Plate Heat Exchanger Blocking Member Flow Distribution
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Solution Overview
Problem
In small-sized plate heat exchangers, uneven refrigerant flow distribution due to short passages leads to lower heat exchange efficiency, particularly in applications like automobile battery thermal management systems.
Innovation Solution
A plate heat exchanger design featuring a heat exchange core with first and second flow passages, where a blocking member is strategically placed between the front and back surfaces of adjacent plates to ensure even fluid distribution, and a baffle or rib structure is used to manage flow paths and enhance heat exchange performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the passage length is shortened to reduce the size of the plate heat exchanger, then the volume and weight are reduced, but the refrigerant flow distribution becomes uneven
Solution Approach 1:
A flow guide member is introduced as an intermediary component between the refrigerant inlet and outlet passages. This flow guide member includes guide ribs that extend from the inlet passage toward the outlet passage, acting as a mediator to redirect and distribute the refrigerant flow. The guide ribs create multiple sub-passages that guide the refrigerant to flow more uniformly across the plate, resolving the uneven flow distribution caused by shortened passage lengths while maintaining the compact design.
2Volume of moving object
If the passage length is shortened to reduce the size of the plate heat exchanger, then the volume and weight are reduced, but the heat exchange efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The flow guide member segments the single long passage into multiple shorter sub-passages using guide ribs. This segmentation allows the refrigerant to be distributed across multiple parallel flow paths, increasing the effective heat exchange area utilization. By dividing the flow into multiple segments that traverse the plate simultaneously, the heat exchange efficiency is maintained even though the overall passage length is shortened for compactness.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide ribs extend in a direction that creates three-dimensional flow paths within the plate thickness. Rather than simply shortening the planar passage length, the invention utilizes the vertical dimension by having guide ribs extend from the inlet surface toward the outlet surface, creating inclined flow paths that optimize heat exchange in multiple directions simultaneously.
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 solution achieves uniform fluid distribution and improved heat exchange performance by optimizing flow paths, effectively addressing the issue of uneven refrigerant flow and enhancing heat transfer efficiency even in compact designs.
Implementation Method 1
a blocking member is arranged between the front surface of the second plate and the back surface of the first plate. The blocking member is located between the first corner hole and the second corner hole of the second plate. One end of the blocking member is located at a length side of the heat exchange core, and the first corner hole of the second plate bypasses another end of the blocking member to communicate with the second corner hole of the second plate.
Implementation Method 2
A plate heat exchanger includes a heat exchange core, and a first flow passage and a second flow passage isolated from each other are formed in the heat exchange core
Implementation Method 3
portions of the second flow passage are formed between the front surfaces of the first plates and the back surfaces of the adjacent second plates, and portions of the first flow passage are formed between the front surfaces of the second plates and the back surfaces of the adjacent first plates
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
A plate heat exchanger comprises a first plate sheet (11) and a second plate sheet (12). A blocking member (15) is disposed between a front surface of the second plate sheet (12) and a back surface of the first plate sheet (11). The blocking member (15) is located between a first corner hole (121) and a second corner hole (122) of the second plate sheet (12), and one end of the blocking member (15) is located on a side portion of the second plate sheet (12). A first corner hole (121) of the second plate sheet (12) bypasses the other end of the blocking member (15) to communicate with a second corner hole (122) of the second plate sheet (12). In the plate heat exchanger, a blocking member is disposed between two plate sheets, accordingly fluid can be evenly distributed, and the plate heat exchanger has good heat exchange performance.