Heat Exchanger Liquid Chamber for Preventing Lateral-Pass Boiling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing heat exchangers face issues with local boiling in coolant liquid passes farthest from the center, leading to inadequate cooling.
Innovation Solution
A heat exchanger design with a liquid chamber and asymmetrically shaped projections on plates to improve coolant flow, ensuring uniform distribution and preventing local boiling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If the coolant liquid inlet and outlet are positioned to allow circulation through passes, then the heat exchanger can cool air flow, but local boiling occurs in passes farthest from the center due to inadequate cooling
Solution Approach 1:
The liquid chamber is designed with non-uniform cross-sectional area along the longitudinal direction, creating different flow conditions in different regions. The chamber has a larger cross-sectional area in the first region (covering lateral passes) and smaller area in the second region (covering central passes), allowing optimized coolant distribution to prevent local boiling while maintaining effective cooling throughout.
Solution Approach 2:
The liquid chamber is positioned asymmetrically within the heat exchanger, extending from one end wall toward the other end wall but not uniformly distributed. This asymmetric configuration creates varying flow paths and pressures across different passes, ensuring adequate cooling in lateral passes that are most prone to local boiling.
2Reliability
If the liquid chamber cross-sectional area is increased to improve coolant flow in lateral passes, then local boiling is prevented, but the overall heat exchanger volume increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of uniformly increasing the liquid chamber volume, the design applies local quality by concentrating the additional volume specifically in the first region covering lateral passes. The chamber cross-sectional area is larger in this region and smaller in the second region covering central passes, optimizing cooling where needed while minimizing overall volume increase.
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
Enhances coolant liquid flow, preventing local boiling and ensuring adequate cooling of all passes, particularly the lateral ones, through optimized liquid chamber design.
Implementation Method 1
The channels and the passes are arranged so that the gases and the coolant liquid can exchange calories
Implementation Method 2
the air circulating inside the heat exchanger from the air inlet to the air outlet
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5
AI summary
The present invention relates to a heat exchanger (1) configured to cool an air flow, comprising a heat core (2) comprising air flow channels (4) defining liquid passes (24, 26, 28, 30) in between at least two air flow channels (4), said heat core (2) comprising a group of central liquid passes (26) and two lateral liquid passes (28, 30), said heat core (2) comprising a plurality of plates (12, 14, 16, 18), at least one of the plates (12) having a plane portion and a projection defining a liquid chamber (36) in liquid communication with the liquid passes (24, 26, 28, 30), the liquid chamber (36) having a first section covering at least one of the lateral liquid passes (28, 30) which is bigger than a second section covering at least one of the central liquid passes (26).