Heat exchanger tube and heating boiler having such a heat exchanger tube

Abstract

A heat exchanger tube of a heating boiler, comprising an outer tube, which may be flown through by exhaust gases from the boiler firing and which may be surrounded by boiler water on the outside, and a profiled insert inserted into the outer tube, which comprises ribs running in longitudinal direction of the outer tube to enlarge the inner surface of the outer tube and which is in thermally conductive contact with the outer tube, are to achieve that an even greater heat transfer capacity from the combustion gases to the boiler water in the heating boiler is enabled. A first longitudinal section of the outer tube is formed in a cylindrical, smooth-walled manner and a second longitudinal section of the outer tube has at least one cross-sectional narrowing element narrowing the flow cross section. The profiled insert extends exclusively over the first longitudinal section of the outer tube.

Claims

1. A heat exchanger tube of a heating boiler, comprising an outer tube, which may be flown through by exhaust gases from the boiler firing and which may be surrounded by boiler water on the outside, and a profiled insert inserted into the outer tube, which comprises ribs running in longitudinal direction of the outer tube to enlarge the inner surface of the outer tube and which is in thermally conductive contact with the outer tube, wherein a first longitudinal section of the outer tube is designed in a cylindrical, smooth-walled manner and a second longitudinal section of the outer tube has at least one cross-sectional narrowing element narrowing the flow cross section, wherein the profiled insert extends exclusively over the first longitudinal section of the outer tube, wherein the at least one cross-sectional narrowing element comprises at least two first indentations which are formed in the wall of the second longitudinal section of the outer tube, wherein the two first indentations are situated diametrically opposite each other and are designed as a symmetrical mirror image in reference to a first tube plane, wherein the cross-sectional narrowing element comprises in addition to the at least two first indentations at least two second indentations which are formed by the wall of the second longitudinal section of the outer tube, wherein the two second indentations are situated diametrically opposite each other and are designed as a symmetrical mirror image in reference to a second tube plane running perpendicular to the first tube plane, and wherein the first and second indentations are formed at a same axial position of the second longitudinal section of the outer tube, wherein the flow cross section formed by the first and second indentations of the second longitudinal section of the outer tube has an H-shaped cross section.

2. The heat exchanger tube according to claim 1, wherein between the at least two first indentations at least a first flow gap is formed, which measures between 2% and 3% of the diameter of the outer tube.

3. The heat exchanger tube according to claim 1, wherein between the at least two second indentations at least one second flow gap is formed, which measures between 18% and 22% of the diameter of the outer tube.

4. The heat exchanger tube according to claim 1, wherein the axial length of the first longitudinal section equates to at least two times the axial length of the second longitudinal section.

5. The heat exchanger tube according to claim 1, wherein the profiled insert comprises a tubular body formed by at least two shell elements, which have respectively one cross section in the shape of a sector of a circle.

6. The heat exchanger tube according to claim 5, wherein the tubular body comprises two shell elements, which at their contacting longitudinal edges are formed having groove-shaped recesses and rib-like projections that engage in one another in a sealing manner, wherein the two shell elements are constructed on their interior side having the ribs, which project into a clear cross section of the tubular body and extend in the longitudinal direction of the outer tube, in such a manner that each shell element with its ribs constitutes a profile open on one side.

7. The heat exchanger tube according to claim 6, wherein the two shell elements are designed respectively having a sealing groove at one longitudinal edge and a sealing rib adapted to the shape of the sealing groove at the other longitudinal edge.

8. The heat exchanger tube according to claim 1, wherein the at least one cross-sectional narrowing element is designed as a tubular insert as a type of a duct which is slid into the outer tube in its second longitudinal section.

9. The heat exchanger tube according to claim 1, wherein the outer tube is made out of steel, and the profiled insert is made out of aluminum.

10. A heating boiler for heating boiler water of a heating circuit, comprising a housing which confines a boiler water space and which has a combustion chamber placed upstream of the boiler water space, wherein at least one heat exchanger tube according to claim 1, which branches off from the combustion chamber and extends running through the boiler water space, is situated within the housing.

11. The heating boiler according to claim 10, wherein the second longitudinal section of the outer tube having at least one cross-sectional narrowing element is situated between the combustion chamber and the first longitudinal section of the outer tube.

Description

(1) Further details, features and advantages of the subject of the present invention result from the subsequent description in conjunction with the drawing in which a preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in an exemplary manner. In the drawing:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a heating boiler according to the present invention in a perspective view;

(3) FIG. 2 shows a further perspective illustration of the heating boiler having a partially cut housing;

(4) FIG. 3 shows an itemized illustration of the heat exchanger tube according to the present invention of the heating boiler in a perspective view;

(5) FIG. 4 shows a sectional view of the heat exchanger tube according to the present invention;

(6) FIG. 5 shows in a perspective illustration the heat exchanger tube according to the present invention;

(7) FIG. 6 shows a lateral cross-sectional view onto the heat exchanger tube according to the present invention along a tube plane;

(8) FIG. 7 shows a further lateral-cross sectional view onto the heat exchanger tube according to the present invention along a different tube plane;

(9) FIG. 8 shows an enlarged illustration of a longitudinal section of the heat exchanger tube from FIG. 6;

(10) FIG. 9 shows another enlarged illustration of a longitudinal section of the heat exchanger tube from FIG. 7;

(11) FIG. 10 shows a cross-sectional view of the heat exchanger tube according to the present invention for an axial position;

(12) FIG. 11 shows a further cross-sectional view of the heat exchanger tube according to the present invention for another axial position;

(13) FIG. 12 shows a cross-sectional view for the heat exchanger tube corresponding with the position shown in FIG. 10, and the flow cross section is identified; and

(14) FIG. 13 shows a perspective illustration of the heat exchanger tube according to the present invention, and the area of the cross-sectional narrowing element is shown as a cross section.

(15) FIG. 1 shows housing 1 of a heating boiler 2 in a perspective view, the housing being partially hidden in FIG. 2 so to enable a better insight into the interior of housing 1. Heating boiler 2 serves to heat the boiler water of a heating circuit not illustrated in more detail and may be embodied as a condensing boiler. Housing 1 encloses a boiler water space 3 and further includes a pot-like or conically designed combustion chamber 4, which is situated above boiler water space 3 and which is assigned to a non-illustrated burner. A heat exchanger having a plurality of heat exchanger tubes 5, which penetrate boiler water space 3 and run into an exhaust gas collecting chamber not further illustrated, is situated at the bottom of combustion chamber 4. Consequently, heat exchanger tubes 5 depart from the bottom of combustion chamber 4 and extend in the shown exemplary embodiment substantially in a vertical direction through boiler water space 3, and, alternatively, an arbitrary angle between 0 for a horizontal run and 90 for a vertical run of the exchanger tubes 5 in the boiler water space is also conceivable. In this instance, the outer surfaces of heat exchanger tubes 5 surrounded by the boiler water give off heat to the boiler water in boiler water space 3, and in heat exchanger tubes 5 exists such a temperature difference that the temperature in the upper area substantially exceeds the temperature in the bottom area. Return connectors 6 or 7 run into the boiler water space via which the cooled return water of different heating circuits is fed again to boiler water space 3. The heating circuit connected to return connector 6 serves, for example, to heat use water, thus, having a comparably high return temperature, while bottom return connector 7 is connected to a heating circuit, for example, for in-floor heating, thus, having a relatively low return temperature. The heated boiler water for the heating circuits is retrieved via upper supply connector 8.

(16) FIG. 2 shows heat exchanger tubes 5 which in their upper area are, according to the present invention, designed having recesses or respectively having a surrounding indentation 9. A single heat exchanger tube 5 according to the present invention is shown in an itemized perspective illustration in FIG. 3. As can be seen, heat exchanger tube 5 has an outer tube 10 which during operation of heating boiler 2 is flown-through by exhaust gases from the boiler firing and which is surrounded on the outside by the boiler water, and a profiled insert 11 in the assembled state is slid into outer tube 10. In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, outer tube 10 is constructed out of metal alloy, preferably steel. In order to enlarge the interior surface of outer tube 10, profiled insert 11 has ribs 14 running in longitudinal direction 12 of the outer tube and is in thermally conductive contact with outer tube 10, and to improve the heat transfer, profiled insert 11 is constructed out of aluminum.

(17) In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, profiled insert 11 includes a tubular body which is formed by two shell elements 15, 16. The two shell elements 15, 16 each have a semicircular cross section. Of course, a one-piece profiled insert 11 would be also conceivable, which, however, would not be producible in a cost-effective manner. For this reason, an at least two-piece profiled insert 11 is rather to be pursued, which shell elements are shaped as a sector of a circle to form a closed profiled insert 11. According to the exemplary embodiment, the tubular body thus includes two shell elements 15, 16 which at their contacting longitudinal edges 17 are constructed with groove-shaped recesses 18 and rib-like projections 19 and, for this reason, engage into one another in a sealing manner, as it is shown in an enlarged detailed view in FIG. 4. Two shell elements 15, 16 at their interior sides are constructed with ribs 14, which project into the clear cross section of the tubular body and extend in longitudinal direction 12 of outer tube 10, and each shell element 15, 16 with its ribs 14 constitutes a profile open on one end. In particular, two shell elements 15, 16 are designed respectively having recess 18 functioning as a sealing groove at one longitudinal edge 12 and having a sealing rib aligned in the shape of a sealing groove, which is projection 19, at the other longitudinal edge 12. Profiled insert 11 assembled from two shell elements 15, 16 adjoins on its entire circumferential area directly at outer tube 10 and is constructed by an outer diameter which is slightly smaller than the interior diameter of outer tube 10 so that profiled insert 11 is able to be slid without difficulty into outer tube 10.

(18) As could already be seen from FIG. 3, outer tube 10 and profiled insert 11 have different axial lengths, which is illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 showing different lateral views of heat exchanger tube 5 according to the present invention, whereas a single heat exchanger tube 5 is shown in FIG. 5, in which profiled insert 11 is slid into outer tube 10 and cannot be seen from the outside.

(19) It can be concluded from FIG. 6 that axial length 20 of outer tube 10 ideally equates to 1.5 times of axial length 21 of profiled insert 11, and it is also conceivable that axial length 20 of the outer tube equates to 1.3 times or 1.7 times of axial length 21 of profiled insert 11. Different axial lengths 20, 21 of outer tube 10 and profiled insert 11 result in that outer tube 10 is divided into two longitudinal sections. In this instance, a first longitudinal section 22 of outer tube 10 is constructed in a cylindrical, smooth-walled manner. A second longitudinal section 23 of outer tube 10 has at least one cross-sectional narrowing element 24 narrowing the flow cross section. In this instance, profiled insert 11 extends exclusively over first longitudinal section 22 of outer tube 10. This results in that, in the illustrated exemplary embodiment, axial length 25 of first longitudinal section 22 equates to at least two times axial length 26 of second longitudinal section 23. In very special cases of application, it is also possible to have an alternative length ratio where axial length 26 of second longitudinal section 23 is longer than axial length 25 of first longitudinal section 22.

(20) In reference to FIG. 6 it is shown that profiled insert 11 is not flush with outer tube 10, but a small piece is inserted into outer tube 10 so that profiled insert 11 is completely received into outer tube 10 and, in particular, is received by first longitudinal section 22. Furthermore, it can be concluded from FIG. 6 in conjunction with FIG. 2 that second longitudinal sections 23 of respective outer tubes 10 having cross-sectional narrowing element 24 are situated between combustion chamber 4 and the respective first longitudinal sections 22 of respective outer tubes 10. Accordingly, a respective cross-sectional narrowing element 24 is situated directly downstream of combustion chamber 4.

(21) In this instance, cross-sectional narrowing element 24 could be built as a tubular insert designed as a type of a duct which is slid into second longitudinal section 23 of outer tube 10. For this reason, outer tube 10 would be continuously formed in a smooth-walled manner in first and second longitudinal section 22, 23. In contrast, in the illustrated exemplary embodiment, second longitudinal section 23 of outer tube 10 has indentations or recesses 9.

(22) Viewing FIGS. 6 through 13 combined, the shape of cross-sectional narrowing element 24 is subsequently described in greater detail. For this purpose, the cross section of outer tube 10 is divided according to FIGS. 6, 7 and 10 on the basis of a first tube plane 27 and a second tube plane 28 running perpendicular to first tube plane 27. In this instance, FIG. 6 shows a sectional view along first tube plane 27, while FIG. 7 shows a sectional view along second tube plane 28. As can be seen from FIGS. 6 through 13, cross-sectional narrowing element 24 includes two first recesses or indentations 29, 30 which are formed in the wall of second longitudinal section 23 of outer tube 10. In particular, first recesses 29, 30 are pressed into the wall of second longitudinal section 23 so that first recesses 29, 30 represent concavely designed or inwardly curved indentations. Two first recesses 29, 30 are situated diametrically opposite each other and designed as a mirror image in reference to first tube plane 27. Between two first recesses 29, 30, a first flow gap 31 (see FIG. 8) is formed which measures between 2% and 3% of diameter 32 (see FIG. 6) of outer tube 10, as the enlargement of cutout A from FIG. 6 shows in FIG. 8. In order to form first recesses 29, 30, the wall of outer tube 10 is punctually pressed-in from both sides of the tube so that inwardly curved indentations result which, at the point of their smallest distance, form first flow gap 31. In this instance, the wall is deformed for recesses 29, 30 over an axial length 33 (see FIG. 9) equating to 0.4 times axial length 26 of second longitudinal section 23, and an axial length 33 which equates to 0.3 times to 0.5 times axial length 26 is also possible. For this purpose, the wall on this axial length 33 of the deformation is pressed-in overall for first recesses 29, 30 in such a manner that the wall across axial length 33 has a maximum diameter 34 for first recesses 29, 30 which equates to 0.6 times of diameter 32 of smooth-walled outer tube 10, and a maximum diameter 34 is also possible which equates to 0.5 times to 0.7 times of diameter 32 of smooth-walled outer tube 10.

(23) FIGS. 7 and 9 show further illustrations for second indentations 35, 36, and axial length 33 of the deformation for first indentations 29, 30 and for second indentations 35, 36 is ideally identical and, for this reason, is only shown in FIG. 9. The axial length of the deformation may, however, also be different for first and second indentations. In FIG. 7, axial section F-F illustrated in FIG. 11 is furthermore drawn next to profiled insert 11 and outer tube 10 and two shell elements 15, 16 are shown forming profiled insert 11. Two second indentations 35, 36 together with two first indentations 29, 30 form cross-sectional narrowing element 24, and first indentations 29, 30 are designed differently from two second indentations 35, 36. Two second recesses 35, 36 are also situated diametrically opposite each other and designed as a mirror image in reference to second tube plane 28. Second recesses 35, 36 are pressed also into the wall of second longitudinal section 23 so that they illustrate concavely designed or inwardly curved indentations. Between two second recesses 35, 36, a second flow gap 37 is formed which is greater than first flow gap 31 and which measures between 18% and 22% of diameter 32 (see FIG. 6) of outer tube 10, as the enlargement of cutout B from FIG. 7 shows in FIG. 9. Here also, to form second recesses 35, 36, the wall of outer tube 10 is punctually pressed-in from both sides of the tube so that inwardly curved indentations result which form flow gap 37 at the point of their smallest distance. The wall is deformed for indentation 35, 36 over axial length 33 (see FIG. 9), which also equates to 0.4 times axial length 26 of second longitudinal section 23, and an axial length 33 is also possible, which equates to 0.3 to 0.5 times axial length 26. For producing second indentions or recesses 35, 36, the wall on this axial length 33 is overall pressed-in in such a manner that the wall over axial length 33 has a maximum diameter 38 for second recesses 35, 36 which equates to 0.55 times of diameter 32 of smooth-walled outer tube 10, and a maximum diameter 38 is also possible which equates to 0.45 times to 0.65 times of diameter 32 of smooth-walled outer tube 10.

(24) The previous embodiment of first indentations 29, 30 and second indentations 35, 36 results in a flow cross section 39, which is shown in FIG. 10 on the basis of the hatched area referencing profiled insert 11 formed by shell elements 15, 16, and is shown in FIG. 12 on the basis of the area shaded in black. Since first and second indentations 29, 30, 35, 36 are formed at the same axial position of second longitudinal section 23 of outer tube 10, meaning that first and second indentations 29, 30, 35, 36 both extend over same axial length 33, flow cross section 39 of second longitudinal section 23 of outer tube 10, which is formed by first and second indentations 29, 30, 35, 36, has an H-shaped cross section. FIG. 13 shows outer tube 10 at which a tube section starting at the H-shaped cross section is omitted so that flow cross section 39 designed in the shape of an H is easily recognizable.

(25) In heat exchanger tube 5 according to the present invention, cross-sectional narrowing element 24 of outer tube 10 illustrates a two-times symmetrically designed narrowing which prevents the disadvantages known from the related art. The difficulty for the heat exchanger tubes known from the related art is that the hot combustion gases flow through the heat exchanger tube from the inlet to its outlet and cool in this process. The accompanying and significant reduction of the combustion gas volume resulted in that the flow velocity and the turbulence are significantly reduced when reaching the outlet of the heat exchanger tube, which disadvantageously affects the efficiency of the heat transfer. The present invention improves the heat transfer because the flow velocity and the turbulence in heat exchanger tube 5 according to the present invention increase as a consequence of cross-sectional narrowing element 24. Indentations or recesses 29, 30, 35, 36 increase the pressure loss in the upstream located area before indentations or recesses 29, 30, 35, 36. In this manner, significantly more energy is able to be transferred in combustion chamber 4 and in the tubular section of heat exchanger tube 5 before indentations 29, 30, 35, 36. In the area of recesses 29, 30, 35, 36, the narrowing severely increases the flow velocity, by means of which the heat transfer and, for this reason, the energy usage are also increased. In the area after recesses 29, 30, 35, 36, thus downstream of the narrowing, the exhaust gas again expands and is guided into the section having profiled insert 11. Using the very large surface of ribs 14 of profiled insert 11, the exhaust gas here is cooled below the dew point and, therefore, promotes an advantage in the condensing boiler technology.

(26) The substantial advantages of the present invention may be summarized as follows: Increasing the pressure loss results in an improved heat transfer in combustion chamber 4 and at the inlet of heat exchanger tube 5. Increasing the flow velocity in the area of narrowing 24 or recesses 29, 30, 35, 36, results in an improved heat transfer (laminar versus turbulent flow). Increasing the heat transfer plane by means of ribs 14 of profiled insert 11 for the reduced flow velocity in first longitudinal section 22 of heat exchanger tube 5 after or downstream of narrowing 24 and the low exhaust gas temperatures result in an improved heat transfer.
Heat exchanger tubes 5 according to the present invention in a heating boiler 2 may transfer 85% to 90% more energy than technologies known so far.

(27) The present invention previously described is, of course, not limited to the described and illustrated embodiments. It is evident that the embodiment illustrated in the drawing may be altered by a plurality of changes obvious to the skilled person with regard to the intended application without leaving the realm of the present invention. For example, cross-sectional narrowing element 24 may be formed as only one indentation 9 (instead of the four indentations) in the wall of second longitudinal section 23 of outer tube 10 or a plurality of cross sectional narrowing elements may be situated behind one another in axial direction 12 or at different axial tube positions. The present invention includes everything which is included and/or illustrated in the drawing, including those scenarios obvious to the skilled person but differing from the concrete exemplary embodiments.