HEAT EXCHANGING APPARATUS

Abstract: The invention is directed to miniaturizing a housing (2) by combining a plate-fin heat exchanger (1, 1) having a great heat exchange rate relative to a volume with a gas-liquid separator (10) having a lateral H-shape. Provided in the housing (2) are the plate-fin heat exchanger (1, 1) for performing heat exchange between a refrigerant and a fluid to be cooled and the gas-liquid separator (10) such that the refrigerant and the fluid to be cooled are transported through a piping in the housing (2) and heat exchange is performed between the refrigerant and the fluid to be cooled so as to cool the fluid to be cooled while performing separation and mixing of a gas and a liquid in the refrigerant. In order to be laterally H-shaped, the gas-liquid separator (10) comprises an upper storage section (10a) having a hollow cylindrical member gas-tightly sealed at both ends thereof, a lower storage section (10c) and an intermediate section (10b) allowing the both storage sections (10a, 10c) to communicate with each other.

Description: Technical Field This invention relates to an apparatus for exchanging heat between a fluid to be cooled and refrigerants. More particularly, while the fluid and the refrigerants flow about in a hollow body through pipes, gas and liquid of the refrigerants are repeatedly separated and mixed for exchange of heat between the fluid and the refrigerants. Background Art Prior heat exchanging apparatus has been equipped with a gas-liquid separator, which has a vertical or horizontal cylinder tank. As shown in Figure 4, the vertical type of the gas-liquid separator 51 has an inlet 51c on its one side. The inlet 51c is connected to heat exchangers 53 through flash valve 54. And also the gas-liquid separator 51 has outlets 51a and 51b on its top and bottom respectively, The outlets 51a and 51b are connected to the heat exchangers 53 through mixers 52 which are incorporated into the heat exchangers 53 respectively. Accordingly, the discharged refrigerant from the heat exchangers 53 is adiabaticly expanded by flash valve 54, and get to the tank 51 where the refrigerant is separated into refrigerant gas and refrigerant liquid. And then the gas and liquid of the refrigerant are mixed together by the mixers 52 which are incorporated into the heat exchangers 53 respectively. Finally, the refrigerant is equally distributed to the heat exchangers 53 again. And, as shown in Figure 5, the horizontal type of the gas-liquid separator has an inlet 51c on its top of a tank 51. The inlet 51c is connected to heat exchangers 53 through flash valve 54. And also the gas-liquid separator 51 has outlets 51a and 51b on its top and bottom respectively, The outlets 51a and 51b are connected to the heat exchangers 53 through mixers 52 which are incorporated into the heat exchangers 53 respectively. Accordingly, the discharged refrigerant from the heat exchangers 53 is adiabaticly expanded by flash valve 54, and get to the tank 51 where the refrigerants is separated into gas and liquid. And then the gas and liquid of the refrigerant is mixed together by the mixers 52 which are incorporated into the heat exchangers 53 respectively. Finally, the refrigerant is equally distributed to the heat exchangers 53 again. However, the above-prior heat exchanging apparatus which equips the heat exchangers 53 and the vertical type of the gas-liquid separator in a hollow body needs a common pipe which joins the distribution pipes to the gas-liquid separator for distributing the refrigerants to the plurality of heat exchangers 53 because it is difficult for many pipes which are connected to the gas-liquid separator to be set up planely. Moreover, the vertical type of the gas-liquid separator tends to have a bigger diameter than the horizontal type of the gas-liquid separator to obtain a larger sectional area for gas phase flowing up in the gas-liquid separator. Therefor the prior art heat exchanging apparatus having the vertical type of the gas-liquid separator in the hollow body has a problem of the hollow body becoming bigger. And also, the above-prior heat exchanging apparatus which equips the heat exchangers 53 and the horizontal type of the gas-liquid separator in a hollow body has some problems. When a horizontally longer type of the gas-liquid separator is applied, the pipes for distributing to the plurality of heat exchangers 53 are decreased in number and a larger sectional area for gas phase flowing up is obtained in its smaller diameter than the vertical type of the gas-liquid separator. But a fluctuation range of a liquid level is limited. Therefor, the above-prior heat exchanging apparatus having the horizontal type of the gas-liquid separator in a hollow body has a problem in its operation. Moreover, when different kinds of the refrigerants are applied, the different kinds of the refrigerants have to be uniformly mixed in each of gas and liquid phases as well as a separation gas from liquid before distributing the refrigerants to the plurality of the heat exchangers 53. Nevertheless, as the horizontal type of gas-liquid separator is long in a horizontal direction, it may causes non-uniformity of the refrigerant's components at each pipes connected to the plurality of heat exchangers 53 respectively. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a heat exchanging apparatus which equips heat exchangers and a horizontal type of the gas-liquid separator in a hollow body, which enables the hollow body to become small size, enables to obtain a fluctuation range of a liquid level without any problems of operation, and enables to mix up two or more kinds of the refrigerants sufficiently and distribute the uniformly mixed refrigerants to the plurality of heat exchangers. Disclosure of invention The present heat exchanging apparatus which resolves the above problems of the prior heat exchanging apparatus where fluid to be cooled and refrigerant flow about in a hollow body through pipes while the gas and liquid of the refrigerants are repeatedly separated and mixed for exchange of heat between the fluid and the refrigerant, is defined in claim 1. In particular, the present heat exchanging apparatus comprises a plurality of plate-fin heat exchangers for exchanging heat between the refrigerant and the fluid and a horizontal H-letter shaped type of a gas-liquid separator which includes an upper accommodation portion which is a hollow cylinder laid in horizontal direction both of which ends are airtightly sealed, a lower accommodation portion which is a hollow cylinder laid in horizontal direction both of which ends are airtightly sealed and an intermediate accommodation portion which connects the upper accommodation portion to the lower accommodation portion so that the refrigerant may flow through while forming H-letter. According to the above said structure, the gas-liquid separator enables distribution pipes to be directly connected to the heat exchangers without the common pipe which joints the distribution pipes to the gas-liquid separator because it is installed so as to be longer in horizontal direction than the vertically cylindrical tank. Moreover, the installed gas-liquid separator so as to be longer in horizontal direction can more easily provide the sectional area for gas phase flowing up than the vertical type of one. Thus, its diameter can be smaller than the vertical type of one and this prevents the volume of the hollow body from increasing. Further, as equipping the intermediate accommodation portion, the fluctuation range of the liquid level in operation can be enlarged in comparison with a horizontally cylindrical tank having the same diameter. Thus, the improvement of operation can be achieved. Furthermore, When two or more different kinds of the refrigerants are supplied into the upper accommodation portion, all the liquid phases are mixed while they are going through the intermediate accommodation portion. So that, it is possible to distribute the liquid phase with uniformity of composition in comparison with a horizontally cylindrical tank. Accordingly, as equipping the horizontally H-letter shaped type of the gas-liquid separator and the plurality of plate-fin heat exchangers having a larger heat exchange performance per volume, it is possible to minimize a volume of the hollow body keeping the same performance for separating and mixing gas and liquid. Brief Description of Drawings Figure 1(a) is a side view of a schematic internal construction, of a heat exchanging apparatus of the present invention. Figure 1(b) is a front view of a schematic internal construction, of a heat exchanging apparatus on the present invention. Figure 2 is a longitudinal section view of a gas-liquid separator. Figure 3 is a perspective view of a plate-fin heat exchanger. Figure 4 is a block diagram of a conventional heat exchanging apparatus and Figure 5 is a block diagram of a conventional heat exchanging apparatus too. Best Mode for Carrying out The Invention One feature of the present invention will become apparent from the following Figure 1 through Figure 3. A heat exchanging apparatus of the present invention with reference to Figure 1 has a plurality of plate-fin heat exchangers 1 in the hollow body 2. The plate-fin heat exchanger 1, as shown in Figure 3, has a construction where corrugated fins 18 and plates 19 are laminated alternately and fluid path and refrigerant path are alloted alternately between each the plates 19 so as to put the fluid to be cooled in touch with the refrigerant through plates 9. Heat is transferred through corrugation fins 18 and plates 19. The above each plate-fin heat exchanger 1 has three kinds of passages. High pressure refrigerant flows through the first passage, and low pressure refrigerant flows through the second passage. The high pressure refrigerant is supplied into the first passage through a first pipe 4 which is connected to the top end of the first passage as shown in Figure 1. On the other hand, the low pressure refrigerant goes out the second passage through a second pipe 5 which is connected to the top end of the second passage. The high pressure refrigerant goes down through the first passage in the plate-fin heat exchanger 1, and the low pressure refrigerant goes up through the second passage in the plate-fin heat exchanger 1. The fluid to be cooled is supplied into the third passage through a third pipe 6 which is connected to the top end of the third passage. The fluid which has been cooled by heat exchanging goes out the third passage through a fourth pipe 7 which is connected to the bottom end of the third passage. The bottom end of the first passage is connected to a flash valve through a fifth pipe 8 which collects the refrigerant and runs along to the wall of plate-fin heat exchangers 1. The flash valve which is not shown in Figure 1 is connected to a gas-liquid separator 10 through a sixth pipe 9 which collects the refrigerant and runs along a wall of the plate-fin heat exchangers 1. The above gas-liquid separator 10 comprises a horizontally H-letter shaped type of a tank. And the wall of the plate-fin heat exchangers 1 and a plane including the H-letter of the tank are in parallel with each other. In other words, the gas-liquid separator 10, as illustrated in Figure 2, consists of an upper accommodation portion 10a, an intermediate accommodation portion 10b and a lower accommodation portion 10c. The upper accommodation portion 10a which is a hollow cylinder laid in horizontal direction both of which ends are airtightly sealed. An injection device 11 having many injection holes 11a is provided in the upper accommodation portion 10a. The injection device 11 is connected to the sixth pipe 9 which is joined to the upper accommodation portion 10a of the gas-liquid separator 10. The liquid of the refrigerant coming out the above-said flash valve is discharged into the upper accommodation portion 10a. A seventh pipe 15 is also connected to the upper accommodation portion 10a. Other kinds of the refrigerant go through the seventh pipe 15 into the upper accommodation portion 10a under the condition that gas and liquid phases are mixed, which have different components from one going through the sixth pipe 9 into. The center position of the upper accommodation portion 10a is connected to a top end of the intermediate accommodation portion 10b which is a vertical hollow cylinder. The bottom end of the intermediate accommodation portion 10b is connected to the lower accommodation portion 10c which is a hollow cylinder laid in horizontal direction both of which ends are airtightly sealed. The intermediate accommodation portion 10b connects the upper accommodation portion 10a to the lower accommodation portion 10c so that the refrigerant can flow while forming H-letter in horizontal direction. The gas-liquid separator 10 handles different kinds of the refrigerant supplied from the seventh pipe 15 and the injection device 11 as follows. Both liquids of the refrigerants are accommodated at the the lower accommodation portion 10c after mixing in the intermediate accommodation portion 10b. On the other hand, both gases of the refrigerants are mixed and accommodated at the upper accommodation portion 10a. Thus, the gas-liquid separator 10 can separate the gas of the refrigerants from the liquid of the refrigerants with uniformity as respect to components respectively. Eighth pipes 13 are connected to the upper accommodation portion 10a and ninth pipes 12 are connected to the lower accommodation portion 10c. These pipes 13 and 12 are connected to unillustrated mixers which are provided in the plate-fin heat exchangers to each. These pipes 13 and 12 distribute gas and liquid of the refrigerants to the mixers respectively. After mixing gas with liquid of the refrigerants, the mixers send them to the passages in the plate-fin heat exchangers 1. The assembly of the heat exchanging apparatus in the above construction will become apparent from the following description. At first, the first pipe 4 and the second pipe 5 are connected to each of the plurality of the plate-fin heat exchangers 1 so that the plurality of the plate-fin heat exchangers 1 are united into one. These plate-fin heat exchangers 1 are fixed on the designed position of the hollow body 2 after, the gas-liquid separator 10 is set parallel to the wall of the plate-fin heat exchangers. After these processes, each one end of the pipes such as the sixth pipes 9 or the seventh pipes 15 is connected to the gas-liquid separator 10 and each other end of them is connected to the plate-fin heat exchangers or the un-illustrated flash valve. At this time, the gas-liquid separator 10 consists of the horizontally H-letter shaped tank, and also the upper accommodation portion 10a is a hollow cylinder horizontally installed. Therefore, as illustrated in Figure 2, it is possible to connect the pipes 9, 13 and 15 to the upper accommodation portion 10a in one plane including the H-letter of the tank even if there are a lot of the pipes 9, 13 and 15. Finally, the pipes which are attached to the gas-liquid separator 10 can be placed in the same plane as including the gas-liquid separator 10 which is parallel to the wall of the plate-fin heat exchangers. Thus, the heat exchanging apparatus of the present invention comprises the gas-liquid separator 10 and the plate-fin heat exchangers 1 in the hollow body where each plate-fin heat exchanger 1 exchanges heat between the refrigerants and the fluid to be cooled, and also the fluid and the refrigerants flow about in a hollow body through the pipes (the first pipe 4 and so on) while gas and liquid of the refrigerants are repeatedly separated and mixed for exchange heat between the refrigerants and the fluid to be cooled such as a natural gas. And the gas-liquid separator 10 is characterized by comprising the upper accommodation portion 10a and the lower accommodation portion 10c which are the hollow cylinders laid in horizontal direction both of which ends are airtightly sealed and the intermediate accommodation portion 10b which connects the the upper accommodation portion 10a to the lower accommodation portion 10c so that the refrigerants may flow through while forming H-letter in horizontal direction. So that, the distribution pipes from the gas-liquid separator 10 can be connected directly to plate-fin heat exchangers 1 without a common pipe since the gas-liquid separator 10 is set longer horizontally in comparison with a vertically cylindrical tank. Moreover, being horizontally longer facilitates obtaining the section area for gas flowing up in comparison with the vertical type of a gas-liquid separator, and as a result of that, it is possible to minimize the diameter of the hollow body and to prevent the volume of the hollow body from increasing. And also, comprising the intermediate accommodation portion 10b enables the fluctuation range of the liquid level in operation to become larger in comparison with a horizontally cylindrical tank having the same diameter, so that the operation of the present heat exchanging apparatus is improved. Further, when two or more different kinds of the refrigerants are supplied into the upper accommodation portion 10a, their liquid phases are mixed with each other while they go through the intermediate accommodation portion 10b, so that it is possible to distribute the liquid phase with the uniformity of composition in comparison with a horizontally cylindrical tank. Accordingly, as equipping the horizontally H-letter shaped type of the gas-liquid separator 10 and the plurality of the plate-fin heat exchangers 1 having a larger heat exchange performance per volume, it is possible to minimize the volume of the hollow body keeping the same performance for separating and mixing gas and liquid. The above example of the present invention shows only one intermediate accommodation portion 10b which connects the upper accommodation portion 10a to the lower accommodation portion 10c so that the refrigerants may go through. However, the intermediate accommodation portion 10b is not limited to be single in number. A plurality of intermediate accommodation portions 10b are applicable. Efficiency of a Mixing in case of a plurality of intermediate accommodation portions 10b applied may be inferior to one in case of the single intermediate accommodation portion 10b. However, a stability of the liquid level in operation improves because the cross section area of the intermediate accommodation portions 10b is wider. In the manner stated above, the present invention of the heat exchanging apparatus refrigerates the fluid to be cooled while the fluid and the refrigerant flow about in the hollow body through pipes so that the gas and liquid of the refrigerant may be repeatedly separated and mixed for exchange heat between the fluid and the refrigerants. The present heat exchanging apparatus comprises a plurality of plate-fin heat exchangers for exchanging heat between the refrigerant and the fluid, and the horizontally H-letter shaped type of gas-liquid separator in the hollow body. The gas-liquid separator includes the upper and lower accommodation portions which are hollow cylinders laid in horizontal direction both of which ends are airtightly sealed, and the intermediate accommodation portion which connects the upper accommodation portion to the lower accommodation portion so that the refrigerants may go through while forming H-letter. According to the above said structure, the present invention can not only reduce its diameter compared with the vertical cylindrical tank but also simplify the pipe system for distributing the separated gas and liquid. In addition to that, it can not only get the wider fluctuation range of the liquid level in comparison with the vertical cylindrical tank but also efficiently mix several kinds of liquids having different composition by working of the intermediate accommodation portion. By a combination of the horizontally H-letter shaped type of gas-liquid separator and the plurality of plate-fin heat exchangers having a larger heat exchange performance per volume, it is possible to minimize a volume of the hollow body keeping the same performance for separating and mixing gas and liquid. Applicability In conclusion, the present invention is suitable as the heat exchanging apparatus which equips the heat exchangers and the horizontal type of the gas-liquid separator in a hollow body, which enables the hollow body to become small in size, enables to obtain a fluctuation range of a liquid level without any problems of operation, and enables to mix up two or more kinds of the refrigerants sufficiently and distribute the uniformly mixed refrigerants to the plurality of heat exchangers.

Claims: A heat exchanging apparatus comprising: a gas-liquid separator to separate gas from liquid of a refrigerant; a plurality of plate-fin heat exchangers for exchanging heat between said refrigerant and fluid to be cooled; and a hollow body containing said plurality of plate-fin heat exchangers and said gas-liquid separator; where said plurality of plate-fin heat exchangers are arranged in upright position, characterized in that said gas-liquid separator includes an upper accommodation portion which is a hollow cylindrical member laid in horizontal direction both of which ends are airtightly sealed, a lower accommodation portion which is a hollow cylindrical member laid in horizontal direction both of which ends are airtightly sealed and an intermediate accommodation portion which connects the said upper accommodation portion to said lower accommodation portion so that the refrigerant may flow through and so as to form H-letter in horizontal direction, a plane including said H-letter of said gas-liquid separator is parallel to a wall of said plate-fin heat exchangers. A heat exchanging apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which collecting pipes for collecting and sending indirectly the refrigerant from said heat exchangers to said gas-liquid separator are installed along said wall of said plate-fin heat exchangers. A heat exchanging apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which pipes for distribution or collecting the refrigerant are connected to the upper accommodation portion of said gas-liquid separator in one plane including said H-letter of said gas-liquid separator. A heat exchanging apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which distribution pipes for distributing the refrigerant from said gas-liquid separator to said plate-fin heat exchangers each connect directly said gas-liquid separator to said plate-fin heat exchangers without a common pipe. A heat exchanging apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which an injection device having many injection holes for discharging the refrigerant is provided in said upper accommodation portion of said gas-liquid separator. A heat exchanging apparatus as claimed in any of the claims 1 to 5, characterized by a plurality of intermediate accommodation portions which connect said upper accommodation portion to said lower accommodation portion so that the refrigerants may flow through while forming H-letter in horizontal direction.

Inventors: ASADA KAZUHIKO, KASHIHARA SHIN-ICHIRO, KUROSE KATSUO, KUWAHARA KAZUHIKO, MITSUHASHI KEN-ICHIRO, OKAMOTO SHIGEMI, UENO KOICHI, ASADA, KAZUHIKO, KASHIHARA, SHIN-ICHIRO, KUROSE, KATSUO, KUWAHARA, KAZUHIKO, MITSUHASHI, KEN-ICHIRO, OKAMOTO, SHIGEMI TAKASAGO WORKS, UENO, KOICHI, ASADA, Kazuhiko Takasago Works in Kobe Steel, Ltd., KASHIHARA, Shin-ichiro Takasago Works, KUROSE, Katsuo Takasago Works, KUWAHARA, Kazuhiko Takasago Works, MITSUHASHI, Ken-ichiro Takasago Works, UENO, Koichi Takasago Works in Kobe Steel, Ltd.
Applicants: KOBE STEEL LTD, KABUSHIKI KAISHA KOBE SEIKO SHO
Application year: 1995
Main classification: F25B39
IPC codes: F25B39, F28D9, F25J3, F25J5, F25B41