Evaporative Cooling Assembly with Segmented Sub-Basins
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional evaporative cooling units face challenges in reducing incrustation formation on heat exchangers, leading to inefficiencies and maintenance issues, and existing designs have not been practical for widespread adoption.
Innovation Solution
The cooling unit features a collecting basin subdivided into multiple sub-basins with fluidically connected heat exchanger segments, where evaporation water flows in a cross-countercurrent configuration, minimizing incrustation risk and enabling efficient cleaning and compact design.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the heat exchanger is completely immersed in collected evaporation water, then the risk of incrustations and deposits forming on the heat exchanger is reduced, but the cleaning and maintenance of the system becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The heat exchanger is divided into multiple segments that are arranged in series and can be individually accessed. This segmentation allows each segment to be cleaned or maintained separately while the heat exchanger remains immersed in the water, resolving the contradiction between immersion (reducing incrustation) and accessibility (facilitating cleaning).
Solution Approach 2:
A removable panel or access mechanism is introduced as an intermediary between the heat exchanger and the surrounding structure. This intermediary allows maintenance personnel to access the heat exchanger segments for cleaning without removing the entire heat exchanger from the immersed position, thus maintaining both protection from incrustation and ease of maintenance.
2Productivity
If the collecting basin is subdivided into multiple sub-basins with heat exchanger segments, then the cooling efficiency is improved through cross-countercurrent flow, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The collecting basin is segmented into multiple sub-basins, each containing heat exchanger segments. This segmentation enables the implementation of cross-countercurrent flow patterns that improve cooling efficiency while keeping each segment relatively simple in design, thus managing overall complexity through modular organization.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple sub-basins are combined into a single integrated system where the evaporation water flows sequentially through each sub-basin. This merging approach achieves the efficiency benefits of complex flow patterns while presenting a unified, manageable structure rather than separate independent systems.
3Reliability
If the heat exchanger is arranged in the collecting basin and washed by water, then incrustation risk is reduced, but the space requirement and structural complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The heat exchanger segments are nested within the collecting basin structure, with each segment positioned to utilize the available space efficiently. This nesting arrangement allows the heat exchanger to be immersed in the water for incrustation protection while minimizing the overall volume occupied by the system.
Solution Approach 2:
The heat exchanger segments are arranged in a vertical or multi-dimensional configuration within the basin rather than a simple horizontal layout. This dimensional arrangement increases the heat exchange surface area within a compact volume, reducing the overall space requirement while maintaining immersion for incrustation resistance.
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 configuration enhances cooling unit efficiency, reduces maintenance needs, and ensures trouble-free operation by preventing incrustation and allowing effective cleaning of evaporated water, resulting in a compact and reliable cooling solution.
Implementation Method 1
an evaporative cooling unit with an evaporative water circuit and a heat exchanger exposed to it for the medium to be cooled, the evaporative water circuit having a collecting basin, an evaporative water pump, an evaporative water distributor and an evaporation path exposed to an air flow
Implementation Method 2
a heat exchanger exposed to it for the medium to be cooled... the heat exchanger being arranged in the collecting basin and washed by the water present there
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
The invention relates to a cooling assembly comprising an evaporation cooling unit (1) having an evaporation water circuit and a heat exchanger (8), exposed to the evaporation water circuit, for the medium to be cooled. The evaporation water circuit has a collection tank (16), an evaporation water pump (17), an evaporation water distributor (14) and an evaporation section (15) exposed to an air flow (L). The heat exchanger (8) is arranged in the collection tank (16), and the water in the collection tank flows around the heat exchanger. The collection tank (16) comprises a plurality of sub-tanks (23) which are delimited from one another, and the heat exchanger (8) comprises a plurality of heat exchanger segments (24) which are fluidically connected in series and arranged in different sub-tanks (23). Evaporation water collected downstream of the evaporation section (15) is applied to the sub-tanks (23) in parallel. The inflow region (34) and outflow region (46) of the evaporation water in a sub-tank (23) are offset, in opposite directions to each other, in relation to the inlet and outlet, in each case, of the associated heat exchanger segment (24). Each of the individual sub-tanks (23) contains a sequence of flow-guiding elements (37) having passage cross-sections (39, 41) offset vertically with respect to one another.