Spiral Heat Exchanger Modular Shell Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional spiral heat exchangers have the spiral body welded to the cover or shell, making it difficult to replace the spiral body when it becomes worn and complicating cleaning and manufacturing processes.
Innovation Solution
A spiral heat exchanger design featuring a cylindrical shell with two separate shell parts and a fixed flange on the spiral body, allowing for flexible attachment and easy detachment, enabling the spiral body to be exchanged and facilitating cleaning, with gaskets for sealing and independent shell part attachment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the spiral body is welded to the shell, then the structural strength is improved, but the ease of repair deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The heat exchanger is divided into separate modular components: the spiral body, the shell, and end sections. The spiral body can be detached from the shell and end sections, allowing it to be replaced independently without welding. This segmentation enables easy maintenance and repair while maintaining structural integrity during operation.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the spiral body is welded to the cover or shell, then the structural integrity is improved, but the manufacturing time and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The heat exchanger components (spiral body, shell, end sections) are manufactured separately and assembled using detachable connections rather than welding. This allows parallel manufacturing of components and reduces post-manufacturing operations, thereby decreasing total manufacturing time and cost while maintaining structural integrity through proper connection design.
Solution Approach 2:
The spiral body, shell, and end sections are prepared with connection elements (flanges, sealing surfaces) in advance during manufacturing. This preliminary preparation enables quick assembly without requiring on-site welding or complex joining operations, reducing manufacturing time and cost.
3Strength
If the spiral body is welded to the shell, then the structural strength is improved, but the ease of manufacture deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The heat exchanger is designed as modular segments (spiral body, shell, end sections) that can be manufactured independently using standard fabrication processes. The connection interfaces are designed with flanges and sealing surfaces that are easier to manufacture and assemble than welded joints, improving ease of manufacture while maintaining structural strength through proper connection design.
4Stability of the object's composition
If the spiral body is welded to the shell, then the structural integrity is improved, but the cleaning accessibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The detachable design allows the spiral body to be separated from the shell and end sections, providing easy access to the flow channels for cleaning and maintenance. The connection interfaces are designed to maintain structural integrity when assembled while allowing complete disassembly for cleaning operations.
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 allows for easy replacement of the spiral body, improved accessibility for cleaning, reduced manufacturing time and cost, and enhanced thermal performance through flexible shell part arrangement and gasket sealing, while reducing thermal stress.
Implementation Method 1
The spiral heat exchanger is further provided with gaskets flexibly arranged between the end portions of the spiral body and an inner surface of the closed end portions of the shell parts, and with a further set of gaskets arranged between the flanges of the shell parts and the flange of the spiral body.
Implementation Method 2
a spiral heat exchanger including a spiral body formed by at least one spiral sheet wounded to form the spiral body forming at least a first spiral-shaped flow channel for a first medium and a second spiral-shaped flow channel for a second medium
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3a~3b
AI summary
The invention relates to a spiral heat exchanger (1) including a spiral body (2) formed by at least one spiral sheet wounded to form the spiral body (2) forming at least a first spiral-shaped flow channel for a first medium and a second spiral-shaped flow channel for a second medium, wherein the spiral body (2) is enclosed by a substantially cylindrical shell (4) being provided with connecting elements (8a, 8b, 9a, 9b) communicating with the first flow channel and the second flow channel, where the shell (4) comprises at least two shell parts (4a, 4b), and that the spiral body (2) is provided with at least one fixedly attached flange (3) on its outer peripheral surface, whereupon the at least two shell parts (4a, 4b) are flexibly attached.