Air Cooler Header Segmentation for Heat Exchange and Welding Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge in air coolers with plate-shaped fins and heat transfer pipes is to maintain high heat exchange performance while improving assembling workability, as densely disposed heat transfer pipes complicate welding and reduce performance.
Innovation Solution
The air cooler design includes sectioned headers with densely packed heat transfer pipes in one area and sparsely packed pipes in another, allowing for equilateral and isosceles triangular arrangements, along with section borders that intersect airflow directions to optimize airflow and reduce intervals between pipes for easier assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If heat transfer pipes are disposed densely to improve heat exchange performance, then heat exchange performance is improved, but assembling workability deteriorates due to welding difficulty
Solution Approach 1:
The header is divided into multiple rows, creating distinct sectioned areas with different pipe densities. This segmentation allows the heat transfer pipes to be densely disposed in sectioned areas for high heat exchange performance while being sparsely disposed in areas between sectioned areas for improved assembling workability, thus resolving the contradiction between heat exchange performance and assembling workability
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the header are assigned different pipe densities according to their functional requirements. Sectioned areas have dense pipe arrangements optimized for heat exchange, while areas between sectioned areas have sparse pipe arrangements optimized for welding accessibility. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by applying different qualities to different parts of the system
2Reliability
If pitch between heat transfer pipes is reduced to improve heat exchange performance, then heat exchange performance is improved, but welding accessibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the header into multiple rows and creating sectioned areas, the patent enables small pitches (1.2D≤L1≤1.8D) within sectioned areas for high heat exchange performance while maintaining larger pitches in areas between sectioned areas for welding accessibility, thus resolving the contradiction between heat exchange performance and welding accessibility
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a new spatial dimension by dividing the header into multiple rows and creating sectioned areas. This dimensional organization allows dense pipe arrangements in certain zones while maintaining accessible gaps in other zones, resolving the contradiction between reduced pitch for heat exchange and maintained pitch for welding accessibility
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design maintains heat exchange performance while enhancing assembling workability by providing gaps for welding and improving airflow efficiency, thus inhibiting performance degradation.
Implementation Method 1
a fan that circulates an airflow between the plate-shaped fins
Implementation Method 2
heat transfer pipes that are perpendicularly inserted into the plate-shaped fins and in which a fluid flows
Data Source
AI summary
A plurality of heat transfer pipes; a first header and a second header to which both ends of each of the heat transfer pipes that are disposed in parallel are fixed, respectively; a plurality of plate shaped fins through which each of the heat transfer pipes is penetrated and that are provided at intervals in a direction in which the heat transfer pipes extend between the first header and the second header; and a fan that circulates an airflow between the plate shaped fins are included. The first header and the second header are formed to be sectioned into multiple rows, the heat transfer pipes are disposed densely in an sectioned area of the first header and the second header, and the heat transfer pipes are disposed sparsely in an area between the sectioned areas of the first header and the second header.