HEAT EXCHANGER, IN PARTICULAR BLOCK-IN-SHELL HEAT EXCHANGER COMPRISING A SEPARATING UNIT FOR SEPARATING A GASEOUS PHASE FROM A LIQUID PHASE AND FOR DISTRIBUTING THE LIQUID PHASE

Abstract

An apparatus for the treatment of infections associated with respiratory disorders in a mammal with a mixture for use as an inhalable medicament. The apparatus includes a patient interface, at least one source of helium for providing gaseous helium, at least one source of oxygen for providing gaseous oxygen, an application device for providing a mixture to the patient interface, at least one source of nitric oxide for providing gaseous nitric oxide, a gas injector for injecting the nitric oxide into the mixture, an injector for injecting a means for inhibiting growth of pulmonary pathogens, a controller programmed for controlling the gas injector, the application device and the injector.

Claims

1. A heat exchanger for indirectly exchanging heat between a first medium and a second medium, comprising: a tank, which has an inner space for receiving the two-phase first medium a plate heat exchanger arranged in the inner space, for indirectly exchanging heat between the first medium and the second medium, the inner space being designed to receive the first medium with a filling height such that a liquid phase of the first medium forms a bath surrounding the plate heat exchanger, and an inlet for introducing the first medium into the inner space, characterized in that a separating unit forming a receiving space is provided in the inner space for separating the gaseous phase from the liquid phase of the first medium, the separating unit having at least one upwardly directed receiving opening for introducing into the receiving space first medium falling down in the inner space, 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 inner space, and a distributor that is in flow connection with the inlet and is arranged vertically above the receiving opening and also above the filling height being provided in the inner space, the distributor being designed to distribute the first medium over the receiving opening.

2. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the separating unit has a first side wall, which is in particular facing the inner space.

3. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 2, 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.

4. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the first side wall is formed as an overflow wall.

5. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the distributor for distributing the first medium over the receiving opening has at least one downwardly directed outlet opening and also in particular a conducting device.

6. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the separating unit has a second side wall, which lies opposite the first side wall and is particular formed by a wall or a shell of the tank.

7. The heat exchanger as claimed claim 1, characterized in that the separating unit has a third side wall and a fourth side wall opposite the third side wall, the third and fourth side walls respectively connecting the first and second side walls to one another and in particular being arranged perpendicularly in installation, and in particular the third and/or fourth side walls respectively being formed as an overflow wall.

8. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that the third and fourth side walls respectively have at least one side opening for letting out a liquid phase of the first medium, the respective at least one side opening being formed in particular as a circular hole.

9. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the separating unit is open at both its end faces.

10. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the first side wall is inclined toward the plate heat exchanger and forms an angle with the vertical in the range of 15° to 75°, in particular 45°.

11. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the plate heat exchanger has first heat exchanging passages for the first medium and second heat exchanging passages for the second medium, the heat exchanging passages being separated from one another by separating plates, heat conducting structures being arranged in particular in the first and second heat exchanging passages, and in particular the plate heat exchanger having outlet openings on an upper side of the plate heat exchanger and also inlet openings on an underside of the plate heat exchanger, so that a liquid phase of the first medium surrounding the plate heat exchanger can pass by way of those inlet openings into the first heat exchanging passages and can rise up in the latter and also leave again from the outlet openings.

12. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the heat exchanger 7 has a conducting device which is arranged under the distributor and is designed for conducting the liquid phase of the first medium that is leaving the at least one outlet opening.

13. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 12, 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, the second spatial direction in particular being different from the first spatial direction, and the second spatial direction in particular having a greater horizontal component than the first spatial direction, and the first spatial direction running in particular along the vertical from the top downward.

14. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that a device for conducting and/or controlling the liquid phase in the receiving space is provided in the receiving space of the separating unit, the device in particular having at least one of the following elements: a conducting element, in particular in the form of a baffle, for deflecting and/or decelerating a flow of the liquid phase, a mesh, in particular a wire mesh, for decelerating a flow of the liquid phase and/or for assisting the agglomeration of gas bubbles of an entrained gaseous phase.

15. The heat exchanger as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the separating unit extends over more than half of the length of a shell of the tank in the inner space of the heat exchanger, preferably over more than 80% of this length, more preferably over more than 90% of this length.

Description

[0059] The invention described above is explained in detail below against the relevant technical background with reference to the associated drawings, which show preferred refinements. In the figures:

[0060] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a heat exchanger according to the invention in longitudinal section,

[0061] FIG. 2 shows the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 1 in cross section (along the line A-A),

[0062] FIG. 3 shows a detail of the cross section of the heat exchanger that is shown FIG. 2, and

[0063] FIG. 4 shows a detail of the cross section of a heat exchanger according to the invention that is shown in FIG. 2, a conducting device for conducting the liquid phase of the first medium being optionally present according to a further exemplary embodiment of the invention.

[0064] FIG. 1 shows in conjunction with FIGS. 2 and 3 a heat exchanger 1 according to the invention. It has a tank 2, which has a cylindrical shell 17, which extends along a longitudinal axis or cylinder axis, which in the case of a heat exchanger 1 arranged as intended, or during the operation of the unit 1, runs along the horizontal. The two ends of the shell 17 are adjoined by outwardly curved end plates 17a, 17b. The tank 2 surrounds an inner space or shell space I, in which at least one plate heat exchanger 5 is arranged. In the present case, two plate heat exchangers 5 are provided in the inner space I. Only one plate heat exchanger 2 is described below by way of example.

[0065] Provided on an upper region of the shell 17 of the tank 2 is an inlet 6 for a two-phase first medium 4, which is intended to be introduced into the inner space I of the tank 2, in order to form there a bath with a defined filling height 3 surrounding the plate heat exchanger 5. This region of the inner space I is also referred to as collecting space V. The region above the liquid bath with the filling height 3 is referred to as separating space A. This space A is available for receiving a gaseous phase 39 of the first medium 4 that is intended to be separated from the first medium. The filling height 3 is in particular dimensioned such that the plate heat exchanger 5 only protrudes out of the bath (first medium 4) with a horizontally extending upper side 28.

[0066] The inlet 6 for the first medium 4 is in flow connection with a distributor 13, which is formed as a channel that extends along the longitudinal axis of the shell 17. The distributor 13 is set against an inner side of the shell 17 that is facing the inner space I, so that part of the wall of the distributor 13 is formed by the shell 17 itself. The distributor 13 surrounds a distributor space 21, which is made to extend along the longitudinal axis of the shell 17 and has a predetermined distributor length 14 along the longitudinal axis of the shell 17. Arranged perpendicularly under the distributor 13 is a separating unit 8, which serves the purpose of stabilizing the first medium 4, so that a gaseous phase 39 of the first medium 4 can be separated in the separating unit 8 to the greatest extent from the liquid phase 38 of the first medium 4 before the liquid phase 38 is fed to the collecting space V. The relative position of the inlet 6, the distributor 13 and the separating unit 8 are represented in the lateral sectional view in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. Represented in FIG. 2 is the position of a detail Z that is shown in FIG. 3. The position of the sectional view is denoted in FIG. 1 by A-A.

[0067] The distributor 13 has a base running horizontally along the longitudinal axis of the shell 17 with outlet openings in the form of through-openings 37, by way of which the first medium 4 introduced into the distributor space 21 over the entire length 14 of the distributor 13 or of the distributor space 21 can be passed into a receiving space 7 formed by the separating unit 8. The separating unit 8 has for this purpose an upwardly facing receiving opening 9, which is arranged under the distributor 13 and the opening plane of which extends perpendicularly to the vertical 23. By way of the receiving opening 9, the first medium 4, falling out of the distributor 13, passes into the receiving space 7. The separating unit 8 is in this case formed as an upwardly open channel, which extends under the distributor 13, likewise along the longitudinal axis of the shell 17, the separating unit 8 preferably having a length 15 along the longitudinal axis of the shell 17 that corresponds to the distributor length 14 along the longitudinal axis of the shell 17. The receiving space 7 of the separating unit 8 or the receiving opening 9 can therefore be charged with the first medium 4 over its entire length 15.

[0068] The separating unit 8 has a peripheral wall defining the receiving opening 9 and bounding the receiving space 7. The wall has in this case a first side wall 10, which is facing the inner space I or the plate heat exchanger 5 and lies opposite the plate heat exchanger 5 transversely to the longitudinal axis of the shell 17 in the horizontal direction. Lying opposite the first side wall 10 is a second side wall 16 of the separating unit 8, which is formed by the shell 17. At the end faces, the separating unit 8 has a third and a fourth side wall 19, 20, which extend perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the shell 17 and are formed substantially triangularly in a way corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of the separating unit 8 (apart from a rounding on account of the cylindrical shell 17). Correspondingly, the first side wall 10 of the separating unit 8 is inclined toward the plate heat exchanger 5, so that the horizontal cross section of the separating unit 8 or of the receiving space 7 increases vertically from the bottom upward toward the receiving opening 9. The first side wall 10 in the present case forms an angle of in particular 45° with the vertical.

[0069] Preferably, the separating unit 8 and/or the distributor 13 are formed by one or more metal sheets and are welded or connected in some other suitable way to the wall 17 of the tank 2. In particular, the first side wall 10 and also the third and fourth side walls 19, 20 may be respectively formed by a planar metal sheet and suitably connected to one another (for example by welded connections, riveted connections, etc.).

[0070] For letting the liquid phase 38 of the first medium 4 out of the receiving space 7 of the separating unit 8, the first side wall 10 has distributing openings 11. Furthermore, side openings 12 are provided in the end side walls 19, 20 in the form of through-openings, by way of which the liquid phase 38 of the first medium 4 can likewise leave into the collecting space V.

[0071] The wall of the separating unit 8 or the first, third and fourth side walls 10, 19, 20 define(s) an upper edge of the separating unit 8 that borders the receiving opening 9 and is preferably arranged above the filling height 3. Correspondingly, the liquid phase 38 of the first medium 4 preferably passes from the receiving space 7 into the collecting space V only by way of the distributing or side openings 11, 12.

[0072] According to FIG. 1, the distributing openings 11 are formed in a slit-shaped manner along the vertical 23. The distributing openings 11 are preferably arranged equidistantly from one another over the entire length 15 of the separating unit. According to FIGS. 2 and 3, the side openings 12 are preferably formed as circular holes, which respectively form a sufficient overall cross-sectional area for different filling levels in rows arranged one above the other parallel to the filling height 3. Preferably, the openings 11, 12 are all located under the filling height 3.

[0073] For drawing off the gaseous phase 39 of the first medium 4 from the separating space A, the tank 2 has at least one outlet nozzle 22 on an upper region of the shell 17. Furthermore, an outlet 36, which is intended for letting the liquid phase 38 of the first medium 4 out of the collecting space V, is provided on a lower region of the shell 17. By means of an overflow wall 35, a minimum filling height of the liquid phase 38 of the first medium 4 in the collecting space V is ensured.

[0074] In detail, the plate heat exchanger 5 has first heat exchanging passages 24 for the first medium 4 and also parallel second heat exchanging passages 25 for the second medium 4a. The heat exchanging passages 24, 25 are separated from one another by separating plates and preferably have heat conducting structures 26 (for example in the form of fins, in particular corrugated fins). The second heat exchanging passages 25 are closed off outwardly (i.e. toward the shell space I). For charging the second heat exchanging passages 25, an inlet 31 is provided on the shell 17 of the tank 2 and is in flow connection with a first manifold 31a, by way of which the individual second heat exchanging passages 25 can be charged with the second medium 4a. The plate heat exchanger 5 also has a second manifold 32a, which is in flow connection with an outlet 32 provided on the shell 17. By way of the second manifold 32a, the second medium 4a can be drawn from the second heat exchanging passages 25 and can be drawn off from the heat exchanger 1 by way of the outlet 32.

[0075] The first heat exchanging passages 24 are formed open to the upper side 28 of the plate heat exchanger 5 and also to an underside 29 of the plate heat exchanger 5 that is facing away from the upper side and have outlet or inlet openings 27, 28 there. The liquid phase of the first medium 4 can in this case enter the first heat exchanging passages 24 through the inlet openings 30 on the underside 29 and leave them again on the upper side 28 by way of the outlet openings 27.

[0076] During the operation of the heat exchanger 1, the first medium 4 or the fraction of the first medium 4 remaining after the partial separation of the gas phase 39 flows or falls out of the distributor space 21 of the distributor 13 by way of the receiving opening 9 into the receiving space 7 of the separating unit 8 and is caught there. The liquid phase 38 of the first medium 4 then passes through the distributing and possibly side openings 11, 12, which lie under the filling height 3 of the liquid bath, into the liquid bath in the collecting space V and enter there the first heat exchanging passages 24 by way of the inlet openings 30 on the underside 29 of the plate heat exchanger 5.

[0077] In the receiving space 7, the gaseous phase 39 of the first medium 4 that has entered rises up and leaves the receiving space 7 of the separating unit 8 into the separating space A by way of the receiving opening 9. From the separating space A, the gaseous phase 39 of the first medium 4 is drawn off by way of the at least one outlet nozzle 22. The two-phase first medium 4 is generally supplied continuously by way of the inlet 6 and the liquid phase 38 of the first medium 4 that is not required in this heat exchanger is discharged by way of the outlet 36, so that in particular a continuous cooling process can take place under defined conditions.

[0078] The liquid phase 38 of the first medium 4 enters the inlet openings 30 on the underside 29 and rises upwardly into the first heat exchanging passages 24 on account of the thermosiphon effect. At the same time, a second medium 4a is introduced into the adjoining second heat exchanging passages 25, so that heat is exchanged from the second medium 4a indirectly to the first medium 4. The first medium 4 thereby becomes warmer or partially evaporates and leaves from the outlet openings 27 of the first heat exchanging passages 24 on the upper side 28 of the plate heat exchanger 5, generally as a two-phase stream. The remaining liquid phase 38 of the first medium 4 then circulates again downwardly to the inlet openings 30, while the gaseous phase 39 rises up in the separating space A and is drawn off from the separating space A by way of the at least one outlet nozzle 22.

[0079] In the case of a further exemplary embodiment of the heat exchanger 1 according to the invention, as shown in FIG. 4, in a heat exchanger 1 of the type in FIGS. 1 to 3 a conducting device 100 which is designed for conducting the liquid phase 38 of the first medium 4 leaving the at least one outlet opening 37 is arranged under the distributor 13 in the vertical direction, the conducting device 100 in particular deflecting at least part of the liquid phase 38 that is leaving the at least one outlet opening 37 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 a greater horizontal component than the first spatial direction R. The deflection of at least part of the liquid phase 38 preferably takes place in this case such that the liquid phase 38 of the first medium 4 is conducted away from the upper side 28 or past the upper side 28 of the heat exchanger or plate heat exchanger 5. It is thereby ensured that the liquid phase 38 of the first medium 4 does not impinge on the upper side 28 of the at least one plate heat exchanger 5. For this purpose, the conducting device 100 has in particular at least one conducting element 101, in particular in the form of a baffle, which extends along the longitudinal axis of the tank 2 or shell 17 and in particular butts substantially flush against a vertical side wall 103 of the distributor channel that is facing the inner space I, or possibly goes over into it. However, between the distributor channel 13 or the vertical side wall 103 and the conducting element 101 there may also be provided a gap, which is made to extend along the longitudinal axis of the shell 17 or tank 2 and through which a gaseous phase 39 of the first medium 4 can pass into the separating space A.

[0080] The at least one conducting element 101 has in particular a curvature or inclination in such a way that the at least one conducting element 101 has a first side 101a, in particular a convexly curved first side 101a, which is facing the plate heat exchanger 5, and also a second side 101b, which is facing away from the first side 101a, is in particular concavely curved and is facing away from the plate heat exchanger 5 or facing the distributor 13. The at least one conducting element 101 is in this case thus arranged such that at least part of the liquid phase 38 of the first medium 4 that is leaving the distributor 13 through the at least one outlet opening 37 impinges on the second side 101b and is conducted along it away from the upper side 28 of the plate heat exchanger 5 and introduced into the bath laterally in relation to the at least one plate heat exchanger 5. The at least one conducting element 101 is preferably fixed both on the distributor 13 and on the shell 17 of the tank 2 by means of a frame 102.

[0081] Finally, in principle the separating unit 8 can have in all the embodiments a device 200 for conducting and/or controlling the liquid phase 38 in the receiving space 7, as shown by way of example in FIG. 4. The device 200 may for example have at least one conducting element or baffle 201 for deflecting and/or decelerating a flow of the liquid phase 38, or a mesh 202, in particular a wire mesh, which serves for decelerating a flow of the liquid phase 38 and/or for assisting the agglomeration of gas bubbles of an entrained gaseous phase in the receiving space 7.

[0082] FIG. 4 shows a possible form of such a device 200. The wire mesh is in this case arranged for example in the lower region of the receiving space 7. The conducting element or baffle 201 extends for example from the first side wall 10 above the distributing openings 11 in the direction of the opposite second side wall 16 or the shell 17. The baffle 201 consequently prevents a direct flow of the liquid phase 38 from forming in the receiving space 7 in the direction of the distributing openings 11. It is of course also possible if appropriate to dispense with the conducting device 201 or the mesh 202. The two components 201, 202 do not necessarily have to be combined. The arrangement of the conducting element 201 may be varied according to the flow that is present in the receiving space 7. The aim is in particular to suppress a direct throughflow of the liquid phase 38 to the distributing openings 11.

[0083] With the heat exchanger 1 proposed here, a gaseous phase 39 of the first medium 4 can be separated to the greatest extent from the liquid phase 38 of the first medium 4 before the liquid phase 38 is fed to the collecting space V, and also in particular better control and distribution of the liquid phase 38 of the first medium 4 can be achieved.

LIST OF DESIGNATIONS

[0084]

TABLE-US-00001  1 Heat exchanger  2 Tank  3 Filling height  4 First medium  4a Second medium  5 Plate heat exchanger  6 Inlet  7 Receiving space  8 Separating unit  9 Receiving opening  10 First side wall  11 Distributing opening  12 Side opening  13 Distributor  14 Distributor length  15 Length of separating unit  16 Second side wall  17 Shell  17a, 17b End plates  19 Third side wall  20 Fourth side wall  21 Distributor space  22 Outlet nozzle  23 Vertical  24 First heat exchanging passage  25 Second heat exchanging passage  26 Heat conducting structure  27 Outlet opening (of the plate heat exchanger)  28 Upper side  29 Underside  30 Inlet opening (of the plate heat exchanger)  31 Inlet for second medium  31a First manifold  32 Outlet for second medium  32a Second manifold  35 Overflow wall  36 Outlet or liquid outlet  37 Outlet openings or through-openings of the distributor  38 Liquid phase of the first medium  39 Gaseous phase of the first medium 100 Conducting device 101 Conducting element 101a First side 101b Second side 102 Frame 103 Side wall of the distributor 200 Device for conducting/controlling the liquid phase in the separating unit 201 Conducting element (for example baffle) 202 Mesh A Separating space I Inner space or shell space R First spatial direction R′ Second spatial direction V Collecting space