Bent heat exchanger

Abstract

A bent heat exchanger including a first header and a second header; a plurality of flat tubes, two ends of the flat tube being connected to the first header and the second header respectively, the plurality of flat tubes being spaced apart from one another along axial directions of the first and second header; and fins, each disposed between adjacent flat tubes, extending in a corrugated shape along a length direction of the flat tube, in which a thickness of the fin is FT, a larger one of outer diameters of the first header and the second header is OD, a larger one of wall thicknesses of the first header and the second header is T, a width of the flat tube is W, an arc radius of the fin is FR, and a height of the fin is FH, in which 0.01≦(100 ×FT×FR×T) / (FH×OD)≦9.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This U.S. application is a National Phase application of International Patent Application No. PCT / CN2015 / 078406, filed May 6, 2015, which claims the benefit of prior Chinese Application No. 201410188198.0, filed May 6, 2014. The entire contents of the before-mentioned patent applications are incorporated by reference as part of the disclosure of this U.S. application.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present disclosure relates to a heat exchanger, and more particularly to a bent parallel-flow heat exchanger.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]A heat exchanger, for example a parallel-flow heat exchanger (such as a multi-channel heat exchanger), is broadly applied to a refrigeration system, and in some application situations, the heat exchanger needs to be bent, that is, a header of the heat exchanger needs to be bent. However, when the heat exchanger is bent along a length direction of the header,...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent text describes a method for bending heat exchangers to improve their performance and reliability. The inventors found that controlling the bending parameters, specifically the bending radius and the ratio of the header to the flattened tube, affects the performance and mounting-application convenience of the heat exchanger. By keeping these parameters within certain ranges, the heat exchanger is less likely to deform, tear, or have its heat exchange efficiency or drainage performance affected. This results in improved performance and reliability of the heat exchanger.

Problems solved by technology

When a heat exchanger is bent along a length direction of a header, if a bending radius is oversize, application requirements cannot be met in a case that a mounting space for the heat exchanger is limited.

If the bending radius is undersize, a flat tube of the heat exchanger is deformed and a fin of the heat exchanger is torn, such that a heat exchange efficiency is affected, thus reducing a performance, even leading to a leakage of the flat tube and causing the heat exchanger to be scrapped.

In addition, an excessive compression and deformation of the header may increase a pressure loss of coolant in the header and thus reduce the performance of the heat exchanger.

Images