Dual function compressor cooler

Abstract

This invention relates to a dual-function compressor cooler. The cooler includes a cylinder, heat exchange tube bundle, tube sheet, and end shell. The end shell contains a partition plate to create a serpentine, multi-pass tube arrangement, extending the residence time of the cooling medium for efficient high-temperature hot water production. A valve chamber is integrated at the highest point of the partition plate. The valve chamber has a gas inlet and outlet on each side, connecting adjacent high and low pressure chambers. A float is movably mounted inside the valve chamber. A conical valve port, which seals with the float, is located at the top of the valve chamber, and a control port is located at the bottom of the valve chamber. A one-way exhaust valve is located at the top of the end shell. When the liquid level in the chamber drops, the float falls naturally under gravity and opens the valve port, allowing the gas to self-flow and converge towards the next pass for unified discharge. When the chamber is full of water, the float rises under buoyancy and seals the valve port to prevent short-circuiting of the medium across chambers. This invention achieves high-grade waste heat utilization while fundamentally solving the problems of airlock and dry burning of the heat exchange tubes within the multi-pass tube arrangement.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of compressor cooling technology, and more specifically to a dual-function compressor cooler. Background Technology

[0002] Centrifugal air compressors are widely used in large-scale air separation, pharmaceutical, electronics, and steel industries due to their compact structure, large discharge capacity, and high air quality. Under traditional centrifugal compressor operating conditions, the exhaust temperature of each stage of compressed air after high-speed centrifugal rotation of the impeller is typically as high as 90°C to 150°C. This heat of compression usually accounts for more than 90% of the total input power of the air compressor motor.

[0003] However, in traditional cooler configurations, in order to provide compressed air of a suitable temperature for the next process, technicians usually only use single-function coolers. This involves using industrial circulating cooling water at room temperature (25℃-30℃) to pass through the tube side of the cooler, removing the heat from the compressed air in the shell side, raising the temperature to about 40℃ before discharge, and then sending it to an outdoor cooling tower for cooling and recycling. This not only results in high-grade compression heat being directly discharged into the atmosphere as waste heat, but also consumes a lot of electricity from the cooling tower fan and causes water to evaporate from the cooling water.

[0004] Traditional interstage and aftercoolers have inherent limitations in their structural design, typically employing only a single-pass or simple double-pass structure for their internal tubes. In this conventional structure, the cross-sectional area of ​​the cooling water within the heat exchanger is large, resulting in extremely short flow velocity and flow path within the tubes. Due to the extremely brief contact time between the cooling water and the high-temperature compressed air outside the tubes, the ambient temperature circulating water entering the cooler cannot be sufficiently heated within the limited stroke, and its outlet temperature only reaches around 40°C. This constitutes low-grade heat energy that cannot be directly used for industrial cleaning or process preheating. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of this invention is to provide a dual-function compressor cooler to solve the technical problem in existing coolers where cooling water cannot stay in a single-pass or double-pass path for a long time for heat exchange, resulting in the inability to utilize the heat of the discharged water.

[0006] The technical solution of the dual-function compressor cooler of the present invention is as follows:

[0007] A dual-function compressor cooler includes:

[0008] The cylinder has a heat exchange tube bundle installed inside, and a hot air inlet and a cold air outlet on the cylinder.

[0009] Two tube sheets are installed on opposite axial sides of the shell and connected to the heat exchange tube bundle.

[0010] Two end shells are respectively sealed and covered on the tube sheets at both ends; one end shell is provided with a cooling medium inlet and a cooling medium outlet, or the cooling medium inlet and cooling medium outlet are respectively provided on the two end shells;

[0011] Also includes:

[0012] A partition plate is installed inside the end shell to divide the end shell into multiple different chambers so that the heat exchange tube bundle can form a serpentine extension of the tube side. The two chambers on both sides of the partition plate constitute the high-pressure side chamber and the low-pressure side chamber.

[0013] A valve chamber is provided at the top of the split partition. One side of the valve chamber is provided with a gas phase inlet that communicates with the high-pressure side chamber, and the other side is provided with a gas phase outlet that communicates with the low-pressure side chamber. A float is movably assembled inside the valve chamber. A conical valve port is provided at the top of the valve chamber, and the gas phase outlet and the gas phase inlet are interconnected through the conical valve port.

[0014] When the float rises due to buoyancy, the conical valve port is blocked to shut off the gas phase inlet and gas phase outlet;

[0015] When the float falls due to gravity, the valve opens to connect the gas phase inlet and the gas phase outlet;

[0016] The bottom of the valve chamber is provided with a control port, which is used to guide the liquid in and out of the valve chamber when the liquid level in the valve chamber changes, so that the float moves up and down with the liquid level.

[0017] One-way exhaust valves are provided on the top of the side of the two end shells near the cooling medium outlet.

[0018] Furthermore, there are multiple partition plates, and each partition plate has a valve chamber inside its top. Gas accumulated at the top of each chamber is transported step by step to the last turning chamber through each valve chamber and discharged uniformly by the one-way exhaust valve.

[0019] Furthermore, the partition plate and the inner wall of the end shell are integrally cast.

[0020] Furthermore, a groove is formed on one side wall of the partition plate, and a sealing plate is detachably sealed at the groove. The sealing plate and the groove together form the valve cavity.

[0021] Furthermore, the end of the partition plate that is attached to the tube sheet is provided with a sealing groove, and a sealing ring is embedded in the sealing groove. The end shell is locked and fixed to the tube sheet by fasteners so that the sealing ring is squeezed and sealed with the tubeless area on the tube sheet.

[0022] Furthermore, the cooling medium inlet and cooling medium outlet are located on the same end shell, and the partition plate is arranged vertically or horizontally inside the end shell to divide the interior of the end shell into an odd number of chambers arranged in sequence.

[0023] Furthermore, the cooling medium inlet is located at the bottom of the first chamber, and the cooling medium outlet is located at the top of the last chamber.

[0024] Furthermore, the float is a lightweight hollow buoy made of polytetrafluoroethylene.

[0025] The beneficial effects of this application are: it solves the technical problem in traditional coolers where the cooling medium has a short flow path and insufficient heat exchange contact time, resulting in low outlet water temperature and the inability to directly recover and utilize heat. By setting a partition plate inside the end shell to construct a serpentine multi-pass pipeline, the heat exchange residence time of the cooling medium inside the tube is greatly extended, allowing the ambient temperature medium to fully absorb the high-temperature heat from the compressed air, thereby efficiently outputting high-grade hot water that can be directly used.

[0026] Furthermore, in multi-pass coolers operating under high-temperature hot water conditions, gas buildup in the tube side can lead to gas lock, localized dry burning of heat exchange tubes, and thermal stress cracking of tube bundles and tube sheet joints. This application integrates a valve chamber and a float at the top of the partition plate. When the precipitated gas accumulates at the top of the chamber, pressurizing the liquid level down, the liquid in the valve chamber flows out through the bottom control port. The float loses buoyancy and falls naturally under gravity, opening the conical valve. At this time, gas in the high-pressure side chamber flows into the valve chamber through the gas phase inlet, passes through the open conical valve, and overflows from the gas phase outlet to the adjacent low-pressure side chamber. The exhaust process relies entirely on the natural flow pressure difference between the chambers, allowing the released gas to migrate efficiently and self-driven to the subsequent chambers along the flow direction and be discharged uniformly by the one-way exhaust valve. When the accumulated gas is exhausted and the liquid level rises, the float rises under buoyancy and re-seals the conical valve port, completely cutting off the channel between the high and low pressure chambers. This ensures smooth exhaust while preventing cross-cavity short-circuiting of the cooling medium, guaranteeing the energy efficiency of sufficient heat exchange in the long flow path, and greatly improving the overall operational safety and structural life of the cooler. Attached Figure Description

[0027] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a specific embodiment of the dual-function compressor cooler of the present invention; Figure 2 for Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the heat exchange tube bundle in the diagram; Figure 3 for Figure 1 The left view; Figure 4 for Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the right-side tube sheet; Figure 5 for Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the left-side tube sheet; Figure 6 for Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of the end shell on the left side of the middle section; Figure 7 for Figure 6 A sectional view; Figure 8 for Figure 7 A cross-sectional view of the valve chamber location of the middle split-pass diaphragm; Figure 9 for Figure 8 Diagram showing the state of the middle float in the blocked position.

[0028] In the diagram: 1-Cylinder; 11-Hot gas inlet; 12-Cold gas outlet; 2-Heat exchange tube bundle; 3-Tube sheet; 4-End shell; 41-Cooling medium inlet; 42-Cooling medium outlet; 5-Break plate; 51-Valve chamber; 52-Gas phase inlet; 53-Gas phase outlet; 54-Float; 55-Conical valve port; 56-Control port; 57-Sealing plate; 6-One-way exhaust valve; 7-Sealing ring. Detailed Implementation

[0029] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this invention clearer, the invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only for explaining the invention and are not intended to limit the invention; that is, the described embodiments are merely some embodiments of the invention, and not all embodiments. The components of the embodiments of the invention described and shown in the accompanying drawings can generally be arranged and designed in various different configurations.

[0030] Therefore, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the invention provided in the accompanying drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the claimed invention, but merely to illustrate selected embodiments of the invention. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the invention without inventive effort are within the scope of protection of the invention.

[0031] It should be noted that relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used merely to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element.

[0032] The features and performance of the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to embodiments.

[0033] A specific embodiment of the dual-function compressor cooler of the present invention is as follows: Figures 1 to 9 As shown, it is mainly used in the interstage or post-cooling systems of large air separation compressors (such as those used for industrial oxygen, nitrogen, and argon production) with a single unit power of over 5000 kW and a discharge capacity of ≥200 Nm³ / min. In these large multistage centrifugal compressors, the total amount of waste heat from electrical energy conversion is enormous, and the interstage discharge temperature is typically as high as 90°C to 150°C.

[0034] The cooler includes a cylindrical body 1, inside which a heat exchange tube bundle 2, made of multiple heat-conducting metal tubes, is installed longitudinally and parallel. A hot air inlet 11, connected to the air compressor exhaust pipe, is located on the top of the outer wall of the cylindrical body 1 near the left end, for introducing high-temperature compressed air at 90°C to 150°C. A cold air outlet 12, located on the top of the outer wall near the right end, is located for outputting qualified compressed air raw material cooled to below 40°C. Inside the cylindrical body 1, multiple vertically staggered baffles are welded at intervals along its axial direction. These baffles force the high-temperature compressed air in the shell side to flow back and forth in a wave-like pattern within the cylindrical body 1, thereby repeatedly brushing the outer wall surface of the heat exchange tube bundle 2 and significantly extending the residence time on the air side.

[0035] Circular tube sheets 3 are welded to the left and right ends of the cylindrical body 1. Both ends of each heat exchange tube in the heat exchange tube bundle 2 are sealed and fixed within tube holes on the tube sheets 3 at both ends by expansion joints or welding. On the outer sides of the tube sheets 3 at both ends, square or circular end caps are respectively provided.

[0036] To ensure sufficient deep heat exchange of the cooling medium within a single heat exchanger, the end shell 4 is internally equipped with integrally cast or welded partition plates 5. These partition plates 5 extend vertically and fit tightly against the tubeless areas on the tube sheet 3. The end shell 4 is secured to the tube sheet 3 by multiple pressure-bearing bolts distributed around its outer periphery, thereby dividing the internal cavity of the end shell 4 into multiple chambers arranged sequentially laterally or longitudinally by the partition plates 5. These chambers cooperate with the heat exchange tube bundles 2 on the tube sheet 3, allowing the cooling medium to form a multi-pass tube flow that extends in a serpentine pattern within the tubes.

[0037] In a preferred embodiment, a sealing groove is formed on the end face of the partition plate 5 that fits against the tube sheet 3. A silicone rubber or polytetrafluoroethylene sealing ring 7 with high elasticity and high temperature resistance is embedded in the sealing groove. Under the pre-tightening force of the end shell 4 bolts, the sealing ring 7 is uniformly compressed onto the tubeless area of ​​the tube sheet 3. This double-compression sealing design avoids cross-stage short-circuiting of high-pressure water between adjacent chambers, ensuring that the cooling medium completes each stage of the designed serpentine tube path.

[0038] Furthermore, to achieve optimal counter-current matching between the heat exchange flow field and the temperature field, the number of chambers is odd, so that the cooling medium inlet 41 and the cooling medium outlet 42 are located on the same end shell 4. The cooling medium inlet 41 is located at the bottom of the first chamber, while the cooling medium outlet 42 is located at the top of the last chamber (i.e., the chamber at the very end of the medium flow). In this way, the cooler medium enters from the bottom, and as the flow progresses, the medium with gradually increasing temperature moves upward by itself and finally flows out from the highest outlet chamber.

[0039] When the cooling medium is heated to over 80 degrees Celsius in a stepped manner within the serpentine multi-pass tube, air bubbles precipitated in the water will accumulate at the top of each end shell chamber 4 under the influence of buoyancy. Due to the obstruction of the partition plates 5, the bubbles cannot flow out downstream, easily forming an airlock. In order to automatically discharge the accumulated air without causing cross-cavity flow of the cooling medium, an adaptive exhaust mechanism is integrated at the very top of each upper partition plate 5.

[0040] Within the solid wall near the inner top wall of the end shell 4 at the top of the partition plate 5, a valve cavity 51 extending longitudinally in an elliptical shape is precisely machined.

[0041] In actual processing, to avoid the thickness of the partition plate 5 being limited by the overall size, a transversely open groove is directly machined on one side wall of the partition plate 5 using CNC milling. A metal sealing plate 57 is detachably sealed at the opening of this groove using bolts. When the two are combined, a closed valve cavity 51 is formed inside the top of the partition plate 5. This reduces manufacturing difficulty and allows for polishing and fine deburring of the valve cavity 51 before assembly, ensuring that internal flow resistance is minimized.

[0042] A horizontally penetrating gas inlet 52 is provided on the right side wall of the valve chamber 51, which communicates with the top space of the adjacent high-pressure side chamber (the chamber in the relatively earlier process); a horizontally penetrating gas outlet 53 is provided on the left side wall of the valve chamber 51, which communicates with the top space of the adjacent low-pressure side chamber (the chamber in the relatively later process).

[0043] The inner top wall of the valve cavity 51 is formed into a conical valve port 55 that contracts towards the center. The flow paths of the gas phase inlet 52 and the gas phase outlet 53 are spatially intersected and interconnected through the conical valve port 55.

[0044] A lightweight float 54 is movably mounted inside the valve cavity 51. To ensure its long-term stable operation under high-temperature and high-pressure circulating water conditions, the float 54 is preferably a lightweight hollow float made of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). PTFE has excellent self-lubricating properties, resistance to high-temperature thermal shock at 150 degrees Celsius, and strong resistance to chemical adhesion, which can completely prevent calcium and magnesium hardness ions in the cooling water from forming scale on the surface of the float, thus preventing a significant increase in the float's weight or a deterioration in surface roughness. The outer diameter of the float is smaller than the width of the inner wall of the valve cavity 51, but larger than the diameter of the conical valve port 55, so that the float can embed itself into the conical valve port 55 when it floats, forming a highly sealing hard seal line.

[0045] A control port 56 is provided at the bottom center of the valve chamber 51, which forms a channel for the cooling medium to freely enter and exit the valve chamber 51, so that the liquid level inside the valve chamber 51 can be kept synchronized with the liquid level at the top of the external turning chamber in real time.

[0046] At the geometrically highest point of the end shell 4, which has a cooling medium outlet 42, a brass one-way exhaust valve 6 is screwed in. Correspondingly, a one-way exhaust valve 6 is also provided at the corresponding position of the other end shell.

[0047] When the waste heat recovery system is operating and the cooling water flow rate is maintained within a reasonable range in the multiple tube passes of the serpentine extension, the heat exchanger enters a stable dual-function operating state: on the one hand, the compressed air in the shell side of the cylinder is efficiently cooled to below 40 degrees Celsius; on the other hand, the water temperature in the tube passes is gradually heated to above 85 degrees Celsius. At this time, the activity of water molecules inside the tubes increases dramatically, and the trace amounts of non-condensable gases (such as oxygen, nitrogen, etc.) originally dissolved in the cooling water begin to desorb and precipitate in large quantities, forming tiny bubbles that accumulate at the top of each turning chamber.

[0048] As gas gradually accumulates at the top of a certain chamber, the air bladder at that location compresses the liquid level, causing it to slowly move downwards. Since the control port 56 at the bottom of valve chamber 51 is directly connected to the turning chamber, the liquid inside valve chamber 51 is discharged outwards through the control port 56 under the action of gravity and gas pressure, causing the liquid level inside valve chamber 51 to drop synchronously.

[0049] At this point, the float 54 loses the buoyancy of the water and, under its own weight, slides smoothly down the inner wall of the valve cavity 51, eventually resting steadily at the bottom.

[0050] At this point, the conical valve port 55 is fully open. Because the high-pressure side chamber (right side chamber) is located relatively early in the flow path, its operating water pressure is slightly higher than that of the low-pressure side chamber (left side chamber), which is located later in the flow path. Driven by this slight pressure difference, the airflow at the top of the right high-pressure side chamber flows into the valve chamber 51 through the gas phase inlet 52, passes through the open conical valve port 55, and overflows from the gas phase outlet 53 on the left side into the interior of the low-pressure side chamber.

[0051] The gas flows along this cascaded path with extremely low flow resistance, passing through each partition 5, and self-driving towards the top of the final turning chamber. Finally, it is discharged into the outside atmosphere by the one-way exhaust valve 6 installed at the top of the outlet, eliminating the possibility of airlock formation at the top of any intermediate tube.

[0052] When the accumulated air at the top of a certain stage steering chamber is exhausted, the cooling water in the high-pressure side chamber rises back to the top under the pressure of the fluid and submerges the top of the split plate 5:

[0053] A portion of the cooling water flows into the valve chamber 51 through the control port 56 at the bottom, pushing the float 54 upward and embedding it into the conical valve port 55 at the top. Due to the upward lifting force of the water flow on the float and the pressure difference on both sides of the conical valve port 55, the float and the conical surface of the conical valve port 55 form a seal.

[0054] At this point, the flow path between the gas phase inlet 52 and the gas phase outlet 53 is cut off. Utilizing the density difference between water and air inside the microchannel, in a full-water state, the denser liquid cooling water cannot short-circuit through valve chamber 51 to the downstream chamber, ensuring that the cooling medium must flow downstream along the heat exchange tube bundle 2. This not only preserves the deep heat exchange temperature rise efficiency of the multi-process long path but also avoids the decrease in heat recovery efficiency caused by medium leakage, achieving the synergistic effect of long residence time heat exchange of cooling water and adaptive multi-stage exhaust.

[0055] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. The scope of patent protection of the present invention shall be determined by the claims. Similarly, any equivalent structural changes made based on the description and drawings of the present invention shall also be included within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A dual-function compressor cooler, comprising: a cylinder body, inside which a heat exchange tube bundle is installed, and on which a hot gas inlet and a cold gas outlet are provided; two tube plates, which are respectively installed on the axial two parts of the cylinder body and are communicated with the heat exchange tube bundle; two end shells, which are respectively sealed and capped on the tube plates at the two ends; one of the end shells is provided with a cooling medium inlet and a cooling medium outlet, or the cooling medium inlet and the cooling medium outlet are respectively provided on the two end shells; characterized in that it further comprises: a split-range baffle, which is arranged in the end shell to divide the end shell into a plurality of different chambers so that the heat exchange tube bundle forms a serpentine extending tube pass, and the chambers on both sides of the split-range baffle constitute a high-pressure side chamber and a low-pressure side chamber; a valve chamber is provided on the top of the split-range baffle, one side of the valve chamber is provided with a gas phase inlet communicated with the high-pressure side chamber, and the other side is provided with a gas phase outlet communicated with the low-pressure side chamber, and a float is movably arranged in the valve chamber; a conical valve port is provided on the top of the valve chamber, and the gas phase inlet and the gas phase outlet are communicated through the conical valve port; when the float is floated by buoyancy, the conical valve port is blocked to block the communication between the gas phase inlet and the gas phase outlet; when the float falls by gravity, the valve port is opened to communicate the gas phase inlet and the gas phase outlet; a control port is provided on the bottom of the valve chamber, which is used to guide the liquid to enter or exit the valve chamber when the liquid level in the valve chamber changes, so that the float rises and falls with the liquid level; a one-way exhaust valve is provided on the top of the side of the two end shells close to the cooling medium outlet.

2. The dual function compressor chiller of claim 1, wherein, There are a plurality of split-range baffles, and the valve chamber is arranged in the top of each split-range baffle, and the gas accumulated in each chamber is transported to the last turning chamber through each valve chamber, and is uniformly discharged by the one-way exhaust valve.

3. The dual function compressor chiller of claim 2, wherein, The split-range baffle and the inner side wall of the end shell are integrally cast into a structure.

4. The dual function compressor chiller of claim 2, wherein, A type groove is arranged on the side wall of the split-range baffle, and a sealing plate is detachably blocked at the type groove, and the valve chamber is formed by the type groove and the sealing plate.

5. The dual function compressor chiller of claim 1, wherein, The end of the split-range baffle close to the tube plate is provided with a sealing groove, and a sealing ring is embedded in the sealing groove, and the end shell is locked and fixed on the tube plate by fasteners, so that the sealing ring is extruded and sealed with the tube plate area without tubes.

6. The dual function compressor chiller of claim 1, wherein, The cooling medium inlet and the cooling medium outlet are arranged on the same end shell, and the split-range baffles are vertically or horizontally arranged in the end shell to divide the end shell into an odd number of chambers arranged in sequence.

7. The dual function compressor chiller of claim 6, wherein, The cooling medium inlet is arranged at the bottom of the first chamber, and the cooling medium outlet is arranged at the top of the last chamber.

8. The dual function compressor chiller of claim 1, wherein, The float is a light hollow float ball made of polytetrafluoroethylene.

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