Heat exchange device

Abstract

In a heat exchange device, a plate-shaped tube (4) in which a plurality of channels (10) through which a first or second thermal medium (2), (3) flows are formed is disposed in a thermal storage material (5) that exchanges heat with the first or second thermal medium (2), (3), and the plate-shaped tube (4) is formed by joining two plates into a laminated form. Each plate has a plurality of elongated projections (8A, 9A) that protrude away from the mating faces of the plates and have hollows formed therein, and a plurality of flat portions (8B, 9B) between the projections. Openings of the hollows formed in one of the plates are closed by the corresponding flat portions of the other plate so that the hollows provide the channels.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The invention relates to a heat exchange device in which heat exchange takes place between a first thermal medium or a second thermal medium flowing through channels formed in plate-shaped tubes, and a thermal storage material that is in contact with the channels.[0003]2. Description of the Related Art[0004]Heat exchange devices in which heat transfer plates in the form of corrugated plates are laminated on each other to form channels for thermal media are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-232093 (JP-A-10-232093), Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-173771 (JP-A-11-173771) and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-122770 (JP-A-10-122770). More specifically, JP-A-10-232093 discloses a thermal storage device in which heat transfer plates having protrusions and recesses in the form of sine waves are formed of copper or aluminum, and the heat transfer plates are la...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention is a heat exchange device that can easily expand the area of heat exchange between two thermal media. It includes a plate-shaped tube in which a plurality of channels through which the thermal media flow are formed. The plate-shaped tube is made by joining two plates into a laminated form. The plates have elongated projections that protrude in opposite directions and have hollows formed therein. The hollows provide the channels through which the thermal media flow. The device can be used with a thermal storage material that fuses when heated and coagulates when cooled. The elongated projections of one plate are opposed to the flat portions of an adjacent plate, which reduces stress on the other plate. The device can be arranged with the channels of the plates facing each other to improve heat exchange efficiency.

Problems solved by technology

However, since the recesses of the upper and lower heat transfer plates are opposed to each other to form a single channel, only one channel is formed with respect to two protrusions of the upper and lower heat transfer plates, resulting in a relatively small number of channels that can be formed by each pair of plates.

In this type of thermal storage device, however, the plate-shaped tubes are likely to receive stress due to expansion and contraction that occur when the cool storage material or heat storage material interposed between the plate-shaped tubes repeatedly fuses (or freezes) and coagulates (or thaws), which may result in deformation of the plate-shaped tubes.

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