Conducting Device For Controlling The Flow Of Liquid When Feeding In Two-Phase Streams In Block-In-Shell Heat Exchangers

Abstract

A heat exchanger having a casing defining an encased area and at least one plate heat exchanger arranged in the encased area for indirectly exchanging heat between a first medium and a second medium. The plate heat exchanger can be surrounded by a liquid phase of the first medium. A distribution device or distributor channel is arranged above the plate heat exchanger to introduce the first medium to the encased area. The distribution device has at least one outlet opening oriented downwards through which the liquid first medium is introduced to the encased area. A conducting device is arranged below the distribution device and conducts the liquid first medium exiting the at least one outlet opening.

Claims

1. A heat exchanger for indirectly exchanging heat between a first medium and a second medium, comprising: a shell, which surrounds a shell space for receiving the first medium, and at least one plate heat exchanger, for indirectly exchanging heat between the two media, the at least one plate heat exchanger being arranged in the shell space such that it can be surrounded with a liquid phase of the first medium that is located in the shell space, and a distributing device, in particular in the form of a distributor channel, which is in flow connection with an inlet on the shell, and which is arranged above the plate heat exchanger in the shell space for introducing the first medium into the shell space, the distributing device having at least one, in particular downwardly directed, outlet opening, through which a liquid phase of the first medium can leave into the shell space, and the heat exchanger having a conducting device, which is arranged under the distributing device and is designed for conducting the liquid phase of the first medium that is leaving the at least one outlet opening, characterized in that the at least one plate heat exchanger has an upper side, the conducting device being designed to conduct the liquid phase of the first medium away from the upper side and/or past the upper side.

2. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the conducting device is designed to conduct at least part of the liquid phase that has left the at least one outlet opening in a first spatial direction into a second spatial direction.

3. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the second spatial direction differs from the first spatial direction, in particular the second spatial direction having a greater horizontal component than the first spatial direction, and in particular the first spatial direction running along the vertical from the top downward.

4. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the at least one plate heat exchanger has first heat exchanging passages for receiving the first medium and second heat exchanging passages for receiving the second medium, so that heat is exchangeable indirectly between the two media, and in particular the first heat exchanging passages being in flow connection with the shell space by way of outlet openings on the upper side of the at least one plate heat exchanger, so that the first medium can leave through the outlet openings into the shell space.

5. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the conducting device is designed to conduct the liquid phase of the first medium such that the liquid phase does not impinge on the upper side.

6. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the conducting device has at least one plate-shaped conducting element, in particular in the form of a baffle.

7. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the at least one conducting element has a curvature.

8. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the at least one conducting element has a convexly curved first side, which is facing the plate heat exchanger, and also a second side, which is facing away from the first side, is concavely curved and is facing away from the plate heat exchanger and/or facing the distributor channel.

9. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that the at least one conducting element is arranged such that the liquid phase of the first medium that is leaving the distributor channel through the at least one outlet opening impinges on the second side and is guided along the latter away from the upper side and/or past this upper side.

10. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that that the conducting device and/or the conducting element extends over the entire distributor channel along the distributor channel or just over a portion of the distributor channel.

11. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the at least one conducting element has a plurality of through-openings for the first medium.

12. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the shell space is designed to receive the first medium such that a liquid phase of the first medium forms a bath surrounding the at least one plate heat exchanger with a filling height, the heat exchanger also having a separating unit forming a receiving space, for separating the gaseous phase from the liquid phase of the first medium in the shell space, the separating unit having at least one upwardly directed receiving opening for introducing into the receiving space first medium falling down from the distributor channel, and the upwardly directed receiving opening being arranged above the filling height or at the filling height, so that the gaseous phase of the first medium that is received in the receiving space can escape via the receiving opening into the shell space.

13. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 12, characterized in that the separating unit has a first side wall, facing the shell space.

14. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 13, characterized in that the first side wall has at least one distributing opening, the at least one distributing opening being arranged at least partially under the filling height, so that the liquid phase of the first medium can be introduced by way of the at least one distributing opening into the bath surrounding the plate heat exchanger, or in that the first side wall is formed as an overflow wall.

Description

[0046] Further features and advantages of the invention are to be explained in the following description of figures of exemplary embodiments of the invention on the basis of the figures, in which:

[0047] FIG. 1 shows a partially sectioned view of a heat exchanger according to the invention;

[0048] FIG. 2 shows a view of the heat exchanger along the line A-A of FIG. 1;

[0049] FIG. 3 shows a detail of FIG. 2; and

[0050] FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a plate heat exchanger of a heat exchanger according to the invention.

[0051] FIG. 1 shows in conjunction with FIG. 4 a block-in-shell heat exchanger 1 according to the invention. The heat exchanger 1 has a shell 2, which extends along a longitudinal axis or cylinder axis, which in the case of a heat exchanger 1 arranged as intended runs along the horizontal. The shell 2 surrounds a shell space 3, in which at least one plate heat exchanger 4 is arranged. The latter has first and second heat exchanging passages 71, 72, which are arranged alternately next to one another and in particular are vertical (cf. FIG. 4) and are respectively designed for receiving a first or second medium F1, F2, so that heat is exchangeable/can be exchanged indirectly between the two media F1, F2. The heat exchanging passages 71, 72 are in this case respectively bounded by two parallel separating plates 90 (the two outermost separating plates of the plate heat exchanger 4 are referred to as outer sheets), between which there is respectively arranged a heat conducting structure 80, which in the present case is formed for example as a so-called fin, that is to say as a corrugated or bent metal sheet, so that together with the respective two separating plates 90 a multiplicity of parallel channels for the respective medium F1, F2 are formed, the channels for the first medium F1 running in particular in the vertical direction and the channels for the second medium running in particular in the horizontal direction, i.e. the two media F1, F2 are in particular guided in cross-flow in relation to one another. Other types of operation (for example counter-flow) are also conceivable.

[0052] As can be seen from FIG. 4, the first heat exchanging passages 71 are formed open to the horizontally extending upper side 4a of the at least one plate heat exchanger 4, which is bounded by the four upper edges 41, 42, 43, 44 of the plate heat exchanger 4, and also to the underside (not shown). That is to say that there are corresponding inlet openings on the underside, by way of which the first medium F1, which is fed into the shell space 3 and forms a bath around the plate heat exchanger 4, can enter the first heat exchanging passages 71 and rise up in them (so-called thermosiphon effect) and can leave the first heat exchanging passages 71 again as a two-phase stream on the upper side 4a by way of corresponding outlet openings 40. The first medium F1 can be introduced into the shell space 3 by way of an inlet nozzle 53 arranged on the shell 2.

[0053] To the sides, the first and second heat exchanging passages 71, 72 can be closed off by so-called edge bars or terminating bars (side bars) 91. The second heat exchanging passages 72 are additionally closed off upwardly and downwardly by such terminating bars 91.

[0054] The components of the at least one plate heat exchanger 4, such as for example the separating plates 90, the fins 80, the side bars 91 and the manifolds 61, 63, 62, 64 (also referred to as headers) are preferably produced from aluminum. The separating plates 90, side bars 91 and fins 80 are preferably brazed to one another in a furnace.

[0055] When it rises up in the at least one plate heat exchanger 4, the first medium F1 is brought into an indirect heat exchange with the second medium F2, which is introduced into the second heat exchanging passages 72 of the at least one plate heat exchanger 4 by way of an inlet nozzle 51 or 57 and also a manifold (also known as a header) 61 or 63 adjoining thereto, and is guided there in particular in cross-flow in relation to the first medium F1, which flows in the first heat exchanging passages 71.

[0056] As a result, for example, the initially gaseous second medium F2 is cooled down and in particular liquefied, whereas the first medium F1 becomes warmer and is partially evaporated. A gaseous phase G1 of the first medium F1 thereby occurring collects in the separating space A above the at least one plate heat exchanger 4 and can be drawn off from there out of the shell or separating space A by way of an outlet nozzle 55 or 56 provided on the shell 2. The condensed second medium is drawn off from the second heat exchanging passages 72 by way of a manifold (or header) 62 or 64 of the at least one plate heat exchanger 4 and drawn off from the heat exchanger 1 by way of a nozzle 52 or 54 connected to the respective manifold 62 or 64.

[0057] The liquid phase L1 of the first medium F1 leaving together with the occurring gaseous phase G1 on the upper side 4a of the at least one plate heat exchanger 4 is preferably returned to the bath surrounding the plate heat exchanger 4.

[0058] As shown in FIG. 1, the heat exchanger 1 may also have a number of plate heat exchangers 4, formed as described above, in particular two plate heat exchangers 4, which according to FIG. 1 are for example arranged one behind the other along the longitudinal axis of the heat exchanger 1 in the shell space 3 of the heat exchanger 1. The heat exchanger 1 may of course also have just one plate heat exchanger 4, which may then be formed for example like the right-hand or left-hand plate heat exchanger 4 of FIG. 1.

[0059] For introducing the first medium F1 into the shell space 3 of the heat exchanger 1, a distributing device 6, here preferably in the form of a distributor channel 6, is arranged above the plate heat exchanger 4 in the shell space 3, the distributor channel 6 surrounding an inner space 6a for receiving the liquid phase L1 of the first medium F1 and being in flow connection with an inlet 53, which is provided at an upper region of the shell 2. The distributor channel 6 is in this case fixed on an inner side of the shell 2 that is facing the shell space 3, the shell 2 forming a side wall of the distributor channel 6. The distributor channel 6 also has a base 6c, which is made to extend horizontally along the longitudinal axis of the shell 2 and the one edge of which is fixed on the shell 2, while from the other (opposite) edge there is made to extend vertically a side wall 6d that is in turn connected to the inner side of the shell 2. The base 6c of the distributor channel 6 has at least one downwardly directed outlet opening 6b (preferably, in principle a number of such outlet openings 6b are provided), through which the liquid phase L1 of the first medium F1 can leave from the distributor channel 6 into the shell space 3 in a first spatial direction R.

[0060] Arranged under the distributor channel 6 in the vertical direction there is then a conducting device 10, which is designed for conducting the liquid phase L1 of the first medium F1 that is leaving the at least one outlet opening 6b, the conducting device 10 in particular deflecting at least part of the liquid phase L1 that has left the at least one outlet opening 6b downwardly in a first (in particular vertical) spatial direction R into a second spatial direction R, which preferably differs from the first spatial direction R. Here, the second spatial direction R has for example a greater horizontal component than the first spatial direction R. The deflection of at least part of the liquid phase L1 in this case preferably takes place so as to conduct the liquid phase L1 of the first medium F1 away from the upper side 4a or past the upper side 4a of the at least one plate heat exchanger 4. It is thereby ensured that the liquid phase L1 of the first medium F1 does not impinge on the upper side 4a of the at least one plate heat exchanger 4.

[0061] For this purpose, the conducting device 10 has in particular at least one plate-shaped conducting element 100, in particular in the form of a baffle, that extends along the longitudinal axis and butts substantially flush against the side wall 6d of the distributor channel, or possibly goes over into it. The at least one conducting element 100 has in this case a curvature in such a way that the at least one conducting element 100 has a convexly curved first side 100a, which is facing the plate heat exchanger 4, and also a second side 100b, which is facing away from the first side 100a, is concavely curved and is facing away from the plate heat exchanger 4 or facing the distributor channel 6, to be precise its base 6c. The at least one conducting element 10 is thus arranged such that at least part of the liquid phase L1 of the first medium F1 that is leaving the distributor channel 6 through the at least one outlet opening 6b impinges on the second side 100b and is conducted along it away from the upper side 4a of the plate heat exchanger 4 and introduced into the bath laterally in relation to the at least one plate heat exchanger 4.

[0062] The at least one conducting element 100 is fixed here both on the distributor channel 6 and on the shell 2 of the heat exchanger 1 by means of a frame 20.

[0063] Optionally, according to one embodiment of the invention, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the heat exchanger may have an additional separating unit 208, which serves the purpose of stabilizing the first medium F1, so that a gaseous phase G1 of the first medium F1 can be separated from the liquid phase L1 of the first medium F1 in the separating unit 208. The separating unit 208 is charged with the first medium F1 from the distributor channel 6 in interaction with the conducting device 10.

[0064] For catching the first medium F1, the separating unit 208 has in this case an upwardly facing receiving opening 209, which is arranged under the distributor channel 6 and the opening plane of which extends perpendicularly to the vertical. By way of the receiving opening 209, the first medium F1, falling out of the distributor channel 6, passes into a receiving space 207 of the separating unit 208. The separating unit 208 is in this case formed as an upwardly open channel, which extends under the distributor channel 6, likewise along the longitudinal axis of the shell 2, the separating unit 208 preferably having a length along the longitudinal axis of the shell 2 that corresponds to the length of the distributor channel 6 along this longitudinal axis. The receiving space 207 of the separating unit 208 or the receiving opening 209 can therefore be charged with the first medium F1 over its entire length.

[0065] The separating unit 208 has a peripheral wall defining the receiving opening 209 and bounding the receiving space 207. The wall has in this case a first side wall 210, which is facing the shell space 3 or the plate heat exchanger 4 and lies opposite the plate heat exchanger 4 transversely to the longitudinal axis of the shell 2 in the horizontal direction. Lying opposite the first side wall 210 is a second side wall 213 of the separating unit 208, which is formed by the shell 2. At the end faces, the separating unit 208 has a third and a fourth side wall 214 (only one of these side walls 214 can be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3), which extend perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the shell 2 and are formed substantially triangularly in a way corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of the separating unit 208 (apart from a rounding on account of the cylindrical shell 2). Correspondingly, the first side wall 210 of the separating unit 208 is inclined toward the plate heat exchanger 4, so that the horizontal cross section of the separating unit 208 or of the receiving space 207 increases vertically from the bottom upward toward the receiving opening 209. The first side wall 210 in the present case forms an angle of in particular 45 with the vertical.

[0066] Preferably, the separating unit 208 and/or the distributor channel 6 are formed by one or more metal sheets and are welded or connected in some other suitable way to the shell 2. In particular, the first side wall 210 and also the third and fourth side walls 214 may be respectively formed by a planar metal sheet and suitably connected to one another (for example by welded connections, riveted connections, etc.).

[0067] For letting the liquid phase L1 of the first medium F1 out of the receiving space 207 of the separating unit 208, the first side wall 210 has in particular distributing openings 211. Furthermore, side openings 212 may also be provided in the end side walls 214, by way of which the liquid phase L1 of the first medium F1 can likewise leave into the collecting space V (only one side opening 212 is shown by way of example).

[0068] The wall of the separating unit 208 or the first, third and fourth side walls 210, 214 define(s) an upper edge of the separating unit 208 that borders the receiving opening 209 and is preferably arranged above the filling height 300 of the liquid phase L1 in the collecting space V. Correspondingly, the liquid phase L1 of the first medium F1 preferably passes from the receiving space 207 into the collecting space V only by way of the distributing or side openings 211, 212. The separating unit 208 may however also form a liquid-impermeable pocket, so that the wall of the separating unit 208 acts as an overflow wall and correspondingly the liquid phase L passes into the collecting space V by way of the receiving opening 209. Furthermore, the separating unit 208 may be formed as open at the ends, that is to say not have third and fourth side walls 214. It is also possible that the third and fourth side walls 214 have in the vertical a lower upper edge than the first side wall 210.

[0069] The distributing openings 211 may be formed in a slit-shaped manner along the vertical. Other opening cross sections are also possible The distributing openings 211 are preferably arranged equidistantly from one another over the entire length of the separating unit 208 along the longitudinal axis of the shell 2. According to FIGS. 2 and 3, the side openings 212 are preferably formed as circular holes (for the sake of simplicity, only one side opening 212 is shown). The side openings 212 may be arranged in rows arranged one above the other parallel to the filling height 300.

[0070] For drawing off the gaseous phase G1 of the first medium F1 from the separating space A, the shell 2 has at least one outlet nozzle 55 on an upper region of the shell 2. Furthermore, an outlet 59, which is intended for letting the liquid phase of the first medium F1 out of the collecting space V, is provided on a lower region of the shell 2. By means of an overflow wall 58, a minimum filling height of the first medium F1 in the collecting space V is ensured.

LIST OF DESIGNATIONS

[0071]

TABLE-US-00001 1 Heat exchanger 2 Shell 3 Shell space 4 Plate heat exchanger 4a Upper side 6 Distributing device or distributor channel 6a Inner space of the distributing device or of the distributor channel 6b Outlet opening of the distributing device or of the distributor channel 6c Base 6d Side wall 10 Conducting device 20 Frame 40 Outlet openings 41, 42, 43, 44 Upper edges 51, 53, 57 Inlet nozzles 58 Overflow wall 52, 54, 55, 56, 59 Outlet nozzles 61, 62, 63, 64 Header 71 First heat exchanging passages 72 Second heat exchanging passages 80 Fin (heat conducting structure) 90 Separating plates 91 Side bars 100 Conducting element 100a First side 100b Second side 140 Through-opening 207 Receiving space 208 Separating unit 209 Receiving opening 210 First side wall 211 Distributing opening 212 Side opening 213 Second side wall 214 Third or fourth side wall 300 Filling height of the liquid phase of the first medium in the shell space A Separating space F1 First medium F2 Second medium G1 Gaseous phase of the first medium L1 Liquid phase of the first medium R, R Spatial direction V Collecting space