Bendable Heat Exchanger Core with Crushable Center
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing core units for heat exchangers face issues with condensate accumulation and reduced performance due to inadequate drainage and fin crushing when bent to fit within compact HVAC system cabinets, leading to increased air pressure drops and thermal performance degradation.
Innovation Solution
A bent core unit design featuring a crushable center between two regions, which controls crushing during bending, maintaining the integrity of adjacent tubes and fins, and ensuring vertical tube orientation for improved condensate drainage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the core unit is bent to fit within compact HVAC system cabinets, then the core unit can be installed in smaller spaces, but the fins adjacent to the bend are crushed reducing thermal performance and increasing air pressure drop
Solution Approach 1:
The core unit is divided into distinct functional zones: an sacrificial zone with sacrificial fins designed to be crushed during bending, and protected zones with valuable fins that maintain thermal performance. This segmentation allows the unit to be bent for compact installation while preserving the thermal efficiency of the critical heat transfer areas.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the core unit are designed with different fin qualities - the sacrificial zone has fins optimized for being crushed (sacrificial fins), while the protected zones have fins optimized for heat transfer (valuable fins). This local differentiation ensures that when bending occurs, only the intended sacrificial fins are damaged while the thermally critical fins remain intact.
2Volume of moving object
If the core unit is bent about an axis perpendicular to the headers, then the cabinet space requirement is reduced, but fin crushing occurs resulting in increased air pressure drop
Solution Approach 1:
The core unit structure is segmented into a sacrificial zone containing sacrificial fins that are specifically designed to be crushed during the bending process. This segmentation isolates the bending-induced fin crushing to a non-critical region, allowing the unit to achieve the necessary compact form factor while maintaining acceptable air flow characteristics in the protected zones.
Solution Approach 2:
The bending process inherently causes fin crushing, which is normally harmful. However, this invention converts the harm into a beneficial controlled process by designing sacrificial fins that are intended to be crushed. The controlled crushing of sacrificial fins in the sacrificial zone allows the unit to be bent for compact installation while the crushing is confined to areas where it does not significantly impact overall air flow performance.
3Device complexity
If tubes are oriented horizontally with vertical fins, then the core unit structure is simplified, but condensate accumulates in fin convolutions causing inadequate drainage
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of the conventional horizontal tube orientation with vertical fins that causes condensate accumulation, this invention inverts the orientation to vertical tubes with horizontal fins. This inversion fundamentally changes the condensate drainage behavior - condensate now drains along the vertical tubes by gravity without accumulating in fin convolutions, eliminating the drainage problem while maintaining structural feasibility.
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
The solution maintains thermal performance and prevents air pressure drops by localizing crushing to the crushable center, reducing fin damage and condensate blockages, thus enhancing the overall efficiency of the heat exchanger.
Implementation Method 1
Fins 18 are disposed between adjacent pairs of tubes 16 for dissipating heat from the fluid in the tubes 16
Data Source
AI summary
A core unit for a heat exchanger comprises a pair of headers spaced from one another each defining a fluid space for receiving a fluid therein and each defining a plurality of apertures. A first region comprising a plurality of first tubes extends between the headers and a first fin is disposed between adjacent pairs of the first tubes. A second region comprising a plurality of second tubes extends between the headers and a second fin is disposed between adjacent pairs of the second tubes. A crushable center different than the first and second regions is disposed parallelly between the first and second regions for controllably crushing when the headers are bent.