PLATE-TYPE HEAT EXCHANGER HAVING BRACKET-REINFORCING STRUCTURE

Abstract

The present invention relates to a plate-type heat exchanger having a bracket- reinforcing structure. An object of the present invention is to provide a plate-type heat exchanger having a bracket-reinforcing structure that has a reinforcing plate attached to prevent exposure of the plate-type heat exchanger in a region in which a bracket plate of an assembly of the plate-type heat exchanger and the bracket plate is connected to an external device, thereby suppressing the corrosion of the plate-type heat exchanger and improving the durability of the plate-type heat exchanger.

Claims

1. A plate-type heat exchanger comprising: a plurality of stacked main plates each comprising a center flat plate having a fluid flowing structure including a through hole formed in the center flat plate, and a lateral blade formed by bending an edge of the center flat plate in one direction; and a reinforcing plate interposed between a bracket plate fixed to an external device and the main plate connected to the bracket plate.

2. The plate-type heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein the reinforcing plate and the bracket plate are at least partially in surface contact with each other.

3. The plate-type heat exchanger of claim 2, wherein the reinforcing plate and the main plate are at least partially in surface contact with each other.

4. The plate-type heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein in the plate-type heat exchanger, a flow path, through which a fluid flows, is formed between the main plates, and wherein a distance from an outermost peripheral flow path closest to the bracket plate to the bracket plate is larger than a thickness of the main plate.

5. The plate-type heat exchanger of claim 4, wherein in the plate-type heat exchanger, the distance from the outermost peripheral flow path to the bracket plate is equal to or larger than 2 times the thickness of the main plate.

6. The plate-type heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein in the plate-type heat exchanger, a thickness of the reinforcing plate and a thickness of the main plate are different from each other.

7. The plate-type heat exchanger of claim 6, wherein in the plate-type heat exchanger, the thickness of the reinforcing plate is larger than the thickness of the main plate.

8. The plate-type heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein in the plate-type heat exchanger, the reinforcing plate is formed separately from the main plate.

9. The plate-type heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein in the plate-type heat exchanger, the reinforcing plate is integrated with the main plate.

10. The plate-type heat exchanger of claim 9, wherein in the plate-type heat exchanger, the reinforcing plate is formed by increasing a thickness of the main plate.

11. The plate-type heat exchanger of claim 2, wherein the reinforcing plate is in surface contact with the entire center flat plate of the main plate and is in surface contact with at least a part of the lateral blade.

12. The plate-type heat exchanger of claim 11, wherein when some of the lateral blades of the main plates overlap one another to define a multilayer and the remaining lateral blades of some of the main plates, which do not overlap one another, define a single layer as a heat exchanger core is formed by stacking the plurality of main plates so that the plurality of main plates overlaps one another, the reinforcing plate is in surface contact with the lateral blade in a region including a single-layer forming region of the lateral blade in which the single layer is formed.

13. The plate-type heat exchanger of claim 12, wherein the bracket plate comprises: a fixing plate portion comprising a plate surface portion provided to be in surface contact with one surface of the heat exchanger core, and a peripheral portion bent from an edge of the plate surface portion and configured to surround a part of a periphery of the heat exchanger core; and a connection plate portion integrated with the fixing plate portion and bent in a direction different from that of the peripheral portion in a region except for a region in which the peripheral portion is formed, the connection plate portion being connected to the external device, and wherein the reinforcing plate is in surface contact with at least a part of the lateral blade in a region in which the connection plate portion is formed.

14. The plate-type heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein the reinforcing plate is formed in a shape of the main plate excluding the fluid flowing structure.

15. The plate-type heat exchanger of claim 14, wherein the reinforcing plate is formed to have a thickness corresponding to the main plate.

16. The plate-type heat exchanger of claim 14, wherein the reinforcing plate is made of the same type of metallic material as the main plate.

17. The plate-type heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein in the plate-type heat exchanger, corrosion potential of the main plate is equal to or higher than corrosion potential of the reinforcing plate.

18. The plate-type heat exchanger of claim 17, wherein in the plate-type heat exchanger, the corrosion potential of the reinforcing plate is equal to or higher than corrosion potential of the bracket plate.

19. The plate-type heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein in the plate-type heat exchanger, all the main plate, the reinforcing plate, and the bracket plate are made of the same type of metallic material.

20. The plate-type heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein in the plate-type heat exchanger, all the main plate, the reinforcing plate, and the bracket plate are joined by brazing.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a plate-type heat exchanger in the related art.

[0028] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an assembly of a plate-type heat exchanger and a bracket plate of the present invention.

[0029] FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the assembly of the plate-type heat exchanger and the bracket plate of the present invention.

[0030] FIG. 4 is a photograph illustrating a corroded state of an actual plate-type heat exchanger.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0031] 10: Plate-type heat exchanger [0032] 15: Main plate [0033] 11: Center flat plate [0034] 12: Lateral blade [0035] 20: Reinforcing plate [0036] 100: Bracket plate [0037] 110: Fixing plate portion [0038] 120: Connection plate portion [0039] 111: Plate surface portion [0040] 112: Peripheral portion [0041] 200: Receiver dryer [0042] 250: Connector

MODE FOR INVENTION

[0043] Hereinafter, a plate-type heat exchanger having a bracket-reinforcing structure according to the present invention configured as described above will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0044] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an assembly of a plate-type heat exchanger and a bracket plate of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the assembly of the plate-type heat exchanger and the bracket plate of the present invention.

[0045] Similar to a heat exchanger core of a general plate-type heat exchanger, a heat exchanger core 10 of a plate-type heat exchanger of the present invention is basically formed by stacking a plurality of main plates 15. The main plate 15 includes a center flat plate 11 having a fluid-flowing structure including a through hole formed in the center flat plate, and a lateral blade 12 formed by bending an edge of the center flat plate 11 in one direction. In this case, the fluid-flowing structure provided on the center flat plate 11 includes a through hole configured to allow a particular fluid to move to another layer, a peripheral wall formed around the through hole and configured to prevent the particular fluid from entering one layer, a partition wall configured to guide a flow direction of the fluid, and a bead configured to generate a turbulent flow in the flow. In addition, the configuration in which the fluid flowing structure is formed means that a flow path, through which a fluid flows, is naturally formed between the main plates 15. Meanwhile, to smoothly stack the plurality of main plates 15, the lateral blade 12 is bent while having a slight inclination angle in a shape that is spread outward without being bent perpendicularly to the center flat plate 11. The center flat plate 11 generally has an approximately rectangular shape. The lateral blade 12 is formed by bending an edge of the rectangular plate upward at a slight inclination angle, such that the main plate 15 is formed in an approximately quadrangular dish shape. With this shape, the center flat plates 11 of the main plates 15 are spaced apart from one another to some extent without being in contact with one another when the plurality of main plates 15 is stacked, and the separation space defines the flow path through which the fluid flows between the main plates.

[0046] As described above, the plate-type heat exchanger is fixed to an external device by a bracket plate 100 connected to one surface of the heat exchanger core 10 while being in surface contact with one surface of the heat exchanger core 10. In this case, the plate-type heat exchanger includes a reinforcing plate 20 interposed between the bracket plate 100 and the main plate 15 of the bracket plate 100 and disposed to be in surface contact with the main plates 15. In this case, all the main plate 15, the reinforcing plate 20, and the bracket plate 100 may be joined by brazing.

[0047] As described above, the reinforcing plate 20 is basically interposed between the bracket plate 100 and the main plate 15, and the reinforcing plate 20 is at least partially in surface contact with the bracket plate 100 and the main plate 15. That is, the reinforcing plate 20 may be at least partially in surface contact with the bracket plate 100. In addition, the reinforcing plate 20 may be at least partially in surface contact with the main plate 15.

[0048] In a specific embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the reinforcing plate 20 is disposed to be in surface contact with the entire center flat plate 11 of the main plate 15 and disposed to be in surface contact with at least a part of the lateral blade 12. More specifically, when some of the lateral blades 12 of the main plates 15 overlap one another to define a multilayer and the remaining lateral blades 12 of some of the main plates 15, which do not overlap one another, define a single layer as the heat exchanger core 10 is formed by stacking the plurality of main plates 15, the reinforcing plate 20 is in surface contact with the lateral blade 12 in a region including a single-layer forming region of the lateral blade 12 in which the single layer is formed.

[0049] The configuration of the bracket plate 100 will be more specifically described below to clearly explain the arrangement position of the reinforcing plate 20. The bracket plate 100 includes a fixing plate portion 110 and a connection plate portion 120. The fixing plate portion 110 is formed in a shape almost corresponding to the main plate 15. That is, the fixing plate portion 110 includes a plate surface portion 111 being in surface contact with one surface of the heat exchanger core 10, and a peripheral portion 112 bent from an edge of the plate surface portion 111 and configured to surround a part of a periphery of the heat exchanger core 10. The connection plate portion 120 is integrated with the fixing plate portion 110. The connection plate portion 120 is bent in a direction different from a direction of the peripheral portion 112 in a region except for a region in which the peripheral portion 112 is formed. Further, the connection plate portion 120 is connected to the external device. That is, based on FIG. 2, a left side of the heat exchanger core 10 is fixed to the external device by brackets BRKT connected directly to the heat exchanger core 10, and a right side of the heat exchanger core 10 is coupled to the fixing plate portion 110 of the bracket plate 100, such that the connection plate portion 120 of the bracket plate 100 is connected and fixed to the external device. In the example in FIG. 2, the external device connected to the bracket plate 100 is a receiver dryer 200. As illustrated, the heat exchanger core 10 is connected to the receiver dryer 200 by connectors 250 so that a refrigerant may flow between the heat exchanger core 10 and the receiver dryer 200. That is, in the example in FIG. 2, the heat exchanger core 10 operates as a coolant-cooled condenser.

[0050] In the above-mentioned structure, the top drawing in FIG. 3 shows a cross-section taken along line A-A in FIG. 2, and the bottom drawing in FIG. 3 shows a cross-section taken along line B-B in FIG. 2. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the fixing plate portion 110 includes the plate surface portion 111 being in surface contact with one surface of the heat exchanger core 10, and the peripheral portion 112 bent from the edge of the plate surface portion 111 and configured to surround a part of the periphery of the heat exchanger core 10. In this case, because all the constituent elements of the bracket plate 100 are integrated, the peripheral portion 112 is not formed in the region in which the connection plate portion 120 is formed. That is, the cross-sectional view taken along line A-A is a cross-sectional view of the region in which the peripheral portion 112 is present. The cross-sectional view taken along line B-B is a cross-sectional view of the region in which the connection plate portion 120 is present instead of the peripheral portion 112.

[0051] As described above, the heat exchanger core 10 is a stack of the main plates each having a shape such as a quadrangular dish shape. Therefore, the lateral surfaces of the main plates are formed as a multilayer when the main plates are stacked, and some of the lateral blades 12 overlap one another. In this case, as illustrated in the cross-sectional view taken along line A-A, the peripheral portion 112 and the lateral surface of the heat exchanger core 10, which is the portion formed as a multilayer, are coupled by being in contact with each other in the region in which the peripheral portion 112 is present. As described above, the structure made by stacking and coupling the plurality of plates is formed in the region in which the peripheral portion 112 is present, thereby obtaining an additional effect of improving the corrosion performance and durability.

[0052] In the related art, the remaining lateral blades 12 of some of the main plates 15 (i.e., the main plates 15 disposed at the outermost side), which do not overlap one another, are formed as a single layer. Further, in a cross-sectional portion taken along line B-B, i.e., the region in which the connection plate portion 120 is formed, the bracket plate 100 cannot surround the heat exchanger core 10, and the heat exchanger core 10 is exposed to the outside without change. In addition, the heat exchanger core 10 has only the single layer in the portion where the bracket plate 100 and the heat exchanger core 10 are coupled. For this reason, there is a problem in which the degradation of corrosion performance and durability of the coupled portion caused by the exposure complexly accelerates corrosion, which increases a risk of leakage of the heat exchange medium.

[0053] However, in the present invention, the heat exchanger core 10 is interposed between the bracket plate 100 and the main plate 15 connected to the bracket plate 100 and includes the reinforcing plate 20 disposed to be in surface contact with the main plate 15, thereby solving the above-mentioned problem. More specifically, as illustrated in the cross-section taken along line B-B in the bottom drawing of FIG. 3, the reinforcing plate 20 is formed to be in surface contact with the lateral blade 12 in the region including the single-layer forming region of the lateral blade 12 in which the single layer is formed. More specifically, the reinforcing plate 20 is disposed to be in surface contact with at least a part of the lateral blade 12 in the region in which the connection plate portion 120 is formed.

[0054] In the related art, a part of the periphery of the heat exchanger core 10 is exposed to the outside without change in the region in which the connection plate portion 120 is formed. However, in the present invention, the reinforcing plate 20 may be provided, and the reinforcing plate 20 may effectively prevent the exposure of the main plate 15 disposed at an outermost side of one surface of the heat exchanger core 10 in the region in which the connection plate portion 120 is formed. With reference to the cross-section taken along line B-B of FIG. 3, it can be ascertained that because the reinforcing plate 20 is provided, there is no portion where the main plate 15 is exposed and no portion where the heat exchanger core 10 is configured as a single layer in the entire portion where the heat exchanger core 10 and the bracket plate 100 are coupled.

[0055] The reinforcing plate 20 will be described below in more detail.

[0056] The reinforcing plate 20 may have any shape as long as the reinforcing plate 20 may completely surround one surface of the heat exchanger core 10 as described above. The reinforcing plate 20 may be formed in a shape of the main plate 15 excluding the fluid flowing structure as a shape that may be most easily considered. Meanwhile, in case that the reinforcing plate 20 is too thick, the reinforcing plate 20 may be hardly formed in a desired shape. In case that the reinforcing plate 20 is too thin, it is difficult to obtain a sufficient reinforcement effect. In consideration of these situations, the reinforcing plate 20 may be formed to have a thickness corresponding to the main plate 15, i.e., a thickness similar to a thickness of the main plate 15.

[0057] The thickness of the reinforcing plate 20 will be described below in more detail. The configuration has been described above in which the flow path through which the fluid flows is formed between the main plates 15. In this case, it is assumed that a distance from an outermost peripheral flow path closest to the bracket plate 100 to the bracket plate 100 is d1, a thickness of the main plate 15 is t1, and a thickness of the reinforcing plate 20 is t2. In this case, the distance d1 from the outermost peripheral flow path closest to the bracket plate 100 to the bracket plate 100 may be larger than the thickness t1 of the main plate 15. Particularly, the distance d1 from the outermost peripheral flow path to the bracket plate 100 is equal to or larger than 2 times the thickness t1 of the main plate 15.

[0058] In the embodiment in FIG. 3, the reinforcing plate 20 is formed separately from the main plate 15. In this case, the distance d1 from the outermost peripheral flow path to the bracket plate 100 eventually becomes a value made by summing up the thickness t1 of the main plate 15 and the thickness t2 of the reinforcing plate 20. From this point of view, the above-mentioned description may mean that the appropriate d1 may be ensured as the thickness t2 of the reinforcing plate 20 is not 0. That is, the above-mentioned description means that the reinforcing plate 20 may be similar to or somewhat thicker than the main plate 10. More specifically, the thickness t2 of the reinforcing plate 20 may be different from the thickness t1 of the main plate 15. The thickness t2 of the reinforcing plate 20 may be larger than the thickness t1 of the main plate 15.

[0059] Meanwhile, as described below in more detail, the reinforcing plate 20 may be made of the same type of metallic material as the main plate 15 in consideration of corrosion potential. In this case, although not illustrated in the drawings, in case that the reinforcing plate 20 is made of the same type of metallic material as the main plate 15, the main plate 15 at the outermost periphery may be easily manufactured to be thick in comparison with a case in which the reinforcing plate 20 and the main plate 15 are manufactured as separate components. In other words, the reinforcing plate 20 may be integrated with the main plate 15. In this case, the reinforcing plate 20 is formed by increasing the thickness of the main plate 15.

[0060] Hereinafter, the corrosion potential will be described below. The corrosion potential refers to the electric potential related to a combination electrode (saturated calomel electrode, silver chloride electrode, etc.) of metal that is being corroded. When corrosion occurs in an electrolyte, current flows through the metal and polarization occurs due to the formation of a corrosion cell. As the current increases, the potential at the cathode decreases, the potential at the anode increases, and eventually the potentials at the anode become equal. In this case, the potential is referred to as the corrosion potential, and the corrosion potential in the natural state is referred to as the natural corrosion potential. The dimensions of the corrosion potential cannot be measured directly from the potential difference between the metal and the electrolyte solution. Therefore, it is common to use a combination electrode with the constant electrode potential to measure the potential difference between the potential of the metal and the potential of the combination electrode.

[0061] In consideration of these situations, it is preferred to consider the corrosion potential in the corresponding part to improve the corrosion performance. The higher the corrosion potential, the less corrosion will occur. It is preferable for the main plate 15 to have the highest corrosion potential, considering that the reason for considering corrosion in the heat exchanger is to prevent fluid leakage. Furthermore, even though the main plate 15 is corroded, fluid leakage can be effectively prevented if the reinforcing plate 20 remains intact. Therefore, the corrosion potential of the reinforcing plate 20 is preferably lower than the corrosion potential of the main plate 15 but higher than the corrosion potential of the bracket plate 100.

[0062] In other words, it is preferred that the corrosion potential of the main plate 15 is basically formed to be equal to or higher than the corrosion potential of the reinforcing plate 20. Additionally, the corrosion potential of the reinforcing plate 20 may be formed to be equal to or higher than the corrosion potential of the bracket plate.

[0063] In other words, collectively, the relationship between the corrosion potentials of the bracket plate 100, the reinforcing plate 20, and the main plate 15 is most preferably formed as shown in the expression below.

[0064] Corrosion potential of bracket plate<Corrosion potential of reinforcing plate<Corrosion potential of main plate

[0065] Of course, this is an idealized view. In case that a material is used that allows a corrosion potential difference to form between parts, which may cause problems with productivity and manufacturability, such as an increase in manufacturing costs. In addition, there are other factors such as stiffness and moldability that need to be considered in addition to corrosion performance. Therefore, using different materials for different parts only based on corrosion performance may have an adverse effect on overall performance. In addition, in the case of assemblies with assembled multiple components as an alternative to corrosion potential design, in case that only one particular component corrodes, the vulnerable area will be concentrated. In contrast, in case that corrosion is uniformly distributed between the components constituting the assembly, the vulnerable areas may be distributed and the degree of vulnerability of each part may be reduced. In consideration of the above-mentioned situations, the relationship between the corrosion potentials of the bracket plate 100, the reinforcing plate 20, and the main plate 15 is most preferably formed as shown in the equation below. In this case, all the main plate 15, the reinforcing plate 20, and the bracket plate 100 may be made of the same type of metallic material.

[0066] Corrosion potential of bracket plate=Corrosion potential of reinforcing plate=Corrosion potential of main plate

TABLE-US-00001 Corrosion Corrosion Strength Thickness potential evaluation result (Rm, Component (mm) Material (mV) (CASS) MPa) Main plate 0.457 HF342 690 130-160 Bracket Prior 1.2 HF355 660 Corrosion occurs 140-170 plate art on main plate due to low corrosion potential difference of main plate .fwdarw. Refrigerant leakage Present HF342 690 Suppressing 130-170 invention corrosion on main plate by adding reinforcing plate and differential corrosion potentials

[0067] FIG. 4 is a photograph showing a corroded state of an actual plate-type heat exchanger. FIG. 4 is a photograph of a plate-type heat exchanger in the prior art, i.e., a plate-type heat exchanger having no reinforcing plate of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, in the prior art, corrosion does not significantly occur on the lateral blade 12, i.e., the portion where the main plate 15 is configured as a multilayer. However, because no reinforcing plate is provided, corrosion occurs on the center flat plate 11, i.e., the portion where the main plate 15 is configured as a single layer, and leakage occurs. However, in the case of the plate-type heat exchanger of the present invention having the reinforcing plate and the improved design that appropriately determines the corrosion potential difference between the main plate, the reinforcing plate, and the bracket plate, the corrosion inhibition effect is assuredly exhibited, as shown in the table above.

[0068] The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and the scope of application is diverse. Of course, various modifications and implementations made by any person skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from the subject matter of the present invention claimed in the claims.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

[0069] According to the present invention, the corrosion performance of the plate-type heat exchanger is improved by the simple improvement structure, which has a great effect on improving the durability. There is also the effect of smooth compatibility with existing products because of the simple improvement structure.