Disk Bundle Heat Exchanger with Zigzag Flow Guides
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional disk-type plate heat exchangers face high defect rates, material loss, and reduced heat exchange efficiency due to leakage and gasket issues, especially when handling high-temperature media, leading to reduced productivity and increased manufacturing costs.
Innovation Solution
A disk bundle-type plate heat exchanger design featuring a shell housing with modular heat exchange bundles and bundle guides that prevent leakage by forming a zigzag flow path, utilizing corrugated heat transfer plates and reinforcing structures to enhance durability and heat exchange efficiency, and allowing easy assembly and disassembly for improved workability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If welding is used to fabricate integrated heat transfer plate block, then structural strength is improved, but defect rate increases and manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The heat exchanger is divided into multiple modular heat transfer plate units that can be assembled without welding. Each unit consists of stacked heat transfer plates with sealing structures, allowing the system to achieve structural integrity through mechanical assembly rather than welding, thereby reducing defect rates while maintaining strength
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines multiple functions into integrated components: the heat transfer plates incorporate both heat exchange surfaces and sealing structures, while the frame structure integrates support and alignment functions. This merging reduces the need for additional welding operations and complex assembly steps
2Strength
If welding is used to fabricate integrated heat transfer plate block, then structural strength is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the heat exchanger into modular units that assemble without welding, the patent reduces manufacturing costs through simpler fabrication processes, lower material waste, and easier repairability, while maintaining structural strength through optimized mechanical connections and sealing designs
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the connection method from welded (high cost, high strength) to mechanically assembled (lower cost, adequate strength). The sealing structures and frame designs are optimized to provide sufficient structural integrity through non-welded connections, thereby reducing manufacturing costs while maintaining required strength levels
3Ease of operation
If gasket is inserted into heat transfer plates to create separate heat transfer plate unit assembly, then ease of assembly is improved, but operating pressure and temperature decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses composite sealing structures combining rubber gaskets with reinforced positioning features and metal-to-metal sealing surfaces. This composite approach allows easy assembly through gasket insertion while maintaining high operating temperatures through the thermal stability of the reinforced structure and metal contact areas
Solution Approach 2:
The heat transfer plates incorporate curved or corrugated sealing surfaces that work with the gaskets to create effective seals at high temperatures. The curved geometries accommodate thermal expansion and contraction, maintaining seal integrity under high temperature and pressure conditions while preserving ease of assembly
4Ease of operation
If heating medium passes through gap between bundle guides and heat transfer plates, then assembly ease is improved, but heat exchange efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces bundle guides as intermediary components between the heat transfer plates and shell. These guides serve dual functions: facilitating easy assembly by guiding plate insertion while simultaneously sealing gaps to prevent heating medium leakage, thereby eliminating heat exchange dead zones and maintaining high heat exchange efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The bundle guides perform multiple functions simultaneously: they act as alignment guides during assembly, provide sealing to prevent leakage, and serve as structural support elements. This multi-functionality resolves the contradiction by enabling easy assembly without creating harmful gaps that would reduce heat exchange efficiency
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 design effectively prevents medium leakage, reduces heat exchange dead zones, and enhances heat exchange efficiency by maximizing the time the heating medium spends within the heat exchange area, while also simplifying the assembly and installation process, thus improving productivity and reducing manufacturing costs.
Implementation Method 1
a first heat exchange bundle, a second heat exchange bundle, . . . and an n-th heat exchange bundle are constructed in an integrated manner by stacking heat transfer plates having heating or heating target heat transfer passages
Implementation Method 2
the heating medium of the upper chamber can fully exchange heat via a heat exchange area (a heat transfer passage) within the heat transfer plates
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein is a disk bundle-type plate heat exchanger. In disk bundle-type plate heat exchanger, a shell housing having an internal chamber is provided with an inlet and an outlet for a heating medium and an inlet and an outlet for a heating target medium, a first heat exchange bundle, a second heat exchange bundle, . . . , and an n-th heat exchange bundle are constructed in an integrated manner by stacking heat transfer plates having heating or heating target heat transfer passages in a plurality of layers and coupling reinforcing plates to the outer surfaces of the heat transfer plates, bundle packages are introduced into the internal chamber of the shell housing to thus allow the heating medium and the heating target medium to exchange heat with each other, and a bundle guide protrudes from one side or each of both sides of each of the heat exchange bundles.