Shell-and-plate heat exchanger
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional shell-and-plate heat exchangers face inefficiencies in refrigerant condensation and heat exchange due to limited surface area and flow path design, leading to suboptimal heat transfer and refrigerant supercooling.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a plate stack with a meandering corrugated pattern on the heat transfer plates, creating a refrigerant channel that allows condensed refrigerant to meander, increasing flow speed and surface area for supercooling, and a separate heating medium channel to enhance heat exchange efficiency, with a member preventing refrigerant bypassing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the refrigerant channel allows direct flow through the plate stack, then the flow path is simple, but the heat exchange efficiency is insufficient due to limited surface area and lack of refrigerant supercooling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies corrugated patterns with meandering portions to the heat transfer plates, creating curved flow paths for the refrigerant. This curvature increases the effective heat exchange surface area and ensures complete condensation and supercooling of the refrigerant, resolving the contradiction between simple flow path and high heat exchange efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces a meandering portion in the lower part of the plate stack that extends the refrigerant flow path in the horizontal dimension. This additional dimensional path allows the refrigerant to traverse more heat transfer surface area, achieving sufficient supercooling without significantly increasing vertical stack height, thus improving heat exchange efficiency while controlling overall device complexity
2Productivity
If the plate stack uses flat plates without meandering portions, then the manufacturing is simple, but the refrigerant condensation and supercooling are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The corrugated pattern with meandering portion is formed by processing the heat transfer plates during manufacturing. While this adds processing steps, the standardized corrugated design allows for efficient fabrication using conventional plate forming techniques, achieving a balance between enhanced refrigerant condensation efficiency and manufacturing feasibility
Solution Approach 2:
The invention modifies the geometric parameters of the heat transfer plates by introducing corrugated patterns and meandering portions. These parameter changes increase the effective heat transfer surface area and optimize refrigerant flow characteristics, improving condensation efficiency while the parameters are designed to be achievable through standard manufacturing processes
3Area of stationary object
If the refrigerant flows directly from inlet to outlet without meandering, then the flow speed is high, but the heat transfer surface area utilized is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The meandering portion creates a curved, zigzag flow path that forces the refrigerant to travel along the heat transfer plates rather than flowing directly through. This curved path increases the effective heat transfer surface area contacted by the refrigerant while maintaining reasonable flow velocity through the corrugated channels
Solution Approach 2:
The plate stack is segmented into multiple sections with alternating refrigerant and heating medium channels. The meandering portion divides the refrigerant flow path into multiple segments that traverse different sections of the plate stack, maximizing utilization of the heat transfer surface area while controlling flow speed through distributed path length
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 configuration improves heat exchange efficiency by ensuring sufficient supercooling and reducing heat exchange inefficiencies, while preventing refrigerant bypassing, thereby stabilizing the refrigerant flow and enhancing the overall performance of the heat exchanger.
Implementation Method 1
a refrigerant that has flowed into the internal space of the shell to be condensed
Implementation Method 2
the liquid refrigerant in the shell evaporates when the liquid refrigerant exchanges heat with a heating medium flowing through the plate stack
Implementation Method 3
The meandering portion is configured to meander the refrigerant condensed on a surface of each of the plurality of heat transfer plates
Implementation Method 4
a plurality of heat transfer plates stacked and joined together
Data Source
AI summary
A shell and plate heat exchanger includes a shell forming an internal space, and a plate stack housed in the internal space. The plate stack includes a plurality of heat transfer plates stacked and joined together. The shell and plate heat exchanger allows a refrigerant that has flowed into the internal space to be condensed. A refrigerant channel communicates with the internal space and allows the refrigerant to flow through. A heating medium channel is blocked from the internal space and allows a heating medium to flow through. The refrigerant channel and the heating medium channel are alternately arranged between adjacent heat transfer plates. A meandering portion is provided in at least a lower portion of the plate stack. The meandering portion is configured to meander the refrigerant condensed on a surface of each of the heat transfer plates. The meandering portion is provided by processing the heat transfer plates.