PLATE FOR A PLATE HEAT EXCHANGER

Abstract

The invention relates to a heat exchanger plate (A; B) comprising a central panel (A.sub.0; B.sub.0) with at least four sides (A.sub.1, A.sub.2, A.sub.3, A.sub.4; B.sub.1, B.sub.2, B.sub.3, B.sub.4), said central panel being preferably quadrilateral, or quadrilateral with truncated corners, said plate having: a first side (A.sub.1; B.sub.1) of the central panel which is inclined with respect to said central panel (A.sub.0; B.sub.0) and which forms a first joining panel (J.sub.A; J.sub.B), the opposite side (A.sub.3; B.sub.3) to said first side (A.sub.1; B.sub.1) which is flat.

Claims

1. A heat exchanger plate (A; B) comprising a central panel (A.sub.0; B.sub.0) with at least four sides (A.sub.1, A.sub.2, A.sub.3, A.sub.4; B.sub.1, B.sub.2, B.sub.3, B.sub.4), said central panel being preferably quadrilateral, or quadrilateral with truncated corners, characterized in that: a first side (A.sub.1; B.sub.1) of the central panel is inclined with respect to said central panel (A.sub.0; B.sub.0) and forms a first joining panel (J.sub.A; J.sub.B), the opposite side (A.sub.3; B.sub.3) to said first side (A.sub.1; B.sub.1) is flat.

2. The heat exchanger plate (A; B) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first joining panel (J.sub.A; J.sub.B) comprises a first part, notably a single part, said first part forming an angle (α) with said central panel.

3. The heat exchanger plate (A; B) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first joining panel (J.sub.A; J.sub.B) is made from a first part (A.sub.5; B.sub.5) and from a second part (A.sub.6; B.sub.6) extending from said first part, said first part forming an angle (α) with the central panel (A.sub.0; B.sub.0) and said second part being parallel to the central panel.

4. The heat exchanger plate (A; B) as claimed in claim 2, wherein said angle (α) between the first part (A.sub.5; B.sub.5) of the first joining panel and the central panel (A.sub.0; B.sub.0) is comprised between 10° and 90°, preferably between 20° and 60°, and more preferably between 30° and 50°.

5. The heat exchanger plate (A; B) as claimed in claim 1, wherein: a second side (A.sub.2; B.sub.2) of the central panel (A.sub.0; B.sub.0) is inclined with respect to the central panel, said second side being adjacent to the first side (A.sub.1; B.sub.1) and said second side forms a second joining panel (K.sub.A; K.sub.B) inclined in the opposite direction with respect to the first joining panel (J.sub.A; J.sub.B), the opposite side (A.sub.4; B.sub.4) to said second side (A.sub.2; B.sub.2) is either flat or inclined in such a way as to form a third joining panel, said third joining panel being a mirror image of said second joining panel.

6. The heat exchanger plate (A; B) as claimed in claim 5, wherein said second joining panel (A.sub.7) comprises a first part, notably a single part (A.sub.7; B.sub.7), said first part forming an angle (β) with the central panel.

7. The heat exchanger plate (A; B) as claimed in claim 6, wherein said second joining panel (A.sub.7) is made from a first part (A.sub.7; B.sub.7) and from a second part (A.sub.8; B.sub.8) extending from said first part, said first part forming an angle (β) with the plane of the central panel (A.sub.0; B.sub.0) and said second part being parallel to the central panel.

8. The heat exchanger plate (A; B) as claimed in claim 6, wherein said angle (β) between the first part (A.sub.7; B.sub.7) of the second joining panel and the central panel (A.sub.0; B.sub.0) is comprised between 10° and 120°, preferably between 20° and 110°, and more preferably between 30° and 100°, and is notably 45° or 90°.

9. A pair of heat exchanger plates (A, B) comprising two spaced-apart heat exchanger plates as claimed in claim 1, these being designated first (A) and second (B) heat exchanger plate, of which the central panels (A.sub.0; B.sub.0) are parallel to one another, wherein: the first joining panel (J.sub.A) of said first heat exchanger plate (A) and the first joining panel (J.sub.B) of said second heat exchanger plate (B) are arranged to face one another, the first joining panel (J.sub.A) of said first heat exchanger plate (A) is fixed directly to the central panel (B.sub.0) of said second heat exchanger plate (B) on said flat side (B.sub.3) opposite, the first joining panel (J.sub.B) of said second heat exchanger plate (B) is fixed directly to the central panel (A.sub.0) of said first heat exchanger plate (A) on said flat side (A.sub.3) opposite, the space between said first (A) and second (B) heat exchanger plates forms a first canal to receive a first fluid flow (F.sub.1).

10. A stack of pairs of heat exchanger plates comprising two successive pairs of spaced-apart plates as claimed in claim 1, designated first pair of heat exchanger plates and the second pair of heat exchanger plates, wherein: said first pair and said second pair are arranged parallel to one another, the space between the first and second pairs of heat exchanger plates forms a second canal to receive a second fluid flow, and preferably said second pair is identical to said first pair or said second pair is a mirror image of said first pair.

11. The stack of pairs of heat exchanger plates (A, B) as claimed in claim 1, forming a second canal to receive a second fluid flow, wherein said two successive spaced-apart pairs are connected at the sides by closure means (C; D), said closure means preferably comprising an edge bar, a C-profile or U-profile cover plate, or a flat cover plate of hexagonal or pentagonal shape.

12. The stack of pairs of heat exchanger plates (A, B) as claimed in claim 10, said second pair preferably being identical to said first pair, comprising heat exchanger plates such that a second side (A.sub.2, B.sub.2) of their central panel is inclined with respect to the central panel (A.sub.0, B.sub.0), said second side (A.sub.2, B.sub.2) being adjacent to the first side (A.sub.1, B.sub.1) and said second side forming a second joining panel (K.sub.A; K.sub.B) that is inclined in the opposite direction with respect to the first joining panel (J.sub.A; J.sub.B), and the opposite side (A.sub.4; B.sub.4) to said second side (A.sub.2; B.sub.2) being flat, wherein: the second joining panel of the second heat exchanger plate of the first pair is fixed directly to the central panel of the first heat exchanger plate of the second pair and the second joining panel of the first heat exchanger plate of the second pair is fixed directly to the central panel of the second heat exchanger plate of the first pair, as an option, either closure means connect said two pairs at the side on the side of the second joining panels, or the corner zone at the intersection between the first and the second joining panel is formed in such a way as to mechanically connect said two pairs.

13. The stack of pairs of heat exchanger plates as claimed in claim 1, comprising heat exchanger plates wherein said second joining panel of each plate of the stack comprises a part, notably a single part, said part forming an angle (β) with the central panel, or wherein said second joining panel of each plate of the stack is made up of a first part and of a second part extending from said first part, said first part making an angle (β) with the central panel and said second part being parallel to the central panel.

14. A plate heat exchanger comprising heat exchanger plates and/or pairs of heat exchanger plates or stacks of pairs of heat exchanger plates as claimed in claim 1, said plates or pairs or stack being arranged in a suitable casing.

15. A method for manufacturing a pair of heat exchanger plates as claimed in claim 9, said method comprising the following steps: preparing two central panels, preferably quadrilateral, possibly truncated, comprising a first side and a second side adjacent to the first, for each of said central panels, bending said first side in such a way as to form a first joining panel, said first joining panel comprising a first part, notably a single part, said first part forming an angle (α) with the central panel (A.sub.0; B.sub.0), optionally, for each of said central panels, bending said second side in such a way as to form a second joining panel, said second joining panel comprising a first part, notably a single part, said first part forming an angle β with the central panel, arranging the two heat exchanger plates in such a way that their first joining panels face one another and that their central plates are parallel to one another, joining the two heat exchanger plates in such a way as to form a pair of plates, the space between the two plates forming a first fluid canal, mechanically fastening the two plates along their first joining panels.

16. A method for manufacturing a stack of pairs of heat exchanger plates as claimed in claim 10, said method comprising the following steps: preparing at least four central panels, preferably quadrilateral, possibly truncated, comprising a first side and a second side adjacent to the first, for each of said central panels, bending said first side of the central panel in such a way as to form a first joining panel, said first joining panel comprising a first part, notably a single part, said first part forming an angle with the central panel, optionally, for each of said central panels, bending said second side in such a way as to form a second joining panel, said second joining panel comprising a first part, notably a single part, said first part forming an angle β with the central panel, arranging the two heat exchanger plates in pairs in such a way that their first joining panels face one another and that their central plates are parallel to one another, joining the heat exchanger plates in such a way as to form at least two pairs of plates, the space between the two plates forming a first fluid canal, mechanically fastening the two plates of each pair along their first joining panels, stacking the at least two pairs of plates, the space between the pairs of heat exchanger plates forming a second fluid canal, optionally, mechanically fastening the two pairs of plates along their second joining panels.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0104] Further features and advantages will become apparent from reading the following description provided purely by way of nonlimiting illustration, which is to be read with reference to the attached figures, in which:

[0105] FIG. 1a depicts two identical heat exchanger plates A and B according to the “single joining panel” variant, in which the heat exchanger plates have no second joining panel, and FIG. 1b depicts the corresponding pair of plates according to the invention when said plates A and B have been assembled.

[0106] FIGS. 2a and 2b depict two plates A and B according to the “two joining panels” variant, in which said plates have a first and a second joining panel, according to two different embodiments.

[0107] FIG. 3a depicts a stack of two pairs of heat exchanger plates according to a first embodiment, and, in FIG. 3b, according to a second embodiment of the invention.

[0108] FIGS. 4a and 4b depict an exploded view of a stack of pairs of heat exchanger plates similar to those of FIGS. 3a and 3b, but also illustrating cover plates and spacer bars.

[0109] FIG. 5 depicts a stack of two pairs of heat exchanger plates according to one embodiment of the invention, in the “two joining panels” variant.

[0110] The sake of clarity, the figures do not necessarily depict the plates in the spatial position in which they can be assembled or used.

[0111] The reference symbols used in the figures are given hereinbelow with reference to the components to which they refer:

A—Heat exchanger plate A
B—Heat exchanger plate B
A.sub.0—Central panel of plate A
B.sub.0—Central panel of plate B
A.sub.1, A.sub.2, A.sub.3, A.sub.4—sides of central panel A.sub.0
B.sub.1, B.sub.2, B.sub.3, B.sub.4—sides of central panel B.sub.0
J.sub.A—first joining panel of central panel A.sub.0
J.sub.B—first joining panel of central panel B.sub.0
A.sub.5—first part of first joining panel J.sub.A
A.sub.6—second part of first joining panel J.sub.A
B.sub.5—first part of first joining panel J.sub.B of central panel B.sub.0
B.sub.6—second part of first joining panel J.sub.B
K.sub.A—second joining panel of central panel A.sub.0
K.sub.B—second joining panel of central panel B
A.sub.7—first part of second joining panel K.sub.A
A.sub.8—second part of second joining panel K.sub.A
B.sub.7—first part of second joining panel K.sub.B
B.sub.8—second part of second joining panel K.sub.B
A.sub.9—corner zone at the intersection between the first and the second joining panel J.sub.A and K.sub.A
B.sub.9—corner zone at the intersection between the first and the second joining panel J.sub.B and K.sub.B.

[0112] The references of the components depicted remain the same from one figure to another.

[0113] FIG. 1a depicts two identical heat exchanger plates A and B according to the “single joining panel” variant, in which the heat exchanger plates have no second joining panel. The central panel A.sub.0 is rectangular and has 4 sides numbered, in the clockwise direction, A.sub.1, A.sub.2, A.sub.3 and A.sub.4. For the sake of conciseness, all the parts of the plate B are numbered in the same way.

[0114] A first side A.sub.1 of the central panel is inclined with respect to the central panel and forms a first joining panel J.sub.A. The side A.sub.3 of the central panel situated opposite to the first joining panel J.sub.A is a flat edge. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1a, the first joining panel J.sub.A is formed of two parts, a first part A.sub.5 forming an angle α with the central panel and a second part A.sub.6 which is parallel to the central panel plate. The first joining panel J.sub.A is connected by the fold line to the central panel, but could also have been supplied as a second component and have been fixed to the central panel. The first, two-part, joining panel is preferably formed in a single pass, by deformation. The first joining panel J.sub.A is oriented downward at an angle of approximately 45° with respect to the plane of the central panel A.sub.0.

[0115] The heat exchanger plate B is identical to A and is positioned symmetrically with respect to A with respect to the point situated at the center of the space between plate A and plate B. That means that plate B has been set down after having been turned over and turned through 180°, the first joining panels of plates A and B facing one another.

[0116] FIG. 1b illustrates a schematic perspective view of the way in which the two plates A and B of FIG. 1a are assembled and mechanically connected to form a pair of heat exchanger plates according to one embodiment of the invention.

[0117] The two plates of FIG. 1a have been superposed so that they can be mechanically connected. The “lower face” of plate A faces the “lower face” of plate B. The first joining panel J.sub.A of plate A faces the first joining panel J.sub.B of plate B. The second part A.sub.6 of the first joining panel J.sub.A of plate A is welded to the flat side B.sub.3 of the central panel of heat exchanger plate B. Similarly, the second part B.sub.6 of the first joining panel J.sub.B of plate B is welded to the flat side A.sub.3 of the central panel of heat exchanger plate A.

[0118] The canal formed between plate A and plate B constitutes the first canal of the heat exchanger made up of the plates according to the invention, in which a first fluid F.sub.1 can flow. The first canal has a flow cross section that is trapezoidal, and said cross section is the same along the entire length of the canal.

[0119] FIGS. 2a and 2b depict a perspective view of two plates A and B according to the “two joining panels” variant, in which the heat exchanger plates have a second joining panel, according to two different embodiments.

[0120] FIG. 2a depicts two heat exchanger plates A and B in a first embodiment of the “two joining panels” variant. The plates A and B are substantially identical with a second side of their central panel A.sub.0 or B.sub.0, respectively, which is inclined with respect to the central panel, on a side, A.sub.2 or B.sub.2, respectively, adjacent to the first joining panel, and which forms a second joining panel K.sub.A and K.sub.B, respectively. Nevertheless, it will be noted that the second joining panels K.sub.A and K.sub.B of the plates A and B are situated on opposite adjacent sides, with respect to the first respective joining panels J.sub.A and J.sub.B. Thus, plate B is a symmetrical image of plate A about a central line of symmetry with respect to the point situated at the center of the space delimited by the plates A and B, which means that they can easily be combined in pairs. The second joining panels K.sub.A and K.sub.B are made of a single part A.sub.7 or B.sub.7 which makes an angle of 90° with the central panel (perpendicular to the plane of the central panel). The second joining panels are preferably formed in a single pass, by deformation. The deformation may be obtained by press-forming and/or by bending. Furthermore, the heat exchanger plates A and B are equipped with dimples 1 which may be positioned differently on plate A and on plate B.

[0121] FIG. 2b depicts two heat exchanger plates A and B in a second embodiment of the “two joining panels” variant. Plates B and A are chiefly similar to plates A and B of FIG. 2a but the second joining panels K.sub.A and K.sub.B are made in two parts, the first part A.sub.7 and B.sub.7, respectively, and the second part A.sub.8 and B.sub.8, respectively. The first part A.sub.7 or B.sub.7 is connected by a bend line to the central panel along the edge A.sub.2 or B.sub.2, respectively, and forms an angle of approximately 45° with the central panel. The second part A.sub.8 or B.sub.8 is parallel to the plane of the central panel. Another difference compared with FIG. 2a is that the corner zones A.sub.9 and B.sub.9 at the level of the intersection between the first and second joining panels J.sub.A and K.sub.A, J.sub.B and K.sub.B, respectively, have not been cut off. Rather, said corner zones A.sub.9 and B.sub.9 have been formed in such a way that there is no need to use cover plates when the two plates are assembled in pairs.

[0122] FIGS. 3a and 3b depict a stack of two pairs of heat exchanger plates according to a first embodiment, and a second embodiment of the invention.

[0123] FIG. 3a depicts a first embodiment of a stack of two spaced-apart pairs of heat exchanger plates, each pair being similar to the pair of plates A and B which is depicted in FIG. 1b. In this embodiment, two identical pairs of two plates have been superposed. The canal formed between the first and the second pair constitutes the second canal of the heat exchanger, which is able to receive a second flow of fluid F.sub.2. The cross section of the second canal is not constant over the length of the canal. Specifically, the second fluid F.sub.2 first of all enters a rectangular volume, then a trapezoidal volume, and then another rectangular volume. On leaving the canal, the situation is reversed: the second fluid enters a trapezoidal volume, then a rectangular volume.

[0124] FIG. 3b depicts another embodiment of the stack of two spaced-apart pairs of heat exchanger plates, each pair being similar to the pair of plates that is depicted in FIG. 1b, but one of the two pairs has been turned over in order to obtain a second pair which is a mirror image of the first pair. The canal formed between the first and the second pair constitutes the second canal of the heat exchanger, which is able to receive a second flow of fluid. The cross section of the canal is not constant and differs from the cross section of the canal formed in FIG. 3a. The heat exchanger plates are equipped with dimples 1, but could as an alternative also use, for example, U-profiles or strips.

[0125] FIGS. 4a and 4b depict an exploded view of assemblies similar to those of FIGS. 3a and 3b, illustrating cover plates and spacer bars. All of the heat exchange plates are equipped with double dimples 2.

[0126] FIG. 4a illustrates the two cover plates C which are used for mechanically connecting the two successive pairs of plates, arranged in a similar way to the pairs depicted in FIG. 3a. The cover plates C are octagons having the same cross-sectional shape as the second canal. The cover plates C may be welded to the plate B and to the plate A or may be attached using any mechanical means. Lateral spacer bars G are produced in the first canal formed between the plates A and B. The spacer bars could also have been employed in the second canal.

[0127] FIG. 4b illustrates the two cover plates D which are used for mechanically connecting the two successive pairs of plates, arranged in a similar way to the pairs depicted in FIG. 3b. The cover plates D are octagons having the same cross-sectional shape as the second canal. The cover plates D may be welded to the plate A and B or may be attached using any mechanical means. Spacer bars G are employed in the first canal formed between the plates A and B.

[0128] FIG. 5 depicts a stack of two pairs of heat exchanger plates according to the invention, in the “two joining panels” variant. Each pair is made up of a plate A and a plate B which are similar to the plates depicted in FIG. 2a. The plates A and B have been assembled and mechanically connected via their first joining panel. Between plate A and plate B there is formed a first canal capable of receiving a first fluid F.sub.1. Spacer bars G are employed in the first canal. Two identical spaced-apart pairs of plates are superposed and mechanically connected by their second joining panels. The canal formed between the first and the second pair constitutes the second canal of the heat exchanger, which is able to receive a second flow of fluid F.sub.2. The cross section of the second canal is not constant over the length of the canal. The closure means on each side of the second canal have not been depicted.