MICROCHANNEL HEAT EXCHANGER

Abstract

The present invention provides a microchannel heat exchanger with a simple structure made of parts that can be formed by press working. The present invention is a microchannel heat exchanger 1, which has a cylindrical housing part 2 and a rectangular shaped heat exchange part 3 whose four corners are integrally connected to the inner periphery of the cylindrical housing part 2, the cylindrical housing part 2 being formed by the frame section 31 of the first plate unit 30 and the frame section 41 of the second plate unit 40, and the heat exchange part 3 is formed by the closing plate part 32 of the first plate unit 30 and the heat exchange fluid plate part 42 of the second plate unit 40.

Claims

1. the microchannel heat exchanger of the present invention by comprising a cylindrical housing part; rectangular shaped heat exchange part with four corners integrally connected to an inner surface of the cylindrical housing part, four fluid passages defined between the inner surface of the cylindrical housing part and the heat exchange part; a lid plate that closes one end of the cylindrical housing part and has four fluid inlets and outlets that are connected to each of the four fluid passages; and a bottom plate shielding the other end of the cylindrical housing part, wherein the heat exchange part has a first heat exchange passageway connecting two fluid passages arranged opposite each other and a second heat exchange passageway connecting another two fluid passages arranged opposite each other, wherein the first heat exchange passageway and the second heat exchange passageway are arranged alternately orthogonal to each other in the axial direction of the cylindrical housing part, wherein a first plate unit comprises an annular frame part forming the cylindrical housing part and a square-shaped closing plate part whose four corners are integrally connected with the annular frame part, and has four fluid passage formation spaces between the annular frame part and the closing plate part to form the four fluid passages, wherein a second plate unit comprises an annular frame part that forms the cylindrical housing part and a rectangular heat exchange channel plate part whose four corners are integrally connected to the annular frame part and whose short side is equal to one side of the closing plate part, wherein the second plate unit has four spaces for forming the four fluid passages between the annular frame part and the heat exchange channel plate part, and wherein the heat exchange channel plate has a plurality of microchannel openings extending along a longitudinal direction thereof, and wherein the cylindrical housing part and the heat exchange part are composed of alternating layers of first and second plate units, and the second plate units are alternately rotated 90.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0030] FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of a microchannel heat exchanger;

[0031] FIG. 2(a) is a plan view showing the first plate unit, FIG. 2(b) is a plan view showing the second plate unit, and FIG. 2(c) is a plan view showing the third plate unit with the second plate unit rotated 90;

[0032] FIG. 3 shows a first plate unit, second plate unit, first plate unit, and third plate unit stacked in sequence; and

[0033] FIG. 4 illustrates the stacking of the first and second plate units.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0034] Hereinafter, an example of this invention will be described based on the drawings.

[0035] As shown in FIG. 1, the microchannel heat exchanger 1 of the present invention comprises a cylindrical housing part 2, a heat exchanger part 3 of rectangular shape with four corners 21, 22, 23, 24 integrally connected to the inner circumference of this housing, four fluid passages (first fluid passage 4, second fluid passage 5, third fluid passage 6, fourth fluid passage 7), and four fluid inlets and outlets (first fluid inlet 8, first fluid outlet 9, second fluid inlet 10, second fluid outlet 11) that close one end of the housing part 2 and are connected to each of the four fluid passages 4, 5, 6, 7, second fluid outlet 11), and a lid plate 12, and a bottom plate 13 that shields the other end of the housing part 2. [0036] a microchannel heat exchanger 1 of the present invention comprises a cylindrical housing part 2; rectangular shaped heat exchange part 3 with four corners 21, 22, 23, 24 integrally connected to an inner surface of the cylindrical housing part 2, four fluid passages (a first fluid passage 4, a second fluid passage 5, a third fluid passage 6, a fourth passage 7) defined between the inner surface of the cylindrical housing part 2 and the heat exchange part 3; a lid plate 12 that closes one end of the cylindrical housing part 2 and has four fluid inlets and outlets (a first fluid inlet 8, a first outlet 9, a second inlet 10, a second fluid outlet 11) that are connected to each of the four fluid passages 4, 5, 6, 7; and a bottom plate 13 shielding the other end of the cylindrical housing part 2.

[0037] According to the above configuration, according to the present invention, for example, one of the fluids to be heat exchanged flows from the first fluid inlet 8 formed in the lid plate into the connecting first fluid passage 4, through the first heat exchange passage 14 which is connected to this first fluid passage 4, through the third fluid passage 6 which is located opposite to the first fluid passage 4 through the first fluid outlet 9 opposite the first fluid inlet 8. This constitutes the first fluid circulation cycle.

[0038] In contrast, the other fluid to be heat exchanged flows from the second fluid inlet 10 into the second fluid passage 5 connected therewith, passes through the second heat exchange passage 15 connected to this second fluid passage 5, and is discharged from the second fluid outlet 11 through the fourth fluid passage 7 located opposite the second fluid passage 5.

[0039] This constitutes the second fluid circulation cycle. In this way, heat exchange can take place between the fluid flowing in the first heat exchange passage 14 and the fluid flowing in the second heat exchange passage 15, which is orthogonal to the first heat exchange passage 14.

[0040] With the above configuration, heat exchange of the two fluids is achieved because the two fluids flow through the first heat exchange passage 14 and the second heat exchange passage 15, which are arranged in an alternating and intersecting manner in the heat exchange part 3.

[0041] The cylindrical housing part 2 and the heat exchanger part 3 are composed, for example, of a first plate unit 30 as shown in FIG. 2(a) and a second plate unit 40 as shown in FIG. 2(b), arranged alternately.

[0042] As shown in FIG. 2(a), the first plate unit 30 is composed of an annular frame part 31 forming the cylindrical housing part 2 and a square-shaped closing plate part 32 with four corners 21, 22, 23, 24 integrally connected to this frame part 31, and has four fluid passage formation spaces 4, 5, 6, 7 between the frame part 31 and the closing plate part 32.

[0043] The closing plate part 32 has a length of L-a on one side. The first plate unit 30 is preferably formed by a stamping process.

[0044] As shown in FIG. 2(b), the second plate unit 40 is composed of an annular frame part 41 forming the cylindrical housing part 2, a rectangular heat exchange fluid plate part 42 with four corners 21, 22, 23, 24 integrally connected to this frame part 41 and whose short side is L-a, which is approximately equal to one side of the closing plate part 32, and four fluid passage formation spaces 4, 5, 6, 7 between the frame part 41 and the heat exchange fluid plate part 42. The longitudinal length of the heat exchange fluid plate part 42 is L.

[0045] In the second plate unit 40, a plurality of microchannel openings 44 extending along the longitudinal direction are formed in the heat exchange fluid plate part 42. The second plate 40 is preferably formed by press working in the same manner as the first plate unit 30, and at the time of this press working, the microchannel openings 44 are preferably formed at the same time. The second plate unit 40 rotated by 90 is referred to as the third plate unit 40.

[0046] The first plate unit 30 and second plate unit 40 (and third plate unit 40) in the above configuration form the cylindrical housing part 2 and the heat exchange part 3. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the first plate unit 30, second plate unit 40, first plate unit 30 and third plate unit 40 are stacked in sequence. Thereby, the microchannel openings 44 of the heat exchange fluid plate part 42 of the second plate unit 40 are closed in the vertical direction by the closing plate portion 32 of the first plate unit 30, which is arranged above and below, thus forming the first heat exchange passage 14 with a plurality of microchannels defined thereby. Furthermore, the microchannel openings 44 of the third plate unit 40, located below it and rotated by 90, is closed in the vertical direction by the closing plate part 32 of the first plate unit 30, which is arranged above and below it, thus forming a second heat exchange passage 15 composed of a plurality of microchannels formed thereby.

[0047] The first fluid passage 4 is formed by a fluid passage forming space 4 of the first plate unit 30 and a fluid passage forming space 4 of the second plate unit 40. The second fluid passage 5 is formed by the fluid passage forming space 5 of the first plate unit 30 and the fluid passage forming space 5 of the second plate unit 40, and the third fluid passage 6 is formed by the fluid passage forming space 6 of the first plate unit 30 and the fluid passage forming space 6 of the second plate unit 40. The fourth fluid passage 7 is formed by the fluid passage forming space 7 of the first plate unit 30 and the fluid passage forming space 7 of the second plate unit 40.

[0048] As shown in FIG. 4, the cylindrical housing part 2 is formed by the frame part 31 of the first plate unit 30 and the frame part 41 of the second plate unit 40, and the heat exchange part 3 is formed by the closing plate part 32 of the first plate unit 30 and the heat exchange fluid plate part 42 of the second plate unit 40.

[0049] The four corners 21, 22, 23, 24 of the heat exchange part 3 are formed by stacking the four corners 21, 22, 23, 24 of the first plate unit 30 and the four corners 21, 22, 23, 24 of the second plate unit 40, which block the first, second, third and fourth fluid passages 5, 6, 7, 8.

[0050] As described above, according to the present invention, the microchannel heat exchanger 1 can be configured with a small number of parts.

[0051] In addition, since the first plate unit 30 and the second plate unit 40 can be manufactured by punching with a press, and only the press mold needs to be created, manufacturing costs can be reduced.

EXPLANATION OF SYMBOLS

[0052] 1. Microchannel heat exchanger [0053] 2 Housing part [0054] 3 Heat exchange part [0055] 4 First fluid passage [0056] 5 Second fluid passage [0057] 6 Third fluid passage [0058] 7 Fourth fluid passage [0059] 8 First fluid inlet [0060] 9 First fluid outlet [0061] 10 Second fluid inlet [0062] 11 Second fluid outlet [0063] 12 Lid plate [0064] 13 Bottom plate [0065] 14 First heat exchange passage [0066] 15 Second heat exchange passage [0067] 30 First plate unit [0068] 31 Frame part [0069] 32 Closing plate part [0070] 40 Second plate unit [0071] 41 Frame part [0072] 42 Heat exchange fluid plate part [0073] 44 Microchannel opening