Patent ID: 7117934

Claim:
A heat exchange reactor comprising: a housing; a plurality of tubes configured to carry a first fluid, said plurality of tubes being mounted within said housing; a baffle having a plurality of holes receiving said plurality of tubes, said baffle being configured to guide a second fluid provided within said housing to flow in a direction generally perpendicular to said plurality of tubes; means for minimizing adverse effects of thermal expansion of at least one of said baffle and said plurality of tubes; and a first header plate mounting first ends of said plurality of tubes within said housing and a second header plate mounting second ends of said plurality of tubes within said housing, wherein said means for minimizing adverse effects of thermal expansion comprises means for reducing a differential thermal expansion between said first header plate, said second header plate, and said baffle, wherein said means for minimizing adverse effects of thermal expansion further comprises means for minimizing mechanical interference between said baffle and said plurality of tubes in both an operational state of said heat exchange reactor and a non-operational state of said heat exchange reactor.