Shell-and-tube heat exchanger with distributed inlet-outlets

Abstract

A shell-and-tube heat exchanger with distributed inlet-outlets includes a shell, heat exchanging tubes, a tube plate, an outlet fluid distribution device and an inlet fluid distribution device. Each of the inlet and outlet fluid distribution devices includes a tube side connecting pipe and at least one bell-shaped tube. A fine end of the bell-shaped tube is connected with the tube side connecting pipe, the tube side connecting pipe passes through the tube plate, a magnifying sealing plate is installed at a magnifying end of the bell-shaped tube, the magnifying sealing plate has circular holes respectively corresponding to the heat exchanging tubes, the heat exchanging tubes are respectively installed within the circular holes of the magnifying sealing plate and communicated with an interior of the bell-shaped tube. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger is reasonable in design, strong in practicality and simple in preparation process, so that it has broad application prospects.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE OF RELATED APPLICATION

The present invention claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a-d) to CN 201710111307.2, filed Feb. 28, 2017.

BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

Field of Invention

The present invention relates to a field of heat exchanger, and more particularly to a shell-and-tube heat exchanger with distributed inlet-outlets.

Description of Related Arts

The shell-and-tube heat exchanger has large applicable operating temperature and pressure range and low manufacturing cost, is easy to be cleaned, and has large processing capacity, so it is a most widely used heat exchanger in the industrial heat transfer process.

Generally, the shell-and-tube heat exchanger has an outside diameter of 19 mm or 25 mm and a center distance of 25 mm or 32 mm. However, in some industries with smaller flow or special industries, such as refrigeration industry, the heat exchanger with smaller diameter is mostly adopted, which has an outside diameter of 7-10 mm and a bridge width of 3-4 mm, such that the difficulty of processing and manufacturing is greatly improved; and meanwhile, heat affected zones are interacted with each other due to smaller weld spacing, causing the quality of finished products is affected.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a shell-and-tube heat exchanger with distributed inlet-outlets which is reasonable in design, strong in practicality and simple in preparation process, so as to solve deficiencies of the prior art.

To achieve the above object, the present invention adopts technical solutions as follows.

A shell-and-tube heat exchanger with distributed inlet-outlets, comprises a shell, multiple heat exchanging tubes, a tube plate, an outlet fluid distribution device and an inlet fluid distribution device, wherein: each of the outlet fluid distribution device and the inlet fluid distribution device comprises a tube side connecting pipe and at least one bell-shaped tube; a fine end of the bell-shaped tube is connected with the tube side connecting pipe, the tube side connecting pipe passes through the tube plate, a magnifying sealing plate is installed at a magnifying end of the bell-shaped tube, the magnifying sealing plate has multiple circular holes which are respectively corresponding to the heat exchanging tubes, the heat exchanging tubes are respectively installed within the circular holes of the magnifying sealing plate and communicated with an interior of the bell-shaped tube.

Preferably, a sieve structure, having multiple evenly distributed holes, is located in the bell-shaped tube of the inlet fluid distribution device; the sieve structure has a groove, an opening of the groove faces towards the fine end of the bell-shaped tube.

Preferably, the distributed holes are circular, triangular or polygonal.

Preferably, the shell-and-tube heat exchanger with the distributed inlet-outlets further comprises a split-ranging inlet-outlet device, wherein the split-ranging inlet-outlet device comprises a U-shaped thick tube, two ends of the U-shaped thick tube penetrate through a commutating sealing plate, the inlet fluid distribution device is installed at an outlet of the U-shaped thick tube, the outlet fluid distribution device is installed at an inlet of the U-shaped thick tube.

Preferably, a SK static mixer or other gas-liquid mixing devices are set in the tube side connecting pipe of the inlet fluid distribution device.

Preferably, the tube side connecting pipe of the inlet fluid distribution device comprises a straight tube portion and a bell-shaped magnifying portion, wherein a fine end of the bell-shaped magnifying portion is connected with the straight tube portion, a seal plate is installed at a magnifying end of the bell-shaped magnifying portion, the seal plate has multiple through-holes which are corresponding to the thin ends of all bell-shaped tubes, the fine ends of all the bell-shaped tubes are respectively installed within the through-holes of the seal plate, and communicated with an interior of the bell-shaped magnifying portion.

Preferably, the heat exchanging tubes are internal thread tubes, an inner wall thereof has positive and negative spiral alternately-circulating continuous projections or grooves.

Preferably, a draft tube is located at a shell side inlet-outlet of the shell.

Preferably, the seal plate and the magnifying sealing plate are flat, spherical, oval or other convex shapes.

Compared with the prior art, the present invention has outstanding substantive features and significant advances, and particularly, the present invention has advantages as follows.

1. A shell-and-tube heat exchanger with distributed inlet-outlets, provided by the present invention, comprises an outlet fluid distribution device and an inlet fluid distribution device, wherein each of the outlet fluid distribution device and the inlet fluid distribution device comprises a tube side connecting pipe and at least one bell-shaped tube; a fine end of the bell-shaped tube is connected with the tube side connecting pipe, the tube side connecting pipe passes through the tube plate, a magnifying sealing plate is installed at a magnifying end of the bell-shaped tube, the magnifying sealing plate has multiple circular holes which are respectively corresponding to the heat exchanging tubes, the heat exchanging tubes are respectively installed within the circular holes of the magnifying sealing plate and communicated with an interior of the bell-shaped tube, for increasing a center spacing among the heat exchanging tubes to reduce installation difficulty, and also for forming smaller pressure space which is beneficial to reduce thermal stress, thus enhancing connection reliability and sealing performance. Meanwhile, the tube box and the head thereof are omitted, which is beneficial to save original materials, thus reducing production and manufacturing cost.

2. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger with the distributed inlet-outlets further comprises a split-ranging inlet-outlet device, wherein a U-shaped thick tube of the split-ranging inlet-outlet device is prepared through one molding, so that the U-shaped tube structure of the conventional heat exchanging tube is omitted to avoid the process of tube bending and avoid leakage after the tube wall is thinned due to the tube bending, which is convenient for setting heat exchanging tubes with various tube diameters in a same tube side to reduce a pressure drop of the tube side.

3. A SK static mixer is located in the tube side connecting pipe of the inlet fluid distribution device to cause the fluid to rotate itself, the fluid is mixed through changing rotational directions, so that the fluid with almost same uniform component flows into each of the heat exchanging tubes; to strengthen the mixing of the fluid in the tubes, the heat exchanging tubes are internal thread tubes, an inner wall thereof has positive and negative spiral alternating-circulation continuous projections or grooves.

4. A draft tube is located at a shell side inlet-outlet of the shell for preventing a direct impact of high-speed fluid on the tube bundle at the shell side inlet-outlet, so as to uniformly distribute the shell side fluid, sufficiently utilize heat transfer areas of the tube bundles at the shell side inlet-outlet, and meanwhile, reduce the heat transfer dead zone and avoid the fluid vibration at the shell side inlet-outlet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a structurally schematic view of a shell-and-tube heat exchanger with distributed inlet-outlets according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a structurally schematic view of a shell-and-tube heat exchanger with distributed inlet-outlets according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a structurally schematic view of an inlet fluid distribution device according to a third preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a structurally schematic view of a multipolar inlet fluid distribution device according to the above third preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a structurally schematic view of an inlet fluid distribution device according to a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention.

In the drawings, 1: tube side connecting pipe; 2: SK static mixer; 3: sieve structure; 4: bell-shaped tube; 5: magnifying sealing plate; 6: heat exchanging tube; 7: draft tube; 8: baffle; 9: shell; 10: tube plate; 11: shell side inlet-outlet; 12: U-shaped thick pipe; 13: commutating seal plate; 14: straight tube portion; 15: bell-shaped magnifying portion.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention is further described in detail with specific embodiments as follows.

First Preferred Embodiment

As shown in FIG. 1, a shell-and-tube exchanger with distributed outlet-inlets according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated, which comprises a shell 9, multiple heat exchanging tubes 6, a baffle 8, a tube plate 10, an outlet fluid distribution device and an inlet fluid distribution device, wherein: each of the outlet fluid distribution device and the inlet fluid distribution device comprises a tube side connecting pipe 1 and a bell-shaped tube 4; a fine end of the bell-shaped tube 4 is connected with the tube side connecting pipe 1, the tube side connecting pipe 1 passes through the tube plate 10, a magnifying sealing plate 5 is installed at a magnifying end of the bell-shaped tube 4, the magnifying sealing plate 5 has multiple circular holes which are respectively corresponding to the heat exchanging tubes 6, the heat exchanging tubes 6 are installed within the circular holes of the magnifying sealing plate 5 and communicated with an interior of the bell-shaped tube 4 for increasing a center spacing among the heat exchanging tubes 6 to reduce installation difficulty, and also for forming smaller pressure space which is beneficial to reduce thermal stress, thus enhancing connection reliability and sealing performance. Meanwhile, the tube box and the head thereof are omitted, which is beneficial to save original materials, thus reducing production and manufacturing cost.

According to manufacturing process characteristics or heat transfer process, the heat exchanging tubes 6 are able to be fixed to the magnifying sealing plate 5 through expanding joint, welding or a combination of expanding joint and welding, so as to facilitate installing the shell-and-tube heat exchanger which comprise the heat exchanging tubes with small tube diameter, for achieving the reliable connection of the heat exchanging tubes of the heat exchanger. The magnifying sealing plate 5 is flat, spherical, oval or other convex shapes.

To achieve that the tube side fluid evenly flows into all the heat exchanging tubes 6, a sieve structure 3, having multiple evenly distributed holes, is located in the bell-shaped tube 4 of the inlet fluid distribution device; the sieve structure 3 has a groove, an opening of the groove faces towards the fine end of the bell-shaped tube 4, so as to increase a main flow resistance of the fluid and homogenize resistances of all directions which respectively face towards the inlets of the heat exchanging tubes; and also to uniformly distribute the fluid in the bell-shaped tube 4 for finally flowing into all the heat exchanging tubes 6 with same mass flow, thus sufficiently utilizing the heat exchanging tubes. According to the flow, the sieve structure 3 can be various shapes such as circular and triangular, distributed holes can be various shapes such as circular and polygonal, a diameter of the distributed holes and a distance from the distributed holes to the tube side connecting pipe 1 can be adjusted in accordance with specific conditions.

To strengthen the mixing of the fluid in the tubes, the heat exchanging tubes 6 are internal thread tubes, an inner wall thereof has positive and negative spiral alternating-circulation continuous projections or grooves, which causes the fluid itself to rotate, the fluid is mixed and a position or cross section of the flow channels is changed through changing a rotational direction of the fluid, so as to cause the fluid to stir itself, thus the heat exchanging is more fully.

A draft tube 7 is located at a shell side inlet-outlet 11 of the shell 9 for preventing a direct impact of high-speed fluid on the heat exchanging tube bundle at the inlet-outlet 11, so as to uniformly distribute the shell side fluid, sufficiently utilize heat transfer areas of the tube bundles at the shell side inlet-outlet, and meanwhile, reduce the heat transfer dead zone and avoid the fluid vibration at the shell side inlet-outlet.

Second Preferred Embodiment

A shell-and-tube exchanger with distributed outlet-inlets according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention is disclosed, which is different from the shell-and-tube exchanger with distributed outlet-inlets according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention as follows. As shown in FIG. 2, the shell-and-tube exchanger with the distributed outlet-inlets further comprises a split-ranging inlet-outlet device which is adapted for replacing a U-shaped tube of the conventional heat exchanger to achieve split-ranging of the heat exchanging tubes. Compared with the conventional structure, a double-tube baffle or U-shaped bending tube structure is omitted in the shell-and-tube exchanger with the distributed outlet-inlets according to the second preferred embodiment. The split-ranging inlet-outlet device comprises a U-shaped thick tube 12, wherein two ends of the U-shaped thick tube 12 penetrate through a commutating sealing plate 13, the inlet fluid distribution device is installed at an outlet of the U-shaped thick tube 12, the outlet fluid distribution device is installed at an inlet of the U-shaped thick tube 12. The U-shaped thick tube 12 is prepared through one molding, so that the U-shaped tube structure of the conventional heat exchanging tube is omitted to avoid the process of tube bending and avoid leakage after the tube wall is thinned due to the tube bending, which is convenient for setting heat exchanging tubes with various tube diameters in a same tube side to reduce a pressure drop of the tube side, facilitate producing and manufacturing and stabilize the performance.

Third Preferred Embodiment

A shell-and-tube exchanger with distributed outlet-inlets according to a third preferred embodiment of the present invention is disclosed, which is different from the shell-and-tube exchanger with distributed outlet-inlets according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention as follows. As shown in FIG. 3, the shell-and-tube exchanger with the distributed outlet-inlets is a single-tube heat exchanger, and the outlet fluid distribution device and the inlet fluid distribution device are respectively located at two ends of the heat exchanger. For liquids with gas-liquid two-phase or containing multi-component, such as dry evaporator tube refrigerant in refrigeration industry, a SK static mixer 2, located in the tube side connecting pipe 1 of the inlet fluid distribution device, comprises multiple mixing components, the mixing components continuously cut the fluid medium, so that the flowing-through medium droplets are continuously dispersed and cut into smaller micelles, and then are converged between two mixing components to be mixed, the mixing components cause the fluid medium to generate radial velocity pulses, and the change in flow direction also leads to shunt and confluence, the subject convection or vortex motion can be generated while increasing the contact area to uniformly mix the fluid, so that the fluid with almost same uniform component flows into each of the heat exchanging tubes 6.

Further, the inlet fluid distribution device is set to be a multipolar inlet fluid distribution device, as shown in FIG. 4. A tube side connecting pipe of the multipolar inlet fluid distribution device comprises a straight tube portion 14 and a bell-shaped magnifying portion 15, wherein a fine end of the bell-shaped magnifying portion 15 is connected with the straight tube portion 14, a seal plate is installed at a magnifying end of the bell-shaped magnifying portion 15, the seal plate corresponding to every bell-shaped tube 4 has multiple through-holes, the fine end of the bell-shaped tubes are respectively installed within the through-holes of the seal plate, and communicated with an interior of the bell-shaped magnifying portion 15. A magnifying inlet-outlet structure of the tube side connecting pipe has smaller pressure space, which is beneficial to reduce thermal stress for ensuring the force condition and sealing performance of the plate; furthermore, the structure can be made of thinner metals and omit the tube box and its head, so as to facilitate saving original materials to reduce production and manufacturing costs.

Fourth Preferred Embodiment

A shell-and-tube exchanger with distributed outlet-inlets according to a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention is disclosed, which is different from the shell-and-tube exchanger with distributed outlet-inlets according to the third preferred embodiment of the present invention as follows. As shown in FIG. 5, the inlet fluid distribution device comprise a multipolar inlet fluid distribution unit and a single inlet fluid distribution unit, wherein a tube side connecting pipe of the single inlet fluid distribution unit is a straight-type connecting pipe. In a same heat exchanger, the single inlet fluid distribution unit can be mixedly arranged according to actual situations.

Finally, it should be noted that the foregoing embodiments are merely illustrative of the technical solutions of the present invention and are not intended to be limiting thereof; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the specific embodiments of the present invention may be modified, or some of the technical features may be equivalently replaced without departing from the spirit of the technical solution of the present invention, which should be within the scope of the technical solutions claimed in the present invention.

Claims

1. A shell-and-tube heat exchanger with distributed inlet-outlets, comprising a shell, multiple heat exchanging tubes, a tube plate, an outlet fluid distribution device and an inlet fluid distribution device, wherein: each of the outlet fluid distribution device and the inlet fluid distribution device comprises a tube side connecting pipe and at least one bell-shaped tube; a fine end of the bell-shaped tube is connected with the tube side connecting pipe, the tube side connecting pipe passes through the tube plate, a magnifying sealing plate is installed at a magnifying end of the bell-shaped tube, the magnifying sealing plate has multiple circular holes which are respectively corresponding to the heat exchanging tubes, the heat exchanging tubes are respectively installed within the circular holes of the magnifying sealing plate and communicated with an interior of the bell-shaped tube.

2. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger with the distributed inlet-outlets, as recited in claim 1, wherein: a sieve structure, having multiple evenly distributed holes, is located in the bell-shaped tube of the inlet fluid distribution device; the sieve structure has a groove, an opening of the groove faces towards the fine end of the bell-shaped tube.

3. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger with the distributed inlet-outlets, as recited in claim 2, wherein: the distributed holes are circular, triangular or polygonal.

4. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger with the distributed inlet-outlets, as recited in claim 1, further comprising a split-ranging inlet-outlet device, wherein: the split-ranging inlet-outlet device comprises a U-shaped thick tube, two ends of the U-shaped thick tube penetrate through a commutating sealing plate, the inlet fluid distribution device is installed at an outlet of the U-shaped thick tube, the outlet fluid distribution device is installed at an inlet of the U-shaped thick tube.

5. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger with the distributed inlet-outlets, as recited in claim 2, further comprising a split-ranging inlet-outlet device, wherein: the split-ranging inlet-outlet device comprises a U-shaped thick tube, two ends of the U-shaped thick tube penetrate through a commutating sealing plate, the inlet fluid distribution device is installed at an outlet of the U-shaped thick tube, the outlet fluid distribution device is installed at an inlet of the U-shaped thick tube.

6. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger with the distributed inlet-outlets, as recited in claim 3, further comprising a split-ranging inlet-outlet device, wherein: the split-ranging inlet-outlet device comprises a U-shaped thick tube, two ends of the U-shaped thick tube penetrate through a commutating sealing plate, the inlet fluid distribution device is installed at an outlet of the U-shaped thick tube, the outlet fluid distribution device is installed at an inlet of the U-shaped thick tube.

7. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger with the distributed inlet-outlets, as recited in claim 1, wherein: a gas-liquid mixing device is set in the tube side connecting pipe of the inlet fluid distribution device.

8. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger with the distributed inlet-outlets, as recited in claim 2, wherein: a gas-liquid mixing device is set in the tube side connecting pipe of the inlet fluid distribution device.

9. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger with the distributed inlet-outlets, as recited in claim 3, wherein: a gas-liquid mixing device is set in the tube side connecting pipe of the inlet fluid distribution device.

10. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger with the distributed inlet-outlets, as recited in claim 7, wherein: the tube side connecting pipe of the inlet fluid distribution device comprises a straight tube portion and a bell-shaped magnifying portion, a fine end of the bell-shaped magnifying portion is connected with the straight tube portion, a seal plate is installed at a magnifying end of the bell-shaped magnifying portion, the seal plate has multiple through-holes which are corresponding to the thin ends of all bell-shaped tubes, the fine ends of all the bell-shaped tubes are respectively installed within the through-holes of the seal plate, and communicated with an interior of the bell-shaped magnifying portion.

11. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger with the distributed inlet-outlets, as recited in claim 8, wherein: the tube side connecting pipe of the inlet fluid distribution device comprises a straight tube portion and a bell-shaped magnifying portion, a fine end of the bell-shaped magnifying portion is connected with the straight tube portion, a seal plate is installed at a magnifying end of the bell-shaped magnifying portion, the seal plate has multiple through-holes which are corresponding to the thin ends of all bell-shaped tubes, the fine ends of all the bell-shaped tubes are respectively installed within the through-holes of the seal plate, and communicated with an interior of the bell-shaped magnifying portion.

12. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger with the distributed inlet-outlets, as recited in claim 9, wherein: the tube side connecting pipe of the inlet fluid distribution device comprises a straight tube portion and a bell-shaped magnifying portion, a fine end of the bell-shaped magnifying portion is connected with the straight tube portion, a seal plate is installed at a magnifying end of the bell-shaped magnifying portion, the seal plate has multiple through-holes which are corresponding to the thin ends of all bell-shaped tubes, the fine ends of all the bell-shaped tubes are respectively installed within the through-holes of the seal plate, and communicated with an interior of the bell-shaped magnifying portion.

13. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger with the distributed inlet-outlets, as recited in claim 7, wherein: the heat exchanging tubes are internal thread tubes, an inner wall thereof has positive and negative spiral alternately-circulating continuous projections or grooves.

14. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger with the distributed inlet-outlets, as recited in claim 10, wherein: the heat exchanging tubes are internal thread tubes, an inner wall thereof has positive and negative spiral alternately-circulating continuous projections or grooves.

15. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger with the distributed inlet-outlets, as recited in claim 12, wherein: the heat exchanging tubes are internal thread tubes, an inner wall thereof has positive and negative spiral alternately-circulating continuous projections or grooves.

16. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger with the distributed inlet-outlets, as recited in claim 13, wherein: a draft tube is located at a shell side inlet-outlet of the shell.

17. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger with the distributed inlet-outlets, as recited in claim 14, wherein: a draft tube is located at a shell side inlet-outlet of the shell.

18. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger with the distributed inlet-outlets, as recited in claim 15, wherein: a draft tube is located at a shell side inlet-outlet of the shell.

19. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger with the distributed inlet-outlets, as recited in claim 16, wherein: the seal plate and the magnifying sealing plate are flat, spherical, oval or other convex shapes.

20. The shell-and-tube heat exchanger with the distributed inlet-outlets, as recited in claim 18, wherein: the seal plate and the magnifying sealing plate are flat, spherical, oval or other convex shapes.