Patent ID: 6866093

Claim:
A heat exchanger assembly comprising: a shell having a shell side fluid path; a plurality of tubes; a shell side fluid inlet; a shell side fluid outlet, wherein a shell side fluid is capable of flowing between said shell side fluid inlet and said shell side fluid outlet in said shell side fluid path extending therebetween; at least one tube side fluid inlet; at least one tube side fluid outlet, said tubes extending between said tube side fluid inlet and said tube side fluid outlet, wherein said shell side fluid path extending between said shell side inlet and said shell side fluid outlet is arranged in a cross flow fluid arrangement with respect to each of said tube side fluid inlets and said tubes; and a plurality of isolation and flow direction control plates positioned normal to said shell side fluid path and in parallel with said tube side fluid inlet and said tubes in the shell of the heat exchanger assembly for creating adjacent smaller heat exchangers, each of said isolation and flow direction control plates including at least one fluid slot for permitting fluid communication between corresponding adjacent smaller heat exchangers, said fluid slots extending normal to said shell side fluid path and in parallel with said tubes, wherein said isolation and flow direction control plates include a first isolation and flow direction control late having at least one of said fluid slots, and a second isolation and flow direction control plate having at least one of said fluid slots, wherein said second isolation and flow direction control plate has a different number of said fluid slots than said first isolation and flow direction control plate.