Progressive Flow Heat Exchanger for Low Pressure Drop Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aircraft heat exchangers face challenges in optimizing heat transfer efficiency, fluid flow distribution, and reducing weight and specific fuel consumption, particularly in severe-service conditions of aircraft engines.
Innovation Solution
A heat exchanger design with a unique internal fluid flow configuration that progressively divides and combines fluid streams, optimizing heat transfer efficiency, flow distribution, and pressure drop management, resulting in a more compact and lightweight device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional heat exchanger designs are used, then the device can provide cooling function, but the weight increases and specific fuel consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The feed fluid circuit is divided into multiple feed sections, each with progressively smaller feed passages. This segmentation allows the fluid stream to be divided into smaller streams that are distributed across multiple heat exchange circuits, improving heat transfer efficiency while reducing the overall size and weight of the heat exchanger required to achieve the same cooling capacity.
2Volume of moving object
If high aspect ratio configurations are used to package heat exchangers onto engine components, then space is reduced, but heat transfer efficiency may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes a multi-dimensional approach by creating progressive feed sections with varying passage sizes in the flow direction, and by distributing fluid across multiple parallel heat exchange circuits. This dimensional arrangement allows efficient heat transfer within a compact volume by optimizing the fluid distribution pattern through the three-dimensional structure of the heat exchanger.
3Ease of manufacture
If the feed fluid passages are uniformly sized, then manufacturing is simplified, but flow distribution uniformity across heat exchange circuits is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The feed passages are designed with non-uniform characteristics - specifically, progressively smaller cross-sectional areas in downstream feed sections. This local variation in passage size is strategically implemented to compensate for pressure drops and ensure uniform flow distribution across all heat exchange circuits. While this increases manufacturing complexity slightly, it significantly improves thermal performance and flow uniformity.
4Weight of moving object
If a compact heat exchanger design is implemented, then weight and space are reduced, but pressure drop increases
Solution Approach 1:
The feed passage cross-sectional area is dynamically varied along the flow direction, with progressively smaller areas in downstream sections. This dynamic geometry adapts to the changing flow conditions and pressure drops, maintaining optimal flow velocity and pressure distribution throughout the heat exchanger. This allows compact design with reduced weight while minimizing excessive pressure drop that would otherwise occur in uniformly sized compact designs.
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 design achieves improved heat transfer efficiency, uniform fluid distribution, and reduced pressure drop, leading to a more compact, lightweight, and lower operational cost heat exchanger.
Implementation Method 1
a heat exchange fluid circuit including a plurality of heat exchange fluid passages... configured to provide a heat exchange relationship
Implementation Method 2
heat exchange relationship for the heat exchanger
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 3
AI summary
A heat exchanger including a fluid circuit in which an incoming fluid stream is progressively divided into multiple smaller streams, each of which delivers the heat exchange fluid into one or more heat exchange sections of the device; and/or in which multiple fluid streams of the fluid circuit are discharged from one or more heat exchanger sections, each of which are progressively combined into one or more larger streams before exiting the device. The heat exchanger may have a thin body portion and a thick body portion and may adapt a depth of the fluid circuit to the changes in thickness of the heat exchanger body. The heat exchanger may form a structural component and may integrate multiple materials to provide both heat exchange and structural functionality into a single device. Other structural fluid transfer devices having fluid flow and structural functionality also are provided.