HEAT EXCHANGER
The present invention relates to a heat exchanger for exchanging heat between first and second fluids, said exchanger including: a casing and an exchange bundle positioned inside said casing, wherein the exchange bundle includes: a main surface which has a main width and which consists of a plurality of tubes suitable for guiding the first fluid inside said tubes; an intake of the first fluid toward an outlet of the first fluid, making it possible to guide, outside of said tubes, the second fluid; an intake of the second fluid toward an outlet of the second fluid; wherein the tubes are, at least at one first end, assembled such as to form a secondary surface having a secondary width which is smaller than the main width for coupling with the intake and/or the outlet of the first fluid; wherein the secondary surface at the first end of the tubes is formed such as to create a space between the casing and the outer surface of the secondary surface, said space being connected to the intake and/or the outlet of the second fluid.
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The present invention relates to a heat exchanger, such as a heat exchanger intended for an automobile vehicle. The heat exchanger according to the present invention is particularly suitable for being used in engine exhaust gas conduits. This type of heat exchanger is generally called an Exhaust Gas Recirculation Cooler (EGR or EGRC exchanger).
A heat exchanger, of the type of those used in the automotive industry, and more specifically inside exhaust gas conduits of an internal combustion heat engine, in principle comprises a casing or case including, in its inside, heat exchange elements allowing exchange of heat from a first fluid to a second fluid. These elements, allowing this heat exchange may for example, comprise tubes.
These tubes located inside a heat exchanger may be present inside an exchange bundle comprising a plurality of tubes positioned essentially parallel with each other. The tubes may be positioned on one row or several rows parallel with each other. The tubes give the possibility of guiding the first fluid inside said tubes, from a first end of the exchange bundle to the second end of the exchange bundle.
The relevant tubes together define between them channels which guide the second fluid from the second end of the heat exchanger to the first end of the heat exchanger. Thus, a heat exchanger notably allows circulation as a counter-current, of a first and of a second fluid within this heat exchanger.
Other elements such as plates, fins and flow disturbers may be provided in addition to these tubes forming the exchange bundle in order to improve the heat exchange between the first and the second fluids.
Heat exchangers including a case giving the possibility of receiving, in its inside, exchange bundles are known from the prior art. The case appears as a casing comprising a plurality of walls forming the outside of the case and defining the volume in which the heat exchange is carried out. The case is in principle provided with inlets and outlets intended for the first and for the second fluid in a first and second end of the case. These inlets and outlets thus allow the heat exchanger to be respectively connected to input ducts and output ducts suitable for conducting the first and second fluids towards the heat exchanger and this, by means of the input ducts, to a final destination and this by means of the output ducts, when said first and second fluids have crossed the heat exchanger.
STATE OF THE ARTA heat exchanger, as described above, is disclosed in the German patent application DE 199 27 607. According to this document, the heat exchanger comprises a plurality of tubes obtained by means of plates stacked on each other inside a case in order to obtain tubes allowing guidance of a first fluid, from an inlet intended for this first fluid, to an outlet intended for this first fluid.
The various tubes defining between them channels allowing guidance of a second fluid, from an inlet intended for this second fluid, to an outlet intended for this second fluid. The heat exchanger according to the German patent application DE 199 27 607 is adapted for guiding the first fluid along the longitudinal direction of a case, from a first end of the case to a second end of the case. The inlet and outlet intended for the second fluid are positioned in the side walls of the case in order to allow entry and exit of said second fluid along a direction perpendicular to the direction of flow of the first fluid.
The heat exchanger according to the German patent application DE 199 27 607 has a first drawback according to which the various inlet and outlet connections of fluids are located on four different walls of the case forming the outside of the heat exchanger. The inlet and the outlet intended for the first fluid are present on the ends of the case, in the longitudinal direction of the case. The inlet and the outlet intended for the second fluid are present on the side walls of the case. The positioning of these inlets and outlets of fluids limits the possibilities of adaptation for installing the heat exchanger within an available space.
Further, the manufacturing of the heat exchanger according to patent application DE 199 27 607 limits the heat exchange between the first and the second fluid, to a portion of the length of said heat exchanger, i.e. between the inlet and the outlet intended for the second fluid. In other words, a heat exchanger between the first and the second fluid is impossible on a portion of the path of the first fluid. For this reason, a heat exchanger with the device according to the German patent application DE 199 27 607 is not optimum relatively to the outer dimensions of the heat exchanger.
Nowadays, the space intended for heat exchangers and to their components inside automobile vehicles tends to be reduced in order to integrate other devices required for the operation of the automobile vehicle. This means that the integration of a heat exchanger is more and more complex. For this reason, it is important to develop compact heat exchangers allowing relative freedom in adaptation, notably in the positioning of the input and output ducts of the first and second fluid, in order to be able to integrate as most efficiently as possible, the heat exchanger assembly into the available space.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTIONThe heat exchanger according to the present invention aims at finding a remedy to the drawbacks of the known heat exchangers of the state of the art, by proposing a new design as to the formation of an exchange bundle with which it is possible to improve the compactness of said heat exchanger.
For this purpose, the invention relates to a heat exchanger giving the possibility of exchanging heat between a first and second fluid, said exchanger comprising:
-
- a case and
- an exchange bundle positioned inside said case,
- wherein the exchange bundle comprises:
- a main surface comprising a main width and formed with a plurality of tubes suitable for guiding the first fluid inside these tubes,
- an inlet of the first fluid towards an outlet of the first fluid and giving the possibility of guiding, outside these tubes, the second fluid,
- an inlet of the second fluid towards an outlet of the second fluid,
wherein the tubes are, at least at one first end, assembled so as to form a secondary surface comprising a secondary width less than the main width for connecting to the inlet and/or the outlet of the first fluid,
wherein the secondary surface at the first end of the tubes is formed in order to generate a space between the case and the outer face of the secondary surface, which space is connected to the inlet and/or outlet of the second fluid.
According to the invention, it is possible that the tubes at a first end are assembled so as to form the secondary surface for connection to the inlet of the first fluid,
-
- wherein the secondary surface at the first end of the tubes is formed in order to generate a space between the case and the outer face of the secondary surface, which space is connected to the outlet of the second fluid.
- and wherein the tubes are, at the second end, assembled in order to form a secondary surface comprising a secondary width less than the width for connection to the outlet of the first fluid, said secondary surface at the second end of the tubes generating a space between the case and the outer face of the secondary surface, which space is connected to the inlet of the second fluid.
Thus, in a first phase, by the formation and assembly of the exchange bundle according to the present invention, the inlets and outlets intended for the first and second fluid are located at opposite ends of the case. This grouping of the inlets and outlets increases the adaptation possibilities and gives the possibility of integrating, in an optimum way, the heat exchanger assembly into an available space.
Moreover, in a second phase, the secondary surface gives the possibility of connecting the second end of the tubes to the outlet generating a space for the inlet of the first fluid, has the advantage of being able to carry out heat exchange between the first and second fluid all along the path of the fluids, i.e. from their entry to their respective exit. For this reason, the efficiency of the heat exchanger is increased relatively to its outer dimensions.
According to an embodiment, the heat exchanger according to the present invention comprises a sealing element giving the possibility of covering the tubes at each of their ends.
According to an embodiment, the heat exchanger according to the present invention comprises a connecting element with which it is possible to connect at least one end of the tubes to an inlet or to an outlet by means of said connecting element.
According to an embodiment, the tubes are positioned relatively to each other so as to generate between them channels and wherein said channels include disturbers.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the heat bundle is obtained by a plurality of plates positioned over each other, the ends of said plates being provided with a rim giving the possibility of increasing the surface between the plate and the inside of the case.
The goals, objects and features of the present invention as well as advantages thereof will become more clearly apparent upon reading the description which follows, of a preferred embodiment of a heat exchanger according to the invention, made with reference to the drawings wherein:
The inlet 21, present in the second element 12 forms the inlet intended for the first fluid. On the opposite face, the outlet 22 forms the outlet intended for the first fluid. The inlet 31 is intended for the second fluid. The outlet 32 is intended for the second fluid.
During the use of the heat exchanger 10, the first fluid penetrates through the inlet 21 into the inside of said heat exchanger 10. Simultaneously, the second fluid penetrates into the inside of the heat exchanger 10 via the inlet 31. Thus, the heat exchanger 10 comprises an exchange bundle 13 including a stack of plates 17 forming, when combined, tubes and channels defined between said tubes. The exchange bundle 13 is illustrated in more detail in the
For practical reasons and with view to facilitating the references to the heat exchanger 10 as shown in
The stack of plates 17 gives the possibility of obtaining the exchange bundle 13 and appears according to the arrangement shown in
With view to obtaining the exchange bundle 13, the different plates 17 are positioned so that the inner face of the first plate 17 is directed towards the inner face of the second plate 17, said second plate 17 being positioned with its outer face directed towards the inner face of the third plate 17, and so forth according to the relevant number of plates.
In the heat exchanger 10 according to
The shape of the tubes of the exchange bundle is modified at the end of the tubes and exhibits a constriction. The exchange bundle includes in its ends, a connection surface in which the outlets of the different tubes are assembled. As shown in
The connecting element 14 is suitable for connecting the connection surface of the various tubes to the outlet 22. A connecting element 15 is provided on the opposite side of the exchange bundle in order to connect the inlet 21, intended for the first fluid, to a connection surface, at the opposite end of said exchange bundle 13.
The operation of the heat exchanger according to the invention is based on the fact that the shapes of the plates 17 change between their first end 91 and their second end 92, as shown in
The technical effect of the specific shapes of the plates 17 is shown, in a schematic version, in
The exchange bundle 13 is illustrated in
The different surfaces “A” form, at their ends, the secondary surface which may, via a connecting element 14, 15, be connected to the inlet/outlet intended for the first fluid. The free space located around the surface “A” allows the entry of the different channels “B” and may be connected to the inlet/outlet intended for the second fluid.
By means of the secondary surface of the tubes, the second fluid may penetrate into the case within the space surrounding the connecting element 14 and the constriction of the tubes. The first fluid is then guided inside the channels “B” defined by the outside of the assembly of tubes “A” forming together the exchange bundle 13. The second fluid is guided between the different tubes towards a space surrounding the constriction and the connecting element 15 of the tubes towards the outlet 32.
The different elements as shown in
The heat exchanger 40 comprises a first element 41 and a second element 42 forming as a combination a casing or case 41, 42 in order to form the outside of said heat exchanger 40. The case 41, 42 is suitable for containing an exchange bundle 43. This exchange bundle 43 includes a stack of plates 27 shown in
As illustrated in
Moreover, the second element 42 comprises an inlet 61 and an outlet 62 (partly visible) allowing a second fluid to penetrate into the inside of the case. By means of the constriction present at the second end of the exchange bundle 43, the second fluid may be guided outside the connecting element 44 and outside the ends of the tubes in order to continue its path inside the channels defined by the different tubes. The second fluid may be guided towards the open space around the second end of the tubes and the outside of the connecting element 45 in order to leave the heat exchanger 40 through the outlet 62.
The heat exchanger 40 comprises sealing elements 46 giving the possibility of maintaining together the ends of the different tubes and of improving the seal of said tubes, thus avoiding possible leaks of fluids.
The different elements of the heat exchanger 40 as illustrated in
Claims
1. A heat exchanger allowing exchange of heat between a first and a second fluid, said exchanger comprising:
- a case and
- an exchange bundle positioned inside said case,
- wherein the exchange bundle comprises: a main surface comprising a main width and formed with a plurality of tubes suitable for guiding the first fluid inside these tubes, an inlet for the first fluid towards an outlet of the first fluid and allowing outside these tubes guidance of the second fluid, an inlet for the second fluid towards an outlet of the second fluid,
- wherein the tubes are, at at least one first end, assembled in order to form a secondary surface comprising a secondary width less than the main width for connection to the inlet and/or the outlet of the first fluid,
- wherein the secondary surface at the first end of the tubes is formed for generating a space between the case and the outer face of the secondary surface, which space is connected to the inlet and/or the outlet of the second fluid.
2. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the tubes are, at a first end assembled in order to form the secondary surface for connection to the inlet of the first fluid
- wherein the secondary surface at the first end of the tubes is formed for generating a space between the case and the outer face of the secondary surface, which space is connected to the outlet of the second fluid;
- and wherein the tubes are, at the second end, assembled in order to form a secondary surface comprising a secondary width less than the width for connecting to the outlet of the first fluid, said secondary surface at the second end of the tubes generating a space between the case and the outer face of the secondary surface, which space is connected to the inlet of the second fluid.
3. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein said heat exchanger comprises a sealing element giving the possibility of covering the tubes at least at one end.
4. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein said heat exchanger comprises a connecting element giving the possibility of connecting at least one end of the tubes to an inlet or to an outlet by means of said connecting element.
5. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the tubes are positioned relatively to each other so as to create channels between them, said channels include disturbers.
6. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the exchange bundle is obtained by means of a plurality of plates positioned over each other and wherein the ends of said plates are provided with a rim giving the possibility of increasing the surface area between the plate and the inside of the case.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 4, 2014
Publication Date: Nov 10, 2016
Applicant: VALEO SYSTEMES THERMIQUES (Le Mesnil Saint Denis)
Inventors: José Antonio DE LA FUENTE ROMERO (Zaragoza), Yolanda BRAVO (Zaragoza), Anne-Sylvie MAGNIER-CATHENOD (Saint Cloud), Carlos MARTINS (Le Chesnay)
Application Number: 14/903,338