disposed in pairs closely spaced horizontally along the panel, with the bars being of rectangular section the major axis of which is normal to the plane of the panel, means interconnecting the bars of each pair at their upper end, and 30 a support bar hung from above connected to this last named means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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