Microchannel heat exchanger
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Solution Overview
Problem
Microchannel heat exchangers face a challenge in reducing material usage while maintaining burst pressure requirements, as the weight of heat exchange tubes significantly influences the overall cost and structural integrity.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates non-circular, polygonal end ports and varying interior port thicknesses and shapes along the axis of the heat exchange tubes, which helps distribute pressure more evenly and reduces peak stresses, allowing for reduced material usage while maintaining structural integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of stationary object
If material usage in heat exchange tubes is reduced to lower cost, then weight and material cost decrease, but burst pressure strength deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by varying the wall thickness of the heat exchange tubes along their length. Thinner walls are used in sections where lower burst pressure is acceptable, while thicker walls are maintained in critical sections. This allows reduction of overall material usage and weight while preserving burst pressure strength where it is most needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The heat exchange tubes are segmented into multiple sections with different wall thicknesses rather than using a uniform thickness throughout. This segmentation enables optimization of material distribution, placing material only where structurally necessary to maintain burst pressure while reducing material in less critical areas.
2Quantity of substance
If wall thickness is reduced to minimize material usage, then manufacturing cost decreases, but structural integrity under pressure deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Different sections of the heat exchange tubes have different wall thicknesses optimized for their specific functional requirements. This local quality approach ensures that material is used efficiently - thinner walls where structural integrity requirements are lower, and thicker walls where reliability is critical - thereby minimizing total material usage while maintaining overall structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The wall thickness parameter is varied along the length of the heat exchange tubes rather than remaining constant. This parameter change allows optimization of the balance between material usage and structural integrity, with thickness adjusted to match the pressure and structural requirements of each specific section.
Data Source
AI summary
A heat exchange tube for use in a heat exchanger including a first nose and a second nose aligned on an axis along a width of the heat exchange tube; an end port immediately adjacent to the first nose; wherein the end port has a non-circular, polygonal shape.