Patent ID: 6167951
Filing Date: 2001-01-02
Classification: C02F,F28D,F28F

Abstract:
A radial flow heat exchanger, comprising: a) a shell; b) a plurality of large circular baffle plates aligned coaxially within the shell and extending to an inner wall of the shell, each of the large baffle plates defining at least one circular hole therein; c) a plurality of small circular baffle plates aligned coaxially within the shell, each of the small baffle plates alternately spaced from and coaxially positioned relative to each of the large circular baffle plates; and d) a plurality of symmetrically-arranged tubes positioned perpendicularly to the small baffle plates and the large baffle plates forming at least one coaxial tube bundle extending through the plurality of small baffle plates and the plurality of large baffle plates; wherein an inner radius of each of the at least one coaxial tube bundles is larger than a radius of the at least one circular hole in the large baffle plate, and an outer radius of the at least one coaxial tube bundle is smaller than a radius of the smaller baffle plates; wherein each of the small baffle plates defines with the inner wall of the shell at least one space outside the at least one tube bundle; wherein an external heat transfer coefficient is the same or nearly the same for all the interior tubes; wherein the tubes form a plurality of concentric, circular tube rows with a same number of tubes in each row; and wherein tubes on each successive tube row, proceeding in a direction of increasing radius, are staggered such that a diagonal spacing between each tube and its nearest neighboring tubes in adjacent tube rows is uniform, and a spacing between adjacent tubeson an innermost tube row is less than twice a diagonal distance between the nearest neighboring tubes in adjacent tube rows.