Heat Exchanger Stack Cells Flexible Conduits
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Solution Overview
Problem
The design and manufacturing of recuperators for micro gas turbines are complex and labor-intensive, leading to high production costs without significant reductions in efficiency or reliability.
Innovation Solution
A heat exchanger design featuring a stack of cells with flexible supply conduits and discrete spatial components such as wire coils or wire meshes for heat exchange elements, simplifying the manufacturing process and reducing complexity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If conventional rigid supply conduits and complex heat exchange elements are used, then structural stability is improved, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs flexible supply conduits with bellows-shaped sections that can expand and contract to accommodate thermal expansion and mechanical movements. These flexible conduits replace rigid piping systems, reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining structural integrity through their ability to deform elastically under thermal and mechanical loads.
Solution Approach 2:
The heat exchanger is divided into multiple modular cells, each with its own simplified heat exchange elements. This segmentation allows for easier manufacturing of individual units and simplifies assembly, reducing overall device complexity while maintaining structural stability through the modular configuration.
2Ease of manufacture
If simplified manufacturing processes are used, then manufacturing cost and complexity are reduced, but heat exchange efficiency may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes bellows-shaped pipe portions that change their physical parameters (expansion and contraction) in response to thermal conditions. This parameter change capability allows the simplified flexible conduits to maintain proper flow dynamics and heat exchange efficiency despite the simplified manufacturing process, preventing deterioration of performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible supply conduits are designed to dynamically adapt to thermal expansion and contraction through their bellows configuration. This dynamic behavior ensures that heat exchange efficiency is maintained under varying operating conditions, compensating for the simplicity of the manufacturing process.
3Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If flexible bellows-shaped pipe portions are used in supply conduits, then thermal expansion compensation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent directly addresses thermal expansion by incorporating bellows-shaped pipe portions in the supply conduits. These bellows structures are specifically designed to expand and contract with temperature changes, providing passive thermal compensation without requiring complex active control systems or additional components, thus limiting the increase in device complexity.
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 simplified design maintains high heat exchange efficiency and mechanical integrity, while significantly reducing manufacturing costs and complexity, with potential cost savings of over 50% compared to conventional designs.
Implementation Method 1
the at least one flexible portion of the at least one supply conduit is designed so as to include a bellows-shaped pipe portion
Implementation Method 2
a plurality of heat exchange elements is arranged in each of the fluid flow paths
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
A heat exchanger (101) that is suitable to be used as a recuperator in a micro gas turbine comprises a stack (11) of cells (20). Each of the cells (20) includes a pair (21 ) of mutually spaced-apart plates (22, 23) and layers including heat exchange elements arranged at the outer surfaces of the plates (22, 23) and between the plates (22, 23). Each of the layers including heat exchange elements preferably comprises at least one discrete spatial component (51) incorporating a plurality of elements. Both a supply header (30) and a discharge header (40) of the heat exchanger (101) are preferably composed of only two components (31, 33; 41, 43) at the position of the stack (11) of cells (20). Means for compensating for heat expansion effects are also of uncomplicated design and may comprise a bellows-shaped pipe portion (27) of a supply conduit (26).