A shell-and-tube heat exchanger of segmented tube bundle type
By employing a segmented tube bundle design and an efficient connection structure, the problem of difficult maintenance of traditional shell-and-tube heat exchangers in blast furnace black water treatment has been solved, achieving efficient waste heat recovery and rapid repair, and reducing maintenance costs and downtime.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- OMEXELL (JINAN) HEAT TRANSFER TECH CO LTD
- Filing Date
- 2025-05-29
- Publication Date
- 2026-06-09
AI Technical Summary
Traditional shell-and-tube heat exchangers are prone to scaling and corrosion when treating blast furnace black water, leading to partial failure of the tube bundle, high maintenance costs, long downtime, and inefficient recovery of waste heat.
It adopts a segmented tube bundle design, with short tube sections connected by flanges and fixing pins. It is equipped with a detachable tube sheet and pressure detection components, combined with spiral guide channels and baffles to achieve flexible maintenance and efficient thermal management.
It significantly reduces maintenance costs and downtime, improves adaptability to black water of different properties, ensures connection stability and sealing, and achieves efficient waste heat recovery and rapid maintenance.
Smart Images
Figure CN224340768U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This application belongs to the technical field of heat exchange equipment, specifically relating to a shell-and-tube heat exchanger with segmented tube bundles. Background Technology
[0002] Blast furnaces are core equipment in the steel production process, generating large amounts of high-temperature black water during operation. This black water is typically discharged through drain outlets, carrying a significant amount of waste heat, and requires cooling before recycling. To extract the waste heat from the black water, a shell-and-tube heat exchanger is commonly used. The black water flows through the tube bundles in the heat exchanger, while the shell is filled with a circulating shell-side medium. The extraction of waste heat from the black water is achieved through heat exchange between the tube bundles and the shell-side medium.
[0003] Traditional shell-and-tube heat exchangers typically employ an integral tube bundle structure, with both ends of the tube bundle fixed to the tube sheet by welding or expansion joints, and the shell and tube sheet are mostly rigidly connected. While this design offers the advantage of structural simplicity, it reveals significant drawbacks when handling media prone to scaling, corrosion, or containing solid particles (such as black water and slurries). Black water carries a large amount of solid waste and is usually corrosive. Even after filtration before entering the heat exchanger, it inevitably causes some corrosion and blockage to the tube bundle. When scaling or corrosion leads to partial failure of the tube bundle, the entire bundle must be disassembled and replaced, resulting in high maintenance costs and long cycles. This requires extended downtime, wastes black water heat, and increases the overall maintenance cost of the heat exchanger. Utility Model Content
[0004] This application provides a segmented tube bundle shell-and-tube heat exchanger to solve the technical problems of difficult and costly maintenance of tube bundles in traditional shell-and-tube heat exchangers used for black water waste heat extraction.
[0005] The technical solution adopted in this application is as follows:
[0006] A segmented tube bundle shell-and-tube heat exchanger includes a shell, a tube bundle, and a tube sheet, wherein: the shell has a flow cavity for supplying shell-side medium, and the shell has a shell-side inlet and a shell-side outlet on both sides, respectively communicating with the flow cavity; the tube sheet is detachably installed at both ends of the shell; the tube bundle is composed of multiple short tube segments, and adjacent short tube segments are detachably connected by a connecting structure; a transmission cavity for supplying black water medium is formed inside the tube bundle; the two ends of the tube bundle pass through the tube sheet located at both ends of the shell and extend to the outside of the flow cavity to form a tube-side inlet and a tube-side outlet, respectively.
[0007] The connection structure includes flanges respectively disposed on two adjacent short pipe sections, fixing pins passing through the flanges, and snap bolts distributed circumferentially on the flanges. The flanges are provided with a plurality of fixing holes spaced apart circumferentially. The flanges are fixedly connected to the short pipe sections, and two adjacent flanges are connected by fixing pins that pass through the fixing holes in sequence.
[0008] The flange has a flow hole communicating with the transmission cavity, and the flange has a sealing ring groove on the outer periphery of the flow hole, and a sealing ring rib is provided in the sealing ring groove.
[0009] The shell-and-tube heat exchanger also includes a pressure detection component, which includes a color-changing diaphragm and a pressure detector. The color-changing diaphragm can change color according to the pressure signal detected by the pressure detector. The flange is provided with a mounting groove for accommodating the color-changing diaphragm. The mounting groove has through-holes on both sides that communicate with the transmission cavity. The pressure detector is located inside the transmission cavity and is connected to the color-changing diaphragm through a transmission line passing through the through-hole.
[0010] The housing is provided with an observation window, and the observation window contains a transparent viewing element.
[0011] The tube bundles are multiple in number, and the tube sheet is provided with multiple through holes that are aligned with the tube bundles. The tube bundles pass through the through holes and are inserted into the tube sheet. The tube sheet is provided with multiple first threaded holes spaced apart along its circumference. The housing is provided with second threaded holes that correspond to the first threaded holes. The tube sheet is detachably connected to the tube sheet by screws that pass through the first threaded holes and the second threaded holes.
[0012] The inner wall of the short pipe section is provided with a spiral guide groove, the depth of the spiral guide groove is D1, the wall thickness of the short pipe section is D2, and 0, 1≤D1 / D2≤0.15.
[0013] The inner wall of the housing is provided with multiple baffles at intervals. One end of each baffle is connected to the inner wall of the housing, and the other end extends away from the inner wall of the housing.
[0014] Due to the adoption of the above technical solution, the beneficial effects achieved by this application are as follows:
[0015] 1. This application provides a highly flexible maintenance and thermal management solution for blast furnace black water waste heat recovery by breaking down traditional monolithic tube bundles into multiple independent short tube segments and employing a detachable tube sheet design. The segmented tube bundle allows for the removal and replacement of only the damaged section when performance deteriorates due to black water corrosion or solid particle accumulation, without the need for destructive dismantling of the entire tube bundle. This improves the speed of tube bundle replacement and maintenance, significantly reducing downtime and minimizing waste heat loss during blast furnace production. Furthermore, replacing only the damaged short tube segment, compared to the traditional method of replacing the entire tube bundle, significantly reduces heat exchanger maintenance costs, resulting in better maintenance economy. In addition, the short tube segment design allows for optimized local flow channel structures tailored to black water characteristics. When black water contains high levels of solid impurities and poses a risk of solid waste accumulation, short tube segments with anti-solid accumulation inner walls can be replaced, improving adaptability to black water of different properties.
[0016] 2. As a preferred embodiment of this application, the combination design of the flange and fixing pin provides an efficient and stable solution for the reliable connection of segmented pipe bundles. The precise penetration of the fixing holes circumferentially distributed on the flange and the fixing pins ensures strict alignment of adjacent short pipe segments in the axial and radial directions, improving the alignment accuracy between adjacent short pipe segments. This is particularly suitable for the frequent disassembly and reassembly requirements in blast furnace black water treatment scenarios. The circumferentially evenly distributed snap-fit bolts not only strengthen the axial locking force of the flange but also effectively suppress vibration or loosening caused by high-pressure flow of black water through multi-point pressure balance, thereby ensuring the sealing integrity of the connection node during long-term operation. In addition, the design of this connection structure fully considers the convenience of maintenance operations. When it is necessary to replace a section of the pipe bundle, only the local snap-fit bolts need to be released and the fixing pins need to be pulled out to separate the target pipe segment without disturbing the connection status of other short pipe segments. This localized operation significantly reduces the risk of secondary damage caused by misoperation during maintenance and reduces the calibration workload during reassembly.
[0017] 3. As a preferred embodiment of this application, the sealing ring groove and rib design on the outer periphery of the flange flow hole improves the leakage prevention capability of the pipe bundle under high pressure. It also facilitates disassembly of the sealing ring rib for operation when replacing it or cleaning / maintaining the sealing ring groove. Attached Figure Description
[0018] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of this application and form part of this application, illustrate exemplary embodiments and are used to explain this application, but do not constitute an undue limitation of this application. In the drawings:
[0019] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a shell-and-tube heat exchanger according to one embodiment of this application;
[0020] Figure 2 This is a cross-sectional view of a shell-and-tube heat exchanger according to one embodiment of this application. Figure 1 ;
[0021] Figure 3 This is a cross-sectional view of a shell-and-tube heat exchanger according to one embodiment of this application. Figure 2 ;
[0022] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the connection structure according to one embodiment of this application;
[0023] Figure 5 This is a side view of a shell-and-tube heat exchanger according to one embodiment of this application.
[0024] List of components and reference numerals:
[0025] 1 Shell, 11 Flow cavity, 12 Shell-side inlet, 13 Shell-side outlet, 14 Observation window;
[0026] 2 tube bundles, 21 short tube segments, 22 transmission chambers;
[0027] 3 tube sheets, 31 through holes;
[0028] 4. Connection structure, 41. Flange, 411. Flow hole, 412. Sealing ring groove, 413. Sealing ring rib, 42. Fixing pin, 43. Fixing hole;
[0029] 5. Color-changing film;
[0030] 6-fold flow plate. Detailed Implementation
[0031] To more clearly illustrate the overall concept of this application, a detailed explanation is provided below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0032] Many specific details are set forth in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of this application. However, this application may also be implemented in other ways different from those described herein. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed below. It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified, the embodiments of this application and the features thereof can be combined with each other.
[0033] Furthermore, it should be understood in the description of this application that the terms "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "axial", "radial", "circumferential", etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing this application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation of this application.
[0034] In this application, unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," "linking," and "fixing," etc., should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral part; they can refer to a mechanical connection, an electrical connection, or a communication connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; they can refer to the internal communication of two components or the interaction between two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this application according to the specific circumstances.
[0035] In this application, unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, the "above" or "below" of the second feature can mean that the first and second features are in direct contact, or that the first and second features are in indirect contact through an intermediate medium. In the description of this specification, references to terms such as "an embodiment," "some embodiments," "example," "specific example," or "some examples," etc., indicate that a specific feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with that embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of this application. In this specification, the illustrative expressions of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described can be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments or examples.
[0036] like Figures 1 to 5 As shown, a shell-and-tube heat exchanger with a segmented tube bundle 2 includes a shell 1, a tube bundle 2, and a tube sheet 3. The shell 1 has a flow cavity 11 for supplying shell-side medium inside, and shell-side inlet 12 and shell-side outlet 13 connected to the flow cavity 11 on both sides of the shell 1, respectively. The tube sheet 3 is detachably installed at both ends of the shell 1. The tube bundle 2 is composed of multiple short tube segments 21. Adjacent short tube segments 21 are detachably connected by a connecting structure 4. A transmission cavity 22 for supplying black water medium is formed inside the tube bundle 2. The tube sheets 3 located at both ends of the shell 1 are respectively inserted through the tube bundle 2 and extend to the outside of the flow cavity 11 to form a tube-side inlet and a tube-side outlet, respectively.
[0037] This application provides a highly flexible maintenance and thermal management solution for blast furnace black water waste heat recovery by dividing the traditional integral tube bundle 2 into multiple independent short tubes and adopting a detachable tube sheet 3 design. The segmented tube bundle 2 allows for the removal and replacement of only the damaged section when the performance of a single tube section deteriorates due to black water corrosion or solid particle accumulation, without the need for destructive dismantling of the entire tube bundle 2. On the one hand, this improves the replacement and maintenance speed of the tube bundle 2, thereby significantly shortening downtime and reducing the loss of waste heat resources during blast furnace production; on the other hand, replacing only the damaged short tube section 21, compared to the traditional method of replacing the entire tube bundle 2, significantly reduces the maintenance cost of the heat exchanger, making the heat exchanger maintenance more economical. In addition, the design of the short tube section 21 can optimize the local flow channel structure according to the characteristics of black water. When there are many solid impurities in the black water and there is a risk of solid waste accumulation, the short tube section 21 with anti-solid accumulation inner wall can be replaced, improving the adaptability to black water of different properties.
[0038] Specifically, in the short tube section 21, the part connected to the tube sheet 3 is fixedly connected to the tube sheet 3 by welding or other means. That is to say, in the tube bundle 2, the short tube section 21 that is not connected to the tube sheet 3 can be replaced individually. If the short tube section 21 that is fixedly connected to the tube sheet 3 becomes blocked or corroded, the tube sheet 3 needs to be disassembled and replaced or repaired as a whole. However, the short tube section 21 that is not connected to the tube sheet 3 can still be retained for use.
[0039] As a preferred embodiment of this application, such as Figure 4 As shown, the connection structure 4 includes flanges 41 respectively provided on two adjacent short pipe sections 21, fixing pins 42 passing through the flanges 41, and snap bolts distributed circumferentially on the flanges 41. The flanges 41 are provided with multiple fixing holes 43 at intervals along the circumference. The flanges 41 are fixedly connected to the short pipe sections 21, and two adjacent flanges 41 are connected by fixing pins 42 that pass through the fixing holes 43 in sequence.
[0040] The combined design of flange 41 and fixing pin 42 provides an efficient and stable solution for the reliable connection of segmented pipe bundle 2. The precise penetration of the fixing holes 43 circumferentially distributed on flange 41 and fixing pin 42 ensures strict axial and radial alignment of adjacent short pipe segments 21, improving the alignment accuracy between adjacent short pipe segments 21. This is particularly suitable for the frequent disassembly and reassembly requirements in blast furnace black water treatment scenarios. The circumferentially evenly distributed snap-fit bolts not only strengthen the axial locking force of flange 41 but also effectively suppress vibration or loosening caused by high-pressure black water flow through multi-point pressure balance, thereby ensuring the sealing integrity of the connection node during long-term operation. Furthermore, the design of this connection structure 4 fully considers the convenience of maintenance operations. When it is necessary to replace a section of pipe bundle 2, only the local snap-fit bolts need to be released and the fixing pin 42 needs to be pulled out to separate the target pipe segment without disturbing the connection status of other short pipe segments 21. This localized operation significantly reduces the risk of secondary damage caused by misoperation during maintenance, while also reducing the calibration workload during reassembly.
[0041] Preferably, the fixing hole 43 is provided with an internal thread, the fixing pin 42 is a screw, and the fixing pin 42 is threadedly engaged with the snap bolt and the fixing hole 43.
[0042] As a preferred embodiment of this implementation, such as Figure 4 As shown, the flange 41 has a flow hole 411 communicating with the transmission cavity 22. The flange 41 has a sealing ring groove 412 on the outer periphery of the flow hole 411, and a sealing ring rib 413 is provided in the sealing ring groove 412.
[0043] The sealing ring groove 412 and ring rib design around the flow hole 411 of flange 41 enhance the leakage prevention capability of tube bundle 2 under high pressure environment. It also facilitates the disassembly of sealing ring rib 413 for operation when replacing sealing ring rib 413 or cleaning and maintaining sealing ring groove 412.
[0044] As another preferred embodiment of this implementation, such as Figure 4 , Figure 5 As shown, the shell-and-tube heat exchanger also includes a pressure detection assembly, which comprises a color-changing diaphragm 5 and a pressure detector. The color-changing diaphragm 5 changes color according to the pressure signal detected by the pressure detector. The flange 41 has a mounting groove for accommodating the color-changing diaphragm 5, and through-holes communicating with the transmission cavity 22 are provided on both sides of the mounting groove. The pressure detector is located inside the transmission cavity 22 and is connected to the color-changing diaphragm 5 via a transmission line passing through the through-holes. Preferably, the shell 1 has an observation window 14, which contains a transparent viewing element.
[0045] The integrated pressure detection component on flange 41 and the collaborative design of observation window 14 on housing 1 enable real-time visual monitoring and early fault warning of the internal operating status of pipe bundle 2. The pressure detector, built into transmission chamber 22, directly contacts the black water medium and collects pressure fluctuation signals in real time. Through a transmission line, it drives the color change of the color-changing diaphragm 5, converting pressure data into an intuitive visual indication. Operators can directly observe the diaphragm's color status through observation window 14, quickly identifying anomalies in specific pipe sections, thereby accurately locating problematic sections and developing targeted maintenance strategies. This monitoring method achieves continuous operational status tracking without interrupting black water flow or disassembling the equipment housing, avoiding the interruption of waste heat recovery caused by shutdown inspections in traditional detection methods.
[0046] Preferably, the transparent viewing element of the observation window 14 is made of wear-resistant and high-temperature resistant materials (such as tempered glass or polycarbonate), and can be cleaned regularly through an openable design to maintain the clarity of observation, thereby providing maintenance personnel with a continuous and reliable visual inspection channel.
[0047] As a preferred embodiment of this application, such as Figure 2 , Figure 3 As shown, there are multiple tube bundles 2, and multiple through holes 31 are provided on the tube plate 3 to align with the tube bundles 2. The tube bundles 2 are inserted into the tube plate 3 through the through holes 31. The tube plate 3 is provided with multiple first threaded holes at intervals along its circumference. The housing 1 is provided with second threaded holes corresponding to the first threaded holes. The tube plate 3 is detachably connected to the screws that pass through the first threaded holes and the second threaded holes.
[0048] This design reduces the difficulty of assembling and disassembling tube sheet 3, allowing for quick installation and removal of tube sheet 3 and reducing the downtime waiting time of the heat exchanger.
[0049] In a preferred embodiment of this application, a spiral guide groove is formed on the inner wall of the short pipe section 21, the depth of the spiral guide groove is D1, the wall thickness of the short pipe section 21 is D2, and 0, 1≤D1 / D2≤0.15.
[0050] The spiral guide channels on the inner wall of short pipe section 21 guide the black water medium to rotate and flow, forming a stable centrifugal force field that promotes the migration of solid particles to the outer side of the pipe wall, reducing their deposition on the pipe wall surface. Simultaneously, the spiral guide channels enhance the heat exchange intensity between the black water medium and the pipe wall of tube bundle 2, thereby improving waste heat extraction efficiency at the same flow rate. The depth and wall thickness ratio of the guide channels are optimized to avoid a decrease in pipe wall strength due to excessive channel depth, while ensuring that the guiding effect continuously inhibits scaling and extends the maintenance-free cycle of short pipe section 21.
[0051] As a preferred embodiment of this application, such as Figure 3As shown, multiple baffles 6 are spaced apart on the inner wall of the shell 1. One end of the baffle 6 is connected to the inner wall of the shell 1, and the other end extends away from the inner wall of the shell 1.
[0052] The extended design of the baffles 6 on the inner wall of the shell 1 guides the shell-side medium to form a multi-stage zigzag flow, increasing its contact time and turbulence intensity with the outer wall of the tube bundle 2, thereby enhancing the heat exchange effect between the shell-side and tube-side media. Furthermore, the spaced arrangement of the baffles 6 provides controllable path adjustment space for the flow direction of the shell-side medium, enabling it to adapt to shell-side media of different viscosities, such as cooling water or oil, thus improving the heat exchanger's operational compatibility.
[0053] For any parts not mentioned in this application, existing technologies may be used or referenced.
[0054] The various embodiments in this specification are described in a progressive manner. The same or similar parts between the various embodiments can be referred to each other. Each embodiment focuses on describing the differences from other embodiments.
[0055] The above description is merely an embodiment of this application and is not intended to limit the scope of this application. Various modifications and variations can be made to this application by those skilled in the art. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of this application should be included within the scope of the claims of this application.
Claims
1. A segmented tube bundle shell-and-tube heat exchanger, characterized in that, Includes the shell, tube bundle, and tube sheet, wherein: The shell has a flow cavity for supplying shell-side medium inside, and shell-side inlet and shell-side outlet are respectively opened on both sides of the shell and are connected to the flow cavity; The tube sheet is detachably installed at both ends of the housing. The tube bundle is composed of multiple short tube segments. Adjacent short tube segments are detachably connected by a connecting structure. A transmission cavity for black water medium to flow is formed inside the tube bundle. The two ends of the tube bundle pass through the tube sheet located at both ends of the housing and extend to the outside of the flow cavity to form a tube inlet and a tube outlet, respectively.
2. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger according to claim 1, characterized in that, The connection structure includes flanges respectively disposed on two adjacent short pipe sections, fixing pins passing through the flanges, and snap bolts distributed circumferentially on the flanges. The flanges are provided with a plurality of fixing holes spaced apart circumferentially. The flanges are fixedly connected to the short pipe sections, and two adjacent flanges are connected by fixing pins that pass through the fixing holes in sequence.
3. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger according to claim 2, characterized in that, The flange has a flow hole communicating with the transmission cavity, and the flange has a sealing ring groove on the outer periphery of the flow hole, and a sealing ring rib is provided in the sealing ring groove.
4. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger according to claim 2, characterized in that, The shell-and-tube heat exchanger also includes a pressure detection component, which includes a color-changing diaphragm and a pressure detector. The color-changing diaphragm can change color according to the pressure signal detected by the pressure detector. The flange is provided with a mounting groove for accommodating the color-changing diaphragm. The mounting groove has through-holes on both sides that communicate with the transmission cavity. The pressure detector is located inside the transmission cavity and is connected to the color-changing diaphragm through a transmission line passing through the through-hole.
5. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger according to claim 4, characterized in that, The housing is provided with an observation window, and the observation window contains a transparent viewing element.
6. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger according to claim 1, characterized in that, The tube bundles are multiple in number, and the tube sheet is provided with multiple through holes that are aligned with the tube bundles. The tube bundles pass through the through holes and are inserted into the tube sheet. The tube sheet is provided with multiple first threaded holes spaced apart along its circumference. The housing is provided with second threaded holes that correspond to the first threaded holes. The tube sheet is detachably connected to the tube sheet by screws that pass through the first threaded holes and the second threaded holes.
7. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger according to claim 1, characterized in that, The inner wall of the short pipe section is provided with a spiral guide groove, the depth of the spiral guide groove is D1, the wall thickness of the short pipe section is D2, and 0, 1≤D1 / D2≤0.
15.
8. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger according to claim 1, characterized in that, The inner wall of the housing is provided with multiple baffles at intervals. One end of each baffle is connected to the inner wall of the housing, and the other end extends away from the inner wall of the housing.