Falling Film Heat Exchanger Guide Plate for Inclined Motion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Falling film heat exchangers and absorption refrigeration systems face performance deterioration when subjected to inclination and swing motions, leading to bypass, no-flow region increase, and wet surface reduction issues, making them unsuitable for installations in ships, offshore structures, and underwater equipment.
Innovation Solution
A falling film heat exchanger design featuring a guide plate with depressed portions and flow-down holes ensures even distribution and drop of liquid onto heat exchanger tubes, maintaining performance across inclination angles by aligning heat exchanger tubes with the ship's longitudinal direction and using a liquid distributor with sloped passages to manage liquid flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a conventional falling film heat exchanger is used, then heat exchange efficiency is improved through vaporization heat of the second fluid, but the heat exchanger cannot tolerate inclination and swing motions causing performance deterioration
Solution Approach 1:
The guide plate is divided into multiple depressed portions, each corresponding to a specific heat exchanger tube. This segmentation allows independent liquid distribution control for each tube, ensuring that liquid is properly directed to each tube even when the heat exchanger is inclined or subjected to swing motions, thereby maintaining heat exchange efficiency while adapting to dynamic conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide plate features localized depressed portions with flow-down holes positioned at specific locations to match the arrangement of heat exchanger tubes. This local quality adjustment ensures that liquid is distributed evenly to each tube's lower end regardless of the heat exchanger's orientation, resolving the contradiction between maintaining efficient heat exchange and adapting to inclination and swing motions.
2Ease of operation
If heat exchanger tubes are spaced at certain intervals to ensure even liquid distribution, then liquid distribution is improved, but bypass occurs when the heat exchanger is inclined causing liquid to flow between tubes
Solution Approach 1:
The guide plate acts as an intermediary component between the liquid source and the heat exchanger tubes. It intercepts liquid flowing down from upper tubes and redirects it through flow-down holes to the lower ends of corresponding tubes. This intermediary structure prevents bypass flow between tubes while maintaining even liquid distribution, even when the heat exchanger is inclined.
3Device complexity
If a simple plate dropping device is used, then device complexity is reduced, but liquid cannot be reliably dropped onto heat exchanger tubes when inclined
Solution Approach 1:
The guide plate incorporates depressed portions that dynamically adapt to the heat exchanger's inclination and swing motions. The depressed portions and flow-down holes are positioned to automatically adjust liquid flow paths based on the current orientation, maintaining reliable liquid dropping without requiring complex active control mechanisms. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction between simplicity and reliability under inclination.
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 solution ensures consistent heat exchange performance even during ship inclinations and swings, preventing performance reduction and allowing installation in dynamic environments like ships and offshore structures.
Implementation Method 1
the guide plate is configured to convey the liquid flowing down on outer surfaces of the respective upper heat exchanger tubes onto the lower heat exchanger tubes
Implementation Method 2
the first fluid and the second fluid are caused to exchange heat
Implementation Method 3
the outer surfaces of the heat exchanger tubes are covered with the second fluid. Thereby, the first fluid and the second fluid are caused to exchange heat
Implementation Method 4
This falling film heat exchanger can perform efficient heat exchange because the heat exchanger can achieve a great leap in the heat exchange amount by use of the heat of vaporization of the second fluid
Data Source
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AI summary
A guide plate 22A, 22B having depressed portions 22 is provided between an array of heat exchanger tubes 21 arranged side by side in a horizontal direction and a next lower array of heat exchanger tubes 21 arranged side by side in the horizontal direction, and is positioned with the lowest parts of the depression portions 22a disposed near crest portions of the respective lower heat exchanger tubes 21. Thus, the guide plate is configured to convey a liquid D flowing down on outer surfaces of the respective upper heat exchanger tubes 21 onto the lower heat exchanger tubes 21 having one-to-one correspondences to the upper heat exchanger tubes 21 even when an inclination in a right-and-left direction of the heat exchanger tubes 21 occurs. Having this configuration, a falling film heat exchanger installed in a ship, an offshore structure, an underwater offshore structure or the like can avoid reduction in heat exchange performance, even when the ship or the like inclines and swings, by substantially evenly distributing and dropping a liquid such as a coolant or absorber onto the crests of the heat exchanger tubes and causing the liquid dropped from the heat exchanger tubes located in an upper array to surely fall onto the heat exchanger tubes located in the next lower array.