Plate Heat Exchanger With Trapezoidal Sheets For High-Temp Gas
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing plate heat exchangers are inadequate for large-scale heat transfer between gaseous media at high temperatures, such as up to 300°C, and are not cost-effective or easily assembled for energy technology applications.
Innovation Solution
A plate heat exchanger design using pairs of inversely oriented trapezoidal sheets with alternating troughs and ridges, where the ridges abut each other to form channels for one medium and gaps between pairs are used for the other medium, with gas-tight connections and optional spacer elements for stiffness and cleaning openings for maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If conventional plate heat exchangers are used for small volumes of gas at low temperatures, then they can be made of plastic with simple construction, but they are inadequate for large-scale heat transfer at high temperatures up to 300°C
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from plastic to metal (steel or stainless steel) to enable operation at high temperatures up to 300°C. This material parameter change allows the heat exchanger to expand its application scope from small-scale low-temperature heating to large-scale energy technology applications including SCR denitrification and combustion air preheating.
2Productivity
If plate heat exchangers are designed for large-scale energy technology applications, then heat transfer efficiency improves, but production costs and assembly complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The heat exchanger is segmented into multiple identical plate modules that can be manufactured separately and then assembled. Each plate is a standardised component with corrugated patterns for heat transfer. This segmentation allows mass production of individual plates at low cost, while enabling large-scale heat transfer when multiple plates are assembled together, thus resolving the contradiction between productivity and ease of manufacture.
3Reliability
If plates are completely sealed for gas-tight operation, then heat exchange efficiency improves, but cleaning and maintenance become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the cleaning function from the sealed plate structure by incorporating removable inspection and cleaning openings in the end plates. These openings allow access to the internal channels for cleaning and maintenance while maintaining gas-tight seals during normal operation. The end plates are designed with openings that can be sealed during operation but opened for maintenance, thus resolving the contradiction between reliability and ease of repair.
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
This design achieves efficient heat transfer with low production costs, easy assembly, and reduced heat losses, suitable for high-temperature applications like SCR denitrification and combustion air preheating, while maintaining a compact and efficient structure.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of spaced-apart pairs of parallel heat-conducting walls, each pair formed by inverted trapezoidal sheets with alternating grooves and webs
Implementation Method 2
recuperative heat exchanger, which is particularly useful for reducing NOx emissions in flue gases using a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) method
Data Source
Figure 1~3
Figure 4~5
Figure 6
AI summary
The plate heat exchanger comprises a plurality of spaced-apart pairs of parallel heat-conducting walls, wherein the walls in each pair (1) are formed by inverted trapezoidal sheets (2) with alternating grooves (3) and webs (4), wherein the webs (4) in each pair (1) abut each other and their grooves (3) form channels (5) for the flow of the second medium, while gaps (6) located between the individual sheet pairs (1), which are clad on their entire circumference, serve for the flow of the first medium, wherein an opening (7) for the supply and discharge of the first medium is formed at both ends of the web (4) of each trapezoidal sheet (2), and wherein the sheets of each pair (1) are connected gas-tight at the lateral edges (8) and at the circumference (9) of the openings (7), and the clad of the gaps (6) is gas-sealed.