Counterflow Fluid Generator Layout to Prevent Flue Gas Leaks
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Solution Overview
Problem
High temperature fluid generators, such as boilers, face challenges in accessibility and maintenance due to complex and long tube designs, leading to potential flue gas leaks and increased maintenance requirements, which complicates inspection and fabrication, and results in costly and large equipment.
Innovation Solution
A high temperature fluid generator with a forced circulation counter flow design using shorter furnace tubes and membrane tube construction, featuring headers connected by tube streams, with convection tube weld seams outside the flue gas path, enabling easier maintenance and eliminating flue gas leaks, and utilizing fin tubes for enhanced heat transfer to reduce the need for additional components like economizers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If traditional tangent tube furnace construction is used, then heat transfer area is increased, but flue gas leaks and larger maintenance area are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs membrane tubes with seamless construction to eliminate weld seams that are prone to failure. The membrane tube design provides a continuous, leak-free barrier for flue gas containment while maintaining the necessary heat transfer area through optimized surface geometry and material properties.
2Use of energy by moving object
If longer tubes are used to increase heat transfer area, then heat transfer efficiency is improved, but fabrication and installation become more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the heat transfer function into separate sections: membrane tubes for furnace section and fin tubes for convection section. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently for its specific function, reducing overall fabrication complexity while maintaining total heat transfer area.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines different tube types (membrane tubes and fin tubes) with complementary materials and structures. The membrane tubes provide leak-free containment while the fin tubes maximize heat transfer efficiency, creating a composite system that achieves both reliability and thermal performance without requiring excessively long single tubes.
3Adaptability or versatility
If weld seams are placed in flue gas path to extend tube length, then tube network flexibility is improved, but weld failure risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the weld seams from the flue gas path by positioning them outside the combustion zone. The membrane tube construction allows the tube network to achieve necessary flexibility and connectivity without requiring welds in critical high-temperature flue gas exposure areas, thereby eliminating the primary failure point.
4Use of energy by moving object
If generator size is increased to accommodate more heat transfer area, then heat transfer capacity is improved, but equipment cost and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The membrane tube construction enables high heat transfer capacity within a compact volume by maximizing the surface-area-to-volume ratio. The thin-film membrane tubes provide sufficient heat transfer area without requiring large-diameter or excessively long tubes, thereby reducing overall generator size and weight while maintaining thermal capacity.
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 results in a more compact, cost-efficient, and easier-to-maintain generator with improved heat transfer efficiency, reducing fabrication time and maintenance area, while minimizing the risk of weld failures and flue gas leaks.
Implementation Method 1
the convection section consists of bare tubes, stainless steel fin tube and/or carbon steel fin tubes. Using the fin tubes in the convection section enables maximization of the heat transfer
Implementation Method 2
High temperature fluid generator with a forced circulation counter flow design
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of a high temperature fluid generator are adapted to heat a fluid to a high temperature using a heat source. The generator employs a forced circulation counter flow design including a furnace section, a convection section and a pair of L-shaped headers connected to tubes in the furnace and convection sections. In various embodiments, the headers are positioned on diagonally opposite corners and convection tubes are positioned at least partially outside of a flue path for the combustion gas.