Device for cooling a fluid originating from or used in a compressor

Description

2. Place the coolers in a zone or compartment near the front transverse wall of the enclosure. The coolers are placed with one side facing the rear transverse wall. The space between the coolers and the front transverse wall is also referred to as the hot and cold zones, respectively. The fan is mounted in the cold zone on the rear transverse walls and draws ambient air in use through an intake opening in the rear walls and blows it axially towards the coolers. The blown-in air flows over the coolers from the cold zone to the warm zone and leaves the warm zone via an exhaust opening in the roof of the enclosure. To ensure that the coolers are uniformly cooled, the coolers must be placed at a sufficient distance from the fan(s), which means, in other words, that the rear transverse wall must be placed at a sufficient distance from the cooler, which negatively affects the size of the enclosure.Moreover, there is a tendency to continuously downsize compressors and compressor systems, while the required power output increases, and consequently the necessary cooling capacity to be delivered. To deliver higher cooling capacities, it is not sufficient to simply install more fans in the rear crosswall of the enclosure. This rear crosswall is too limited in surface area to install sufficient fans with sufficient cooling capacity, and moreover, it is not sufficient to merely provide more cooling capacity BE2025 / 5096 3, but the requirement for the necessary uniformity of cooling must also be met. The existing trend therefore presents challenges to limit the enclosure space as much as possible and to find efficient and effective cooler and fan configurations within this limited space, taking into account other constraints determined by the manufacturability and maintainability of the system.10 In order to provide at least a partial solution for one or more of the mentioned or other known disadvantages and challenges, the invention provides an alternative device for cooling a fluid originating from or used in a compressor. 15 The device according to the invention comprises a housing, an upward cooling unit extending in an upward direction into the housing between two opposite outer walls of the housing. The housing can in principle take any shape but is typically box-shaped. The ascending cooling unit comprises one or more coolers. In the case of multiple coolers, they are preferably placed above or next to each other. A fluid to be cooled, originating from or used in a compressor such as gas, compressed gas, or oil, is passed through the coolers. For each fluid, one or more coolers can be used, which are connected to each other in parallel or in series. A cooler is typically formed by a number of channels or tubes connected in parallel, which may be provided with cooling fins on the outside.Naturally, BE2025 / 5096 4 coolers are also available in other shapes or versions. The cooling unit is configured so that air can flow over or through the cooling unit from an air inlet side to an air outlet side. 5 The device also comprises one or more radial cooling fans housed in the enclosure on at least one of the opposite outer side walls in the enclosure on the air inlet side of the rising cooling unit, where each of the one or more radial cooling fans is provided with an air inlet in the corresponding side wall. An air inlet may be provided for each cooling fan or multiple cooling fans may make use of a common air inlet. Preferably, the cooling fan(s) of the device are arranged such that the rotation axis or axes of the one or more radial cooling fans are predominantly parallel to the rising cooling unit. Predominantly parallel means that the rotation axes make an angle of -10° to 10° with an outer surface of the rising cooling unit on the air inlet side.This not only ensures more effective cooling but also allows the 25 cooling fans to be placed closer to the rising cooling unit, thereby limiting the required space, which benefits efficiency and allows the housing to be kept compact. 30 Each cooling fan of the device is air-connected to the rising cooling unit on the air inlet side, and BE2025 / 5096 5 the device comprises at least one air outlet in an outer wall of the housing air-connected to the rising cooling unit on the air outlet side. In operation, ambient air is drawn in by the cooling fans and blown radially to the cooling unit via their respective air inlets, 5 so that the blown-in air can flow through or over the coolers from the inlet side to the outlet side and is subsequently blown out via the air outlet or outlets. In this regard, one may opt to install air outlet or outlets10 in an upper outer wall of the housing.The configuration of the device according to the invention allows the dimensions of the housing to be kept limited while ensuring good uniformity of the cooling by the lateral placement of the radial cooling fan or fans. The radial arrangement also has the advantage that the fans can be placed closer to the cooling unit without compromising uniformity. Furthermore, this configuration provides greater design freedom because the cooling fans can be fitted in one or each of the outer side walls. For example, if the device comprises one radial cooling fan, it can be fitted to any of the opposite outer side walls. If the device comprises two radial fans, one cooling fan can be fitted to each of the opposite outer side walls, or two cooling fans can be fitted to any of the opposite outer side walls.30 BE2025 / 5096 6 In a form of execution in accordance with the invention, the device comprises three or more cooling fans, where at least one radial cooling fan is fitted to each of the opposite side outer walls of the housing. The radial cooling fans are preferably placed overlapping the cooling unit in an upward direction. If multiple radial cooling fans are provided on the same side outer wall, they are preferably placed one above the other to make optimal use of the available space in the housing. The stacking can be stacked or spread out or not horizontally overlapping. One may opt to place radial cooling fans on the same side outer wall such that the shortest distance from the upward cooling unit of the device to the rotation axis of each of the radial cooling fans is substantially the same for each radial cooling fan. Mainly equal means that the differences in shortest distance for the different radial cooling distances amount to less than 10%.An example of a device according to the invention that is very compact and can also provide substantial cooling capacity is a device equipped with four radial cooling fans, where two radial cooling fans are mounted one above the other on each of the opposite outer side walls. In addition, in a form of execution in accordance with the invention, the device comprises a further cooling unit, otherwise known as a roof cooling unit, comprising at least one cooler, which extends upward into the housing from the top outer wall, configured in such a way that air can BE2025 / 5096 7 flow through the roof cooling unit from an inlet side to an outlet side, whereby the roof cooling unit is connected to the radial cooling fans at the inlet side and to the outlet side with at least one air outlet. One may opt to install the roof cooling unit in the housing on the air inlet side of the rising cooling unit.This configuration, utilizing a roof cooling unit and an upward cooling unit, makes it possible to cool more effectively by increasing the surface area of ​​the coolers, making optimal use of the provided radial cooling fans. In a further design in accordance with the invention, the device comprises a further cooling fan, otherwise referred to as a roof cooling fan, housed in the enclosure on the upper outer wall on the air inlet side of the upward cooling unit, whereby the roof cooling fan is provided with a second air inlet in the upper outer walls and is air-connected to the upward cooling unit on the air inlet side. This configuration allows the cooling capacity to be increased without or virtually without enlarging the enclosure.To further increase the effectiveness of the cooling25 without or with limited impact on the dimensions of the enclosure, the device may be equipped with a further upward cooling unit, equipped with at least one cooler, housed at a distance from the upward cooling unit in the enclosure between the opposite30 side outer walls so that the cooling fans are located between both upward cooling units. BE2025 / 5096 8 The present invention also concerns an air-cooled compressor device comprising a compressor, and a device for cooling a fluid as described in the preceding forms or a combination thereof. The compressor is located in the housing on the air outlet side of the rising cooling unit. The compressor is fluid connected to one or more coolers of the cooling unit or cooling units for supplying compressed gas. The compressor may also be fluid connected to one or more coolers of the cooling unit or cooling units for circulating oil or another fluid used to cool the compressor.If the compressor is a compressor composed of multiple stages, the partially compressed gas between the stages can also circulate via a fluid connection through one or more coolers, so-called intermediate coolers, of the cooling unit or cooling units before being supplied to the next stage. With a view to better demonstrating the characteristics of the invention, preference is hereinafter given, as an example without any restrictive character, to the variant of a device for cooling a fluid originating from or used in a compressor according to the invention described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, whereby: Figures 1 to 4 show schematic and design forms of the device according to the invention in part in different views, being in Fig. 1 a view from the long side, in Fig. 2 a view from the top side, in Fig. 3 a view from the BE2025 / 5096 9 cross-section along the plane in Fig. 2 indicated by the line B-B, and in Fig. 4 a view of the cross-section along the plane in Fig. 1 indicated by the line A-A.Figures 1 to 4 partially show an example of a compressor system according to the invention. The compressor system comprises a box-shaped housing1 in which an upward cooling unit2 is housed between the opposite side outer walls4,5 of the housing parallel to the transverse outer walls of the housing.10 The upward cooling unit2 with its air inlet side6 directed towards the rear transverse outer wall9 of housing1. The upward cooling unit2 forms, as it were, the separation between the cold zone, being the zone from the upward cooling unit2 to the rear transverse outer wall15 9, and the warm zone, being the zone of the housing at the air outlet side7 of the upward cooling unit. A compressor is housed in the warm zone (not shown) of the compressor system. In this case, it concerns an oil-injected two-stage compressor. The compressor can, however, also consist of multiple stages or a single stage and may or may not be oil-free. In this case, the rising cooling unit consists of two coolers 3A,B placed one above the other.Due to the 25 coolers, a fluid originating from the compressor is in use. In the first cooler, this fluid is oil. In the second cooler, which is an intermediate cooler, this is compressed gas originating from the first stage of the compressor.30 BE2025 / 5096 10 In the housing, a second cooling unit13 is housed near the top outer wall11. This roof cooling unit comprises a single cooler, which is an aftercooler, through which compressed gas from the (second stage of the) compressor flows during operation.5 The compressor system also comprises four radial cooling fans8 housed in the cold zone in the housing1 on the side outer walls4,5. In each side outer wall, two radial cooling fans8 are placed one above the other in an upward direction (vertically)10 overlapping with the upward cooling unit2. In other words, this means that in each side outer wall, two radial cooling fans8 are placed one above the other in the upward direction and wholly or partially at the height of the upward cooling unit2.The stacked 15 cooling fans on each side outer wall are in this case mirrored and placed relative to each other. The cooling fans 8 are placed with their rotation axes 12 mainly parallel to (the air inlet side 6 of) the rising cooling unit 2 and at mainly 20 equal distances from the rising cooling unit. Each radial cooling fan8 is equipped with an air intake10 in the corresponding side wall through which the cooling fan draws in ambient air during use25 and discharges radially into the interior space17 in the cold zone of the housing1. This interior space17 is mainly bounded by the rising cooling unit2 on its air intake side6, the roof cooling unit13 on its intake side15, the radial cooling fans8, a30 base plate or partition, the top outer wall11, the BE2025 / 5096 11 rear transverse outer wall9, and / or further shielding, separating, or connecting elements. In the warm zone of the housing1, an air outlet (not shown) is provided in the top outer wall11.This5 air outlet is connected to the rising cooling unit2 on its air outlet side7 and to the roof cooling unit13 on its outlet side16. The respective fluids flow through the corresponding coolers3A,3B,14 of the rising cooling unit2 and the roof cooling unit13. Through the rotation of the radial cooling fans8, ambient air is drawn in by the cooling fans via their respective air inlets10 in the side outer walls15 4,5. The drawn-in air is blown out radially by the cooling fans into the interior space17, whereby the pressure in the interior space increases. The interior space17 functions, as it were, as an air duct along which the blown air can flow to the inlet sides6,15 of the cooling units2,20 13. The blown air flows further through the cooling units2,13 over and / or through the respective coolers3A,3B,14 from the inlet side6,15 to the corresponding outlet side7,16, whereby the fluid present in the coolers is cooled.Subsequently,25 the air flows from the outflow side7,16 of the coolers to the air outlet through which the air is blown out of the housing1. The present invention is by no means limited to the example described andind.

Images