Compressor air cooler with replaceable flange ring
A cooler assembly includes a substantially hollow casing having an inside surface having a diameter D. A flange ring is positioned in the casing and has a flange ring outside surface sealingly secured against the casing inside surface. The flange ring has a flange ring inside surface having a diameter r less than the diameter D. A cooler is positioned in the casing and has first and second headers and a plurality of cooling tubes extending therebetween. At least the first header has a first header outside diameter I that is approximately equal to or slightly less than the diameter r. The cooler is positioned such that the first header is axially aligned with and sealed against the flange ring.
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This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. sec. 119 to provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/592,639, filed on Jul. 30, 2004, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to an air cooler assembly for a compressor. More particularly, the present invention relates to an air cooler assembly including a replaceable flange ring.
BACKGROUND Many applications, for example, a centrifugal compressor, utilize an air cooler positioned within a casing to cool air flowing through the cooler. An example of such a prior art air cooler assembly 2 is shown in
The cooler 30 generally comprises an inlet header 32 and an outlet header 34 with numerous cooler tubes 36 between the two headers 32, 34. In operation, cooling water or the other cooling fluid flows through the casing 4 through casing inlet and outlet 5 and 7 and around the cooling tubes 36. Air entering the casing inlet 9 travels through the tubes 36 and transfers heat to the cooling fluid circulating about the tubes 36. The headers 32, 34 provide the cooler tube 36 spacing and structural support for the cooler 30, but also must provide the cooling fluid to air sealing. In this regard, each of the headers 32, 34 is configured to seal against the inside surface 14 of the casing 4 at sealing areas 16 and 18, respectively.
As the coolers 30 are used in the compressor or another application, problems may develop. The casing inner surface 14 typically develops voids due to water corrosion. Since correct sealing is generally dependent on the smooth mating surfaces of the header and the casing, the voids diminish the ability of the cooler headers 32, 34 to properly seal the water from the air.
Additionally, during maintenance of the compressor or other application, it is at times necessary to remove the cooler 30 from the casing 4. If the cooler 30 is used with water filled with particulate (dirt), often this dirt builds up between the cooler 30 and the casing inner surface 14. When the cooler 30 is removed through the opening 11 in the outlet end 8, the inlet header 32 acts as a scraper and tries to pull the dirt out with the cooler 30. The dirt often causes the cooler 30 to become “stuck” and makes the cooler 30 removal very difficult and/or damages the cooler 30 as it is removed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention provides a cooler assembly comprising a substantially hollow casing having casing inside surface having a diameter D. A flange ring is positioned in the casing and has a flange ring outside surface sealingly secured against the casing inside surface. The flange ring has a flange ring inside surface having a diameter r less than the diameter D. A cooler is positioned in the casing and has first and second headers and a plurality of cooling tubes extending therebetween. At least the first header has a first header outside diameter I that is approximately equal to or slightly less than the diameter r. Since the diameter r, and thereby the diameter I, is less than the diameter D, the first header is clear of casing inside surface. The cooler is positioned such that the first header is axially aligned with and sealed against the flange ring.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawing figures wherein like numbers represent like elements throughout. Certain terminology, for example, “top”, “bottom”, “right”, “left”, “front”, “frontward”, “forward”, “back”, “rear” and “rearward”, is used in the following description for relative descriptive clarity only and is not intended to be limiting.
Referring to
The cooler 41 has an inlet header 42 and an outlet header 44 with a plurality of cooling tubes 46 (only two shown for clarity) extending therebetween. Flow through the cooling tubes 46 is substantially as described with respect to the prior art cooler assembly 2. In the present embodiment, the inlet header 42 has an outside diameter I that is less than the inside diameter D of the casing 4 and the outlet header 44 has an outside diameter O that is approximately equal to the inside diameter D of the casing 4. As such, the outlet header 44 is configured to seal against the inside surface 14 of the casing 4 at seal area 18. O-rings or the like can be utilized to assist in sealing between the outlet header 44 and the casing inside surface 14.
The inlet header 42 does not seal against the casing inside surface 14, but instead is clear of the casing inside surface 14. As such, when the cooler 41 is removed from the casing 4 through opening 11, the inlet header 42 does not scrape against the casing inside surface 14. Even in the event of dirt build up, the inlet header 42 is fairly easily removed from the casing 4.
To facilitate sealing of the inlet header 42 in the inlet sealing area 16, a flange ring 50 is sealingly bonded within the casing 4 adjacent to the shoulder 10. Referring to
The flange ring body 52 preferably has a chamfered surface 56 along the outside surface 54 at the inlet side of the flange ring 50 to assist in the insertion of the flange ring 50 into the casing 4. The outside surface 54 also may include one or more circumferential grooves 58 to assist in bonding the flange ring 50 within the casing as will be described in greater detail hereinafter. The flange ring 50 has an inside surface 62 having an inside diameter r that is approximately equal to or slightly larger than the outside diameter I of the inlet header 42. A radial shoulder 60 extends radially inward of the inside surface 62 to define an axial stop for the inlet header 42. In the installed position (see
Sealing of the inlet header 42 will be described in detail with reference to
Once the flange ring 50 is secured within the casing 4, the cooler 41 is inserted in to casing 4 through the opening 11. The lead-in chamfer 64 assists in directing the inlet header 42 in to the flange ring 50. The inlet header 42 preferably has an inlet side shoulder 47 configured to seat against the flange shoulder 60. To facilitate the seal between the replaceable flange ring 50 and the smaller diameter inlet header 42, the inlet header 42 has a circumferential groove 43 along its outside surface configured to receive an o-ring 45 or the like. The o-ring 45 seals between the inlet header 42 and the flange ring inside surface 62. In the event the flange ring 50 were to corrode and compromise this seal, the flange ring 50 can easily be removed and replaced. Additionally, as explained above, the inlet header diameter I being less than the casing inside diameter D allows the cooler 41 to be easily removed without any scraping or wedging within the casing 4.
While the outlet header 44 of the preferred embodiment is described as having an outer diameter O that is substantially equal to the casing inside diameter D and is sealed directly to the casing inside surface 14, it is possible to provide a flange ring (not shown) at the sealing area 18 and to manufacture the outlet header 44 similar to the inlet header 42. The flange ring in this instance would preferably not have a radial shoulder, but would still act to fill any voids that may have developed in the sealing area 18.
Claims
1. A cooler assembly comprising:
- a substantially hollow casing having an inside surface having a diameter D;
- a flange ring positioned in the casing and having an outside surface sealingly secured against the casing inside surface, the flange ring having an inside surface having a diameter r less than the diameter D; and
- a cooler positioned in the casing and having a first header, a second header, and a plurality of cooling tubes extending therebetween, wherein the first header has a first header outside diameter I that is approximately equal to or slightly less than the diameter r, the cooler is positioned such that the first header is axially aligned with and sealed against the flange ring, and the cooler is insertable in and removable from the casing independently of the flange ring.
2. The cooler assembly of claim 1, wherein the flange ring includes a ring shoulder that extends radially inward from the flange ring inside surface to define an axial stop for the first header.
3. The cooler assembly of claim 1, wherein the casing further includes a shoulder that extends radially inward from the casing inside surface, wherein the shoulder defines an axial stop for the flange ring.
4. The cooler assembly of claim 1, wherein the flange ring has a width W and the first header has a width less than the width W.
5. The cooler assembly of claim 1, wherein the flange ring outside surface has a chamfered portion to assist in the insertion of the flange ring into the casing.
6. The cooler assembly of claim 1, wherein the flange ring inside surface has a chamfered portion to assist in the insertion of the first header into the flange ring.
7. The cooler assembly of claim 1, wherein the flange ring outside surface has at least one substantially circumferential groove to assist in bonding the flange ring to the casing.
8. The cooler assembly of claim 1, further including an O-ring between flange ring and the first header.
9. The cooler assembly of claim 8, wherein the first header includes an outside surface having a groove configured to receive the O-ring.
10. The cooler assembly of claim 1, wherein the flange ring is sealed to the casing with a high temperature sealant.
11. A cooler assembly comprising:
- a substantially hollow casing having an inside surface having a diameter D and including a casing shoulder that extends radially inward from the casing inside surface;
- a flange ring positioned in the casing against the casing shoulder and having an outside surface sealingly secured against the casing inside surface, the flange ring having an inside surface having a diameter r less than the diameter D and having a ring shoulder that extends radially inward from the flange ring inside surface; and
- a cooler positioned in the casing and having a first header and a second header and a plurality of cooling tubes extending therebetween, wherein the first header has a first header outside diameter I that is approximately equal to or slightly less than the diameter r, the cooler is positioned such that the first header is axially aligned with and sealed against the flange ring, the ring shoulder defines an axial stop for the first header, and the cooler is insertable in and removable from the casing independently of the flange ring.
12. The cooler assembly of claim 11, wherein the flange ring has a width W and the first header has a width less than the width W.
13. The cooler assembly of claim 11, wherein the flange ring outside surface has a chamfered portion to assist in the insertion of the flange ring into the casing.
14. The cooler assembly of claim 11, wherein the flange ring inside surface has a chamfered portion to assist in the insertion of the first header into the flange ring.
15. The cooler assembly of claim 11, wherein the flange ring outside surface has at least one substantially circumferential groove to assist in bonding the flange ring to the casing.
16. The cooler assembly of claim 11, further including an O-ring between flange ring and the first header.
17. The cooler assembly of claim 16, wherein the first header includes an outside surface having a groove configured to receive the O-ring.
18. The cooler assembly of claim 1, wherein the flange ring is sealed to the casing with a high temperature sealant.
19. A method for assembling a cooler assembly, the method comprising:
- providing a substantially hollow casing having a casing inside surface defining a casing shoulder;
- applying a high temperature sealant at least partially covering the casing inside surface and the casing shoulder;
- inserting a flange ring into the casing and against the casing shoulder, wherein the flange ring includes an outside surface, an inside surface, a ring shoulder that extends radially inward from the flange ring inside surface;
- inserting a cooler into the casing, wherein the cooler includes a first header, a second header and a plurality of cooling tubes extending therebetween, such that the first header is axially aligned with and sealed against the flange ring and the ring shoulder defines an axial stop for the first header; and
- curing the sealant.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 27, 2005
Publication Date: Feb 2, 2006
Applicant: Ingersoll-Rand Company (Woodcliff Lake, NJ)
Inventors: Gary Owens (Bardwell, KY), Robert Berry (Charlotte, NC)
Application Number: 11/190,768
International Classification: F28F 9/02 (20060101);