Extruded Ceramic Structured Packing for Regenerative Heat Exchangers

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Solution Overview

Problem

The existing method of manufacturing ceramic structured packing, such as MLM®, is time-consuming and expensive due to the manual gluing of individual ribbed plates, which limits its scalability and cost-effectiveness for commercial quantities.

Innovation Solution

The development of a process to extrude ceramic structured packing as a single block, maintaining the serpentine cross-sectional flow channels of the traditional MLM® design, using a die to create a ladder-like configuration of ribbed plates and end-walls that form efficient serpentine flow channels, reducing the need for manual assembly.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If manual gluing of individual ribbed plates is used to manufacture ceramic structured packing, then the serpentine cross-sectional flow channels can be formed to achieve superior heat-transfer performance, but the manufacturing process becomes time-consuming and expensive

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveheat-transfer performanceVSAvoidmanufacturing efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges multiple individual ribbed plates into a single integrated extruded block. The extrusion process creates a unified structure where multiple plates are formed simultaneously in one continuous operation, eliminating the need for separate manufacturing and manual assembly of individual plates. This merging approach maintains the serpentine flow channel geometry while dramatically improving manufacturing efficiency.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The extrusion die is designed with preliminary-formed plate structures that are created during the extrusion process itself. The die geometry pre-establishes the ribbed plate configurations and their spatial relationships before the material is extruded, so that the complex interleaved structure is formed in one step rather than requiring subsequent assembly operations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Reliability

If manual gluing of individual ribbed plates is used to assemble structured packing, then the interleaved rib configuration can be achieved for superior performance, but the manufacturing cost increases significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveheat-transfer performanceVSAvoidmanufacturing cost

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The patent combines the manufacturing of multiple plates into a single extrusion operation. The extrusion process produces all required plates and their interleaved configurations in one continuous manufacturing step, eliminating the need for separate plate production, gluing materials, and manual labor costs associated with assembly.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces the manual mechanical assembly process (gluing) with an automated extrusion process. The extrusion die mechanically forms the complete interleaved structure through controlled material flow and shaping, substituting labor-intensive manual operations with an automated forming process that reduces both labor and material costs.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

3Shape

If individual plates are manually assembled to create structured packing, then the serpentine flow channel configuration can be formed, but the assembly process involves complex manual operations

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveserpentine flow channel configurationVSAvoidassembly complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ShapeVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent merges the formation of multiple plates and their spatial arrangement into a single extrusion operation. The extrusion process simultaneously creates all plates and positions them in their final interleaved configuration, eliminating the need for separate assembly steps and reducing operational complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentUS8192832B1Structured packing with interleaved heat-transfer surfaces

Publication Date: 2012.06.05 LANG KO C

AI summary

An extruded, ceramic, structured packing has a plurality of partition-plates attached to end-walls. The partition-plates have a plurality of parallel, interleaved ribs which run from the leading flow-edge to the trailing flow-edge of the partition plate to create a serpentine cross-sectioned flow-channel between an adjacent pair of partition plates and the end-walls.