Heat exchanger system with changeable passage for heat recovery applications

Abstract

The invention relates to a system (100) for changing the number of passages of the coolant without stopping the pressurized gas output of the compressors, developed particularly for use in heat recovery applications.

Description

[0001] HEAT EXCHANGER SYSTEM WITH CHANGEABLE PASSAGE FOR HEAT RECOVERY APPLICATIONS

[0002] Technical Field

[0003] The invention relates to a system for changing the number of passages of the coolant without stopping the pressurized gas output of the compressors, developed particularly for use in heat recovery applications.

[0004] State of the Art

[0005] In the state of the art, the heat exchangers used in turbo compressors are finned tube type heat exchangers. Finned tube type heat exchangers are preferred for cooling fluids with low thermal conductivity, such as gas. A more efficient heat exchange is provided by increasing the heat transfer surface for the gas to be cooled with the fins mounted on the cooling pipes. However, said heat exchangers having a cross-flow regime causes them to be designed in larger sizes compared to counter-flow heat exchangers. Thus, maintenance and service operations become difficult.

[0006] Since compressors are sensitive to different weather conditions (temperature, pressure, relative humidity, etc.), their performance can vary. In addition to performance changes, the requirements of the facilities may also change seasonally or with new investments such as energy efficiency and production capacity increase. For example, by prioritizing energy efficiency, facilities may need to use waste heat, which is a by-product in the compressor, to heat the facility at low air temperatures, while this need may be eliminated in hot weather conditions. As another example, the waste heat mentioned can be used for an industrial process within the facility, in which heat and temperature needs may vary. Such industrial processes sometimes require a higher temperature of liquid, while in some cases they may need less liquid temperature but more flow rate. Failure to meet the needs of the systems mentioned with examples negatively affects the performance of the machines and causes a complete halt of production in facilities with precise critical processes. In order to avoid such critical halts, it is expected that the temperatures of the coolant will be adjusted without affecting the performance of the compressors. For example, increasing the number of passages of the coolant passing through the heat exchangers in order to obtain liquids at the desired temperature at low air temperatures, or vice versa, reducing the number of coolant passages in order to provide the desired conditions at high air temperatures may be necessary. However, in the compressors used in the present art, the compressor must be stopped and restarted after replacing the necessary heat exchanger parts at each adjustment in order to adjust said coolant passages without affecting the compressor performance. Stopping the compressor while making the desired adjustments will cause planning and production problems in critical facilities using compressed air. Mechanical disassembly-assembly processes applied very frequently to meet such demands will cause a decrease in the operation performance of the devices and material deformations over time, and will shorten the service life of the product.

[0007] There is a need to develop new systems in order to eliminate said disadvantages stated above and in the state of the art.

[0008] Summary of the Invention

[0009] The present invention relates to a system particularly for use in heat recovery applications, enabling coolant passage number changing operations of the heat exchangers without any stoppage in heat exchangers used in turbo compressors, in order to eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages and to provide new advantages to the relevant technical field.

[0010] With the system of the invention, it is ensured that the compressors operate uninterruptedly without stoppage and mechanical disassembly-assembly operations by increasing the number of passages of the coolant in cases where the temperature requirement increases and adjusting passages of the coolant in heat exchangers according to the desired temperature in cases where the temperature requirement decreases in waste heat recycling systems.

[0011] With the invention, the fouling coefficient of the compressor is reduced in seasonal or operational situations where the need for the temperature of the waste heat liquid decreases, thus ensuring that the heat exchanger performances are maintained for longer periods without maintenance, and the service life and performance of the compressors are preserved by eliminating the need for continuous mechanical disassembly-assembly.

[0012] With the system of the invention, some of the energy consumed while the compressor is running can be used to obtain liquid at the appropriate temperature for another operation used in the facility by increasing or decreasing the number of passages of the coolant in the heat exchangers without stopping the compressor.

[0013] Description of the Drawings

[0014] The embodiments of the invention, briefly summarized above and discussed in more detail below, can be understood with reference to the example embodiments of the invention described in the accompanying drawings. It should benoted, however, that the accompanying drawings only illustrate typical embodiments of this invention and are not to be considered as limiting to its scope.

[0015] Figure 1. It is a representative top view of the system of the invention.

[0016] Figure 2. It is a representative front view of the system of the invention.

[0017] Figure 3. It is a representative perspective view of the system of the invention.

[0018] Figure 4. A representative diagram of an example embodiment of the system of the invention.

[0019] Description of the References in the Drawings

[0020] For a better understanding of the invention, the description of the numbers in the figures is given below:

[0021] 100. System

[0022] 1. First Coolant Inlet

[0023] 2. First Coolant Outlet

[0024] 3. Second Coolant Inlet

[0025] 4. Second Coolant Outlet

[0026] 5. Coolant Front Cover

[0027] 6. Coolant Back Cover

[0028] 7. First Valve 7.1 Primary Connection Port

[0029] 7.2 Secondary Connection Port

[0030] 8. Second Valve

[0031] Detailed Description of the Invention

[0032] The example embodiments are described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying descriptions. Furthermore, the embodiments can be established in different forms and should not be interpreted as being limited to the embodiments specified herein. Rather, these example embodiments are provided so that this description will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope to those skilled in the art.

[0033] The terminology used in this description is intended to be used only to describe specific example embodiments and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the context of the forms “a”, “at least”, “preferably” and “and / or” comprise the plural forms unless clearly stated otherwise. When the terms “comprises” and / or “including” are used in this specification, the specified properties, integers, steps, processes, elements, and / or components, however, do not prevent the presence or addition of one or more other properties, integers, steps, processes, elements, and / or components.

[0034] The invention relates to a system (100) for carrying out liquid passage processes without stopping compressors, developed particularly for use in heat recovery applications, characterized by comprising;

[0035] - at least a first coolant inlet (1 ), which is the main coolant inlet, allowing the entry of the coolant required for cooling the air that has been pressurized and has risen in temperature in the compressor before it enters the next pressurization stage, into the system (100),

[0036] - at least a first coolant outlet (2), which is the main coolant outlet positioned on the coolant front cover (5), allowing the exit of the coolant required for cooling the air that has been pressurized and has risen in temperature in the compressor before it enters the next pressurization stage, from the system (100),

[0037] - at least a second coolant inlet (3) positioned on the coolant front cover (5), allowing the entry of cold liquid into the system (100), which replaces the coolant leaving the system (100) due to the change in the number of passages, - at least a second coolant outlet (4) positioned on the coolant front cover (5), allowing the exit of the hot coolant from the system (100) due to the change in the number of passages,

[0038] - at least one feather coolant front cover (5) determining the number of passages,

[0039] - at least one feather coolant back cover (6) determining the number of passages,

[0040] - at least one first valve (7) that is hand or actuator driven, comprising at least one primary connection port (7.1) and at least one secondary connection port (7.2), changing and directing the number of passages of the coolant through the heat exchanger without stopping the compressor,

[0041] - at least one second valve (8) that is hand or actuator driven, providing flow to the hand or actuator driven first valve (7) which changes the number of passages of the coolant without stopping the compressor.

[0042] The coolant back cover (6) in the system of the invention cooperates simultaneously with the coolant front cover (5) to determine and adjust the number of passages of the liquids.

[0043] In an embodiment of the invention, the hand or actuator driven first valve (7) is a three- way valve, and the hand or actuator driven second valve (8) is a two-way valve, however the embodiment is not limited thereto.

[0044] In an embodiment of the invention, the hand or actuator driven first valve (7), which is a 3-way valve, allows the number of passages of the coolant to be changed. The hand or actuator driven second valve (8), which is a 2-way valve, allows the temperature of the coolant to be controlled, however the embodiment is not limited thereto.

[0045] An embodiment of the invention given as an example in Figure 4 comprises a hand or actuator driven first valve (7) and a hand or actuator driven second valve (8) to obtain coolant passage numbers 2 and 4.

[0046] In an embodiment of the invention, liquid is supplied from the first coolant inlet (1) and liquid is output from the first coolant outlet (2) to achieve a maximum coolant passage of 12. In this case, at least two hand or actuator driven second valves (8) are kept closed and positioned such that at least two primary ports (7.1) contained in at least two hand or actuator driven first valves (7) are open, however the embodiment is not limited thereto.

[0047] In an embodiment of the invention, when less passages of coolants, i.e. a minimum liquid passage of 2, is desired, liquid is supplied from the first coolant inlet (1 ) and the second coolant inlet (3), and liquid is output from the first coolant outlet (2) and the second coolant outlet (4). In this case, the hand or actuator driven second valve (8) is held open and positioned such that the secondary connection port (7.2) contained in the hand or actuator driven first valve (7) is open, however the embodiment is not limited thereto.

[0048] With a minimum number of 2 of coolant passages, a high flow rate is obtained from the coolant. With a maximum number of 12 of coolant passages, the coolant temperature is ensured to be higher.

[0049] With the invention, when the number of liquid passages is reduced, it is ensured that the efficiency of the heat exchangers is maintained for a longer period of time without maintenance. In addition, if the number of coolant passages is increased, it is ensured that the hot liquid obtained is reused in the facility.

[0050] Any features described in this description (including appended claims, summary and drawings) may be replaced by other alternative features that may have equivalent or similar purposes, unless otherwise stated explicitly. That is, unless otherwise stated explicitly, each feature is only one example of a set of equivalent or similar features.

[0051] The above embodiments are intended only to describe the technical concept and features of the present invention, and the purpose of the present invention is to ensure that those skilled in the art understand the content of the present invention and practice the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Equivalent changes or modifications made in accordance with the spirit of the invention are intended to be included in the scope of the invention.

[0052] Industrial Applicability of the Invention The invention relates to a system (100) for changing the number of passages of the coolant without stopping the pressurized gas output of the compressors, developed particularly for use in heat recovery applications, and is industrially applicable. The invention is not limited to the example embodiments above, and the person skilled in the art can readily present other different embodiments of the invention. These should be considered within the protection scope of the invention claimed by the claims.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A system (100) developed particularly for use in heat recovery applications, comprising, in order to allow liquid passage processes without stopping compressors; at least a first coolant inlet (1), which is the main coolant inlet, allowing the entry of the coolant required for cooling the air that has been pressurized and has risen in temperature in the compressor before it enters the next pressurization stage, into the system (100), at least a first coolant outlet (2), which is the main coolant outlet positioned on the coolant front cover (5), allowing the exit of the coolant required for cooling the air that has been pressurized and has risen in temperature in the compressor before it enters the next pressurization stage, from the system (100), characterized in that it comprises;- at least a second coolant inlet (3) positioned on the coolant front cover (5), allowing the entry of cold liquid into the system (100), which replaces the coolant leaving the system (100) due to the change in the number of passages,- at least a second coolant outlet (4) positioned on the coolant front cover (5), allowing the exit of the hot coolant from the system (100) due to the change in the number of passages,- at least one feather coolant front cover (5) determining the number of passages,- at least one feather coolant back cover (6) determining the number of passages,- at least one hand or actuator driven first valve (7), comprising at least one primary connection port (7.1 ) and at least one secondary connection port (7.2), changing and directing the number of passages of the coolant through the heat exchanger without stopping the compressor,- at least one hand or actuator driven second valve (8), providing flow to the hand or actuator driven first valve (7) which changes the number of passages of the coolant without stopping the compressor.

2. A system (100) according to claim 1 , characterized in that it comprises at least a hand or actuator driven first valve (7), which is a three way valve, changing the number of passages of the coolant.

3. A system (100) according to claim 2, characterized in that it comprises at least a hand or actuator driven second valve (8), which is a two way valve, allowing the temperature of the coolant to be controlled.

4. A system (100) according to claim 3, characterized in that, in order to achieve a minimum number of coolant passages of 2; the hand or actuator driven second valve (8) is held open and positioned such that the secondary connection port (7.2) contained in the hand or actuator driven first valve (7) is open.

5. A system (100) according to claim 4, characterized in that, in order to achieve a maximum number of coolant passages of 12; at least two hand or actuator driven second valves (8) are held closed and positioned such that the at least two primary connection ports (7.1 ) contained in the at least two hand or actuator driven first valves (7) are open.

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