Heat Exchanger Header Structure for Even Refrigerant Flow
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing heat exchanger headers face challenges in uniformly distributing refrigerant to multiple tubes due to gravity and inertial forces, leading to inefficiencies and increased complexity in manufacturing and assembly with additional components.
Innovation Solution
A heat exchanger header design featuring a base body with integrally formed partition walls and a middle body with distribution holes, which guides refrigerant evenly to multiple tubes without the need for additional distributor components, simplifying manufacturing and assembly by reducing the number of parts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a distributor is embedded in the header to improve refrigerant distribution, then refrigerant distribution uniformity is improved, but the number of parts increases and manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The partition wall that divides the guide chamber is integrally formed with the base wall, merging two previously separate components (base wall and partition wall) into a single base body. This eliminates the need for additional distributor parts while maintaining effective refrigerant distribution, as the integral structure provides both the structural support and the distribution function through its geometric design
2Manufacturing precision
If a distributor with guide structure is added to guide refrigerant to tubes, then refrigerant distribution is improved, but manufacturing complexity and assembly complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The guide structure is formed as an integral part of the base wall through sheet metal forming operations. The base wall is trimmed and bent to create the guide chamber structure that directs refrigerant flow to each tube location, eliminating the need for separate guide components and simplifying manufacturing to a single forming and trimming process
Solution Approach 2:
The guide chamber is divided into multiple guide sections by the partition wall, with each section corresponding to a specific tube. This segmentation of the flow path within the integral structure allows precise control of refrigerant distribution to each tube without requiring separate external guide components
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple separate components are used to form the header structure, then assembly flexibility is improved, but assembly process becomes more complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The base wall, partition wall, and connecting portions are integrally formed as a single base body, reducing the number of assembly steps. The middle body is then coupled to this pre-formed base body, simplifying the overall assembly process while maintaining the necessary structural flexibility for different heat exchanger configurations
Data Source
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AI summary
A heat exchanger includes a plurality of tubes having refrigerant flowing therein and arranged to exchange heat with outside air; and a header having a chamber adapted to distribute the refrigerant to the plurality of tubes, wherein the header includes, a base wall having a plurality of tube insertion holes into which the plurality of tubes are inserted, and a partition wall integrally formed with the base wall and configured to divide the chamber into a plurality of sections corresponding to the plurality of tubes. This structure helps reduce the number of parts of the heat exchanger, simplify processing and assembling, and improving the heat transfer performance by improving the distribution of the refrigerant.