POLYMER TUBE DRY COOLING TOWER
A polymer tube dry cooling tower designed to operate with internal fluid at or near atmospheric pressure.
This invention relates to heat exchangers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONIt is well known and common practice to use metallic heat exchangers for air-to-water heat exchange. These metallic heat exchangers can handle high internal pressures but are expensive to produce due to the cost of the raw material and methods of manufacture. Polymer heat exchangers are less expensive to produce and can handle moderate pressures, but can only be made with round tubes due to high pressures and thus are difficult to use with extended heat transfer surfaces like fins.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThis invention serves to combine the cost effectiveness and corrosion resistance of polymer tubes (that are in contact with liquids) while allowing the integration of metallic fins. This requires use of a heat exchanger between the invention and cooled equipment, similar to the way an open cooling tower is used, but with water saving potential of dry cooling. More particularly, the present invention seeks to solve the cost and tube thickness/shape dilemma by creating a multi-tube corrugated channel heat exchanger that operates near atmospheric pressure. This reduces the tube thickness, increases heat transfer, and allows the placement of metallic fins to further increase heat transfer efficiency.
According to an embodiment of the invention, an air-to-liquid heat exchanger is constructed of polymer rectangular tubes with metallic fins between the tubes. Each end of the rectangular tube is connected on the liquid side to a header. One header serves as a liquid inlet and the other as a liquid outlet. The heat exchanger operates near atmospheric pressure, similar to an open cooling tower. Multiple heat exchangers are multiplexed into a frame with fans. Air is drawn through the heat exchangers by the fans to cool a liquid flowing through the heat exchangers.
Accordingly, there is provided according to the invention, an isolated and atmospheric pressure indirect heat exchange dry cooling tower for the cooling of water that has been heated in a different heat exchanger in which the water is used in an indirect heat exchange to cool a process fluid, the isolated and atmospheric pressure indirect heat exchange dry cooling tower including a rectangular housing; a fan placed adjacent said housing and configured to force or draw air through said housing; a tube bundle situated inside said rectangular housing; an expansion device in fluid communication with said tube bundle that is open to atmospheric pressure; wherein the tube bundle includes an inlet header, an outlet header, and a plurality of rectangular polymer tubes extending between and in fluid communication with the inlet and outlet headers.
The subsequent description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention refers to the attached drawings, wherein:
Claims
1. A heat exchanger comprising:
- a plurality of rectangular polymer tubes in a parallel arrangement;
- said rectangular tubes connected at each end to fluid headers to form a coil bundle;
- at least one said coil bundle mounted into an air conducting box;
- the air conducting box fitted with a fan to move air across the coil bundle.
2. The heat exchanger according to claim 1 wherein said coil bundle comprises a closed circuit system configured to operate at atmospheric pressure.
3. The heat exchanger according to claim 1 further comprising aluminum fins affixed to the rectangular polymer tubes.
4. The heat exchanger according to claim 1 arranged in a parallel path wet-dry cooling tower.
5. The heat exchanger according to claim 1 further comprising an expansion device open to atmospheric pressure and in fluid communication with said plurality of rectangular polymer tubes.
6. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein said rectangular polymer tubes each constitute a single channel in an integrated multi-channel tube.
7. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein tube walls of said rectangular polymer tubes have a thickness of about 0.008 inches to about 0.20 inches.
8. An isolated and atmospheric pressure indirect heat exchange dry cooling tower for the cooling of water that has been heated in a different heat exchanger in which the water is used in an indirect heat exchange to cool a process fluid, the isolated and atmospheric pressure indirect heat exchange dry cooling tower comprising:
- a rectangular housing;
- a fan placed adjacent said housing and configured to force or draw air through said housing;
- a tube bundle situated inside said rectangular housing;
- an expansion device in fluid communication with said tube bundle that is open to atmospheric pressure;
- said tube bundle comprising an inlet header, an outlet header, and a plurality of rectangular polymer tubes extending between and in fluid communication with said inlet and outlet headers.
9. The isolated and atmospheric pressure indirect heat exchange dry cooling tower according to claim 8 further comprising aluminum fins affixed to the rectangular polymer tubes.
10. The isolated and atmospheric pressure indirect heat exchange dry cooling tower according to claim 8, wherein said rectangular polymer tubes each constitute a single channel in an integrated multi-channel tube.
11. The isolated and atmospheric pressure indirect heat exchange dry cooling tower according to claim 8, wherein tube walls of said rectangular polymer tubes have a thickness of about 0.008 inches to about 0.20 inches.
12. A system for cooling a process fluid comprising:
- a first indirect heat exchanger configured to receive said process fluid from a cooling system such as a building HVAC system, data center cooling system, or other industrial cooling system, allow indirect heat exchange between said process fluid and a cooling liquid, and return cooled process fluid to said cooling system;
- a second indirect heat exchanger configured to receive said cooling liquid from said first heat exchanger, allow indirect heat exchange between said cooling liquid and atmospheric air, and return cooled cooling liquid to said first heat exchanger,
- wherein said second indirect heat exchanger comprises an isolated and atmospheric pressure indirect heat exchange dry cooling tower comprising: a rectangular housing; a fan placed adjacent said housing and configured to force or draw air through said housing; a tube bundle situated inside said rectangular housing; an expansion device in fluid communication with said tube bundle that is open to atmospheric pressure; said tube bundle comprising an inlet header, an outlet header, and a plurality of rectangular polymer tubes extending between and in fluid communication with said inlet and outlet headers.
13. The system according to claim 12 wherein said coil bundle comprises a closed circuit system configured to operate at atmospheric pressure.
14. The system according to claim 12 further comprising aluminum fins affixed to the rectangular polymer tubes.
15. The system according to claim 12, wherein said rectangular polymer tubes each constitute a single channel in an integrated multi-channel tube.
16. The system according to claim 12, wherein tube walls of said rectangular polymer tubes have a thickness of about 0.008 inches to about 0.20 inches.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 4, 2021
Publication Date: Feb 10, 2022
Inventor: Davey Vadder (Westminster, MD)
Application Number: 17/393,503