Mandrel With Radially Movable Beams For Heat Exchange Coils
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing heat exchange units used in offshore platforms and similar applications are inefficient in operation and manufacturing, and maintenance is complex due to the need for time-consuming adjustments and potential back pressure issues.
Innovation Solution
A mandrel with radially movable winding beams and powered adjustable supports for forming helically coiled heat exchange tubes, allowing rapid adjustment of the coil radius and pitch, combined with a method of forming a heat exchanger array using a mandrel with a roller, drive, and carriage to efficiently create helically coiled tubes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional mandrels with fixed beam structures are used, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but adjustment of coil radius requires time-consuming disassembly and reassembly
Solution Approach 1:
The mandrel employs radially movable winding beams with powered adjustable supports that can dynamically change the coil radius during operation. The beams are supported on adjustable supports that can be positioned at different radial locations, allowing the mandrel to adapt to different coil diameters without disassembly. This dynamic adjustment capability directly resolves the contradiction by enabling rapid productivity improvement while accepting increased structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The winding beam structure is divided into separate, independently adjustable segments. Each beam can be individually positioned radially through its own adjustable support mechanism, allowing precise control of the coil radius. This segmentation enables rapid reconfiguration for different production requirements without requiring complete disassembly of the mandrel, thus improving adjustment speed while maintaining manageable structural complexity.
2Manufacturing precision
If manual adjustment methods are used, then device complexity is minimized, but manufacturing precision of tube pitch cannot be maintained
Solution Approach 1:
Manual mechanical adjustment of the winding beams is replaced with powered adjustable supports that can be actuated by motors or other powered mechanisms. This substitution ensures precise and consistent positioning of the beams at predetermined radial locations, maintaining uniform tube pitch throughout the coiling process. The powered system eliminates human error and variability, achieving high manufacturing precision while the modular nature of the powered supports keeps the overall device complexity manageable.
3Adaptability or versatility
If complex adjustment procedures are used, then adaptability to different coil sizes is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The static mandrel structure is transformed into a dynamic system where the winding beams can be quickly repositioned radially through powered supports. This allows the same mandrel to efficiently produce coils of various radii by simply adjusting the support positions, greatly improving adaptability. The operation becomes easier because the adjustment is achieved through simple powered mechanisms rather than complex mechanical reconfiguration procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The mandrel is designed as a universal device capable of producing heat exchange coils of different diameters and configurations. The radially adjustable winding beams and powered supports enable a single mandrel to perform multiple functions that would otherwise require several specialized mandrels. This multi-functionality improves adaptability while the standardized adjustment mechanism maintains ease of operation across different production requirements.
Data Source
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AI summary
A mandrel for forming helically coiled heat exchange tubes, the mandrel comprising: a roller to form the tube into a helical coil; a drive for rotating the roller; a carriage for indexing the tube with respect to the roller, wherein the roller comprises a pluralityofwinding beams, which beams are arranged to be radially movable by associated powered adjustable supports so as to permit rapid setting of the radius of a heat exchange coil formed on the roller.