Evaporator Surface with Embedded Porous Particles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Evaporator and condenser elements face challenges such as overheating, limited evaporation capacity, poor refrigerant distribution, and fouling, which affect their efficiency and performance in processes like chillers and heat pumps.
Innovation Solution
The use of a thermally conductive support structure with embedded porous particles that protrude from the surface, providing nucleation sites for bubble formation, improving heat transfer, and serving as reservoirs for vapor and liquid, while maintaining good thermal conductivity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional smooth surfaces are used in evaporator elements, then manufacturing is simple, but evaporation capacity is limited and overheating occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies porous particles embedded in the evaporator surface to create numerous nucleation sites for bubble formation. These porous structures increase the effective surface area and provide capillary channels that enhance liquid refrigerant supply to evaporation sites, thereby increasing evaporation capacity and reducing overheating temperatures without complex manufacturing processes
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces localized porous particles at specific positions on the evaporator surface where nucleation is most needed. This creates non-uniform local properties that enhance bubble formation and liquid supply at critical locations, improving overall evaporation performance while maintaining simple bulk structure manufacturing
2Productivity
If porous layers are applied to improve nucleation, then evaporation performance improves, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of applying a continuous porous layer, the patent uses discrete porous particles embedded in the evaporator surface. This segmentation approach provides the nucleation benefits of porous structures while avoiding the manufacturing complexity of creating continuous porous coatings, as particles can be added as separate components during standard casting or manufacturing processes
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses naturally occurring or commercially available porous particles (such as ceramic or metallic foams) rather than creating porous structures from scratch. This copying approach leverages existing porous materials with proven nucleation properties, simplifying the manufacturing process while achieving the desired evaporation performance enhancement
3Power
If wire structures are superficially applied to enhance evaporation, then heat transfer improves, but refrigerant distribution becomes poor
Solution Approach 1:
The embedded porous particles create capillary channels within their structure that actively draw liquid refrigerant toward the evaporation surface through capillary pressure gradients. This ensures reliable refrigerant supply to heat transfer locations, preventing dry-out and maintaining effective heat transfer without requiring complex distribution systems
Solution Approach 2:
The porous particles act as intermediary structures between the liquid refrigerant supply channels and the evaporation surface. They provide a transition zone that capillary wicks liquid upward and distributes it across multiple nucleation sites, ensuring both adequate refrigerant quantity and effective heat transfer at the vapor-liquid interface
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 reduces overheating temperatures, enhances evaporation and condensation performance, and increases refrigerant storage capacity, leading to improved efficiency and capacity in evaporator and condenser systems.
Implementation Method 1
providing nucleation sites for bubble formation
Implementation Method 2
a support structure made of a material with good thermal conductivity
Implementation Method 3
serving as reservoirs for vapor and liquid
Data Source
Figure 1~8
Figure 2~3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
The present invention relates to an evaporator and/or condenser element which has a substrate structure (1) composed of a thermally conductive material with a surface for the evaporation or sublimation or condensation or resublimation of a liquid or solid medium. Particles (2) composed of a porous material are embedded into the surface of the substrate structure (1) so as to partially project out of said surface. In this way, a reduction of the required evaporation superheating temperature, an increase of the volume-specific and mass-specific evaporation and condensation performance, and an increased volume-specific refrigerant storage capacity are achieved.