U.S. patent application number 12/439851 was filed with the patent office on 2010-01-07 for heat exchanger.
This patent application is currently assigned to BEHR GMBH & CO. KG. Invention is credited to Florian Finck, Klaus Hassdenteufel, Hubert Pomin.
Application Number | 20100000717 12/439851 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38875039 |
Filed Date | 2010-01-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100000717 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Finck; Florian ; et
al. |
January 7, 2010 |
HEAT EXCHANGER
Abstract
The invention relates to a heat exchanger (5) comprising a block
(2) which is provided with parallel ducts and can be penetrated in
opposite directions in at least two passages (2a, 2b) by a medium
that is to be cooled. A bypass duct (6) which be penetrated by the
medium that is to be cooled is assigned o the first passage
(2a).
Inventors: |
Finck; Florian; (Stuttgart,
DE) ; Pomin; Hubert; (Sindelfingen, DE) ;
Hassdenteufel; Klaus; (Gerlingen, DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
LEYDIG VOIT & MAYER, LTD
700 THIRTEENTH ST. NW, SUITE 300
WASHINGTON
DC
20005-3960
US
|
Assignee: |
BEHR GMBH & CO. KG
Stuttgart
DE
|
Family ID: |
38875039 |
Appl. No.: |
12/439851 |
Filed: |
September 6, 2007 |
PCT Filed: |
September 6, 2007 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP2007/007782 |
371 Date: |
March 25, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
165/103 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F28F 2250/06 20130101;
F28D 2021/0094 20130101; F28F 9/0209 20130101; F28F 2265/26
20130101; F01P 2003/187 20130101; F28F 9/001 20130101; F28D 1/05375
20130101; F28F 27/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
165/103 |
International
Class: |
F28F 27/00 20060101
F28F027/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Sep 6, 2006 |
DE |
10 2006 042 239.2 |
Claims
1. A heat exchanger comprising a core having flow channels arranged
parallel to one another which can receive a throughflow of a medium
to be cooled in at least a first passage and a second passage in
opposite directions, and a bypass channel for the supply of the
medium, which can receive a throughflow of the medium to be cooled,
wherein the bypass channel is associated with the first
passage.
2. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein a first
collection box is associated with the core; the collection box
having an inlet chamber for the first passage and an outlet chamber
for the second passage.
3. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein a second
collection box is associated with the core as a deflection box for
the first and second passages.
4. Heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the bypass channel
is branched off before entry into core.
5. heat exchanger according to claim 4, wherein the bypass channel
is branched off from the inlet chamber.
6. The heat exchanger according to claim 3, wherein the bypass
channel discharges into the deflection box.
7. The heat exchanger according to claim 2, wherein the inlet
chamber and the outlet chamber are separated from one another by a
separation wall.
8. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the passages
have flow channels having cross sections which behave in a 1:1
ratio for the first and the second passages.
9. The heat exchanger according to claim 7, wherein the bypass
channel discharges into an inlet opening of the deflection box.
10. The heat exchanger according to claim 9, wherein the inlet
opening is located in an area (b) of a line (m) marking the
position of the separation wall and that the area (b) deviates to
either side of the line (m) by approximately 15% of the width of
the core.
11. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the bypass
channel is a separate bypass line.
12. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the bypass
channel is integrated into the heat exchanger.
13. The heat exchanger according to claim 12, wherein the heat
exchanger has at least one side part, arranged parallel to flow
channels in the first passage, which is designed as a flow channel
and can receive a throughflow as the bypass channel.
14. A coolant/air radiator for the coolant circulation of an
internal combustion engine for a motor vehicle comprising the heat
exchanger according to claim 1.
15. The heat exchanger according to claim 10, wherein the bypass
line has a diameter of 7 to 16 mm.
16. The radiator according to claim 14, wherein the proportion of
the throughput through the bypass channel can be established at 10
to 25% of the throughput through the radiator.
17. The radiator according to claim 16, wherein the flow rate of
the coolant in the bypass channel is higher than the flow rate in
flow channels of the first passage.
18. The radiator of claim 17, wherein the flow channels are
designed as tubes, and the cored is designed as a tube/fin
core.
19. The heat exchanger according to claim 3, wherein the bypass
channel projects at least in part into the deflection box by means
of an introduction tube.
Description
[0001] The invention concerns a heat exchanger according to the
preamble of Claim 1.
[0002] Such heat exchangers, which have a heat exchanger core,
known as a core for short, with flow channels arranged parallel to
one another, are known, for example, as coolant/air radiators in
motor vehicles. A medium to be cooled, for example, the coolant of
a cooling circuit of an internal combustion engine of a motor
vehicle, flows through the flow channels. The coolant is preferably
cooled by air (ambient air), wherein secondary exchange surfaces in
the form of fins can be provided. Various flow patterns are known
for such a core, for example, downflow radiators or crossflow
radiators with one or two flow filaments. In the latter case, the
throughflow of the core is in the shape of a U. In this respect,
two collection boxes are provided on the core, wherein the first
has an inlet and an outlet chamber and the second is designed as a
deflection box. The deflection of the flow thus takes place "in the
width," that is, in the longitudinal direction of the deflection
box. The division of the core into a first and a second passage, as
a rule, is done 50:50, so that the flow rates in the tubes of the
two core halves are the same. The flow direction of the cooling air
is perpendicular to the flow direction of the medium to be cooled,
so that the heat transfer occurs in crossflow. As a result of
cooling, the temperature of the medium in the tubes of the first
passage is higher than the temperature of the medium in the second
passage. In comparison to a parallel flow radiator (wherein the
entire core receives a throughflow in one direction), flow rates
which are increased due to the deflection are produced in the flow
channels, which lead to an improved heat transfer with small
coolant throughputs. Different expansions of the tubes are produced
due to the temperature differential between the tubes in the first
and second passage; these lead to thermal stresses in the heat
exchanger. In particular, with an increase in the coolant inlet
temperature as a result of a higher motor load, there is an
increased temperature differential between the first and second
passage of the core, since with such a transient process a
temporary lag appears, with the medium flowing through the two
passages successively.
[0003] By the applicant's DE 197 22 099 B4, a heat exchanger became
known, which has a collection box with an inserted separation wall
and inlet and outlet connections. Thus, a U-shaped throughflow of
the heat exchanger is made possible, which leads to the
aforementioned temperature differences in the first and second flow
passages.
[0004] A heat exchanger designed for internal combustion engines
became known from the applicant's DE 32 12 891 C2; it consists of a
fin/tube core, an upper and a lower box, and side parts which are
designed as flow channels and receive a coolant throughflow. The
medium to be cooled is withdrawn from the boxes and thus cools the
side parts, which in this way obtain a lower component temperature.
Thus, excessively high temperature differences between the cooling
tubes and side parts and increased temperature stresses are
avoided.
[0005] Proceeding from a heat exchanger which can receive a
throughflow in the shape of a U, it is the objective of the present
invention to avoid or to reduce thermal stresses produced by
temperature differences in the heat exchanger, in particular in its
flow channels.
[0006] This objective is attained by the features of Claim 1.
Advantageous developments of the invention can be deduced from the
subclaims.
[0007] According to the invention, provision is made first of all
for a bypass to be associated with the first passage of the heat
exchanger, i.e. the first U leg of the flow path; this means that a
proportion of the medium to be cooled is diverted before entry into
the first passage of the heat exchanger, conducted through the
bypass, and again supplied, uncooled, to the main flow after the
first passage or before the second passage. In this way there is
the advantage that the temperature in the second passage is raised
and thus the temperature difference is reduced. Therefore, the
thermal stresses in the flow channels, for example, the tube and
tube plate connections, are also reduced.
[0008] Advantageously, a first collection box with an inlet and
outlet chamber and a second collection box in the form of a
deflection box are associated with the core of the heat exchanger.
In this case, the bypass channel extends between the inlet chamber
and deflection box, wherein the local inlet of the bypass channel
into the deflection box can be designed as variable, that is,
dependent on the desired temperature increase in the second
passage. Preferably, the inlet of the bypass into the deflection
box can be at the level of a separation wall that separates the
inlet and outlet chambers from one another. In this case, the heat
exchanger preferably has horizontal flow channels and collection
boxes arranged vertically. The deflection box has an inlet opening.
The bypass channel discharges into the deflection box. The bypass
channel and/or the deflection box carries only slightly cooled
medium. The bypass channel is located in the deflection box.
Slightly cooled medium arrives at the deflection box via an inlet
opening. The closer the inlet opening of the bypass channel to the
inlet to the second passage, the less mixing there will be with the
cooled medium of the first passage, with a greater rise in the
temperature in the second passage.
[0009] The division of the core into a first passage and a second
passage can be 1:1, but can also deviate from that. With an equal
division, essentially the same flow rates are produced in the two
passages. The flow rate in the bypass channel, on the other hand,
is higher and can be established by dimensioning its cross section
or flow resistance to the desired value. The higher the flow rate
in the bypass channel, the more rapidly will the temperature front
of the hot medium reach the deflection box or the inlet to the
second passage. Thus, sudden temperature increases of the medium to
be cooled and the related increased temperature differences between
the first and the second passages can be compensated, since the
temperature fronts in the first and in the second passages run
opposite one another.
[0010] The bypass channel can be advantageously designed as a
separate bypass line to the heat exchanger or can be integrated
into the heat exchanger. The latter can, for example, be effected
by integration of the bypass channel into a side part of the heat
exchanger. The side part is thereby designed as a flow channel,
that is, hollow, and is fluidically connected with the inlet box
and the deflection box.
[0011] According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the
heat exchanger is designed as a coolant/air radiator in the coolant
circulation of an internal combustion engine for a motor vehicle.
The radiator core thus consists, as a rule, of tubes and fins which
receive a coolant throughflow; they are impinged upon by the
ambient air. The fin/tube core can be made mechanically or
constructed as a soldered core. The collection boxes can be made of
plastic or metal, in particular, aluminum, for example in
all-aluminum radiators.
[0012] Advantageously, the bypass line has a diameter in the range
of 7 to 16 mm. The proportion of the throughput through the bypass,
relative to the total throughput through the radiator, is thus
between 10 and 25%.
[0013] Embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawing and
are described in more detail below. The figures show the
following:
[0014] FIG. 1, a coolant radiator with U-shaped flow deflection
according to the state of the art;
[0015] FIG. 2, a coolant radiator, according to the invention, with
bypass line;
[0016] FIG. 3, a temperature/time diagram;
[0017] FIG. 4, a schematic representation of temperature fronts
with a radiator according to the state of the art;
[0018] FIG. 5, a schematic representation of the temperature fronts
with a radiator according to the invention;
[0019] FIG. 6, a schematic representation of an introduction tube
to introduce the coolant from the bypass line; and
[0020] FIG. 7, another view of the schematic representation of an
introduction tube to introduce the coolant from the bypass
line.
[0021] FIG. 1 shows a heat exchanger 1, designed as a coolant/air
radiator, according to the state of the art. The coolant radiator
1, designated below as radiator for short, is located in a
not-shown coolant circulation for an internal combustion engine of
a motor vehicle. The radiator 1 has a radiator core 2, designated
below as core 2 for short, which has not-shown horizontal tubes
(flow channels) and also not-shown fins, which are located on the
outside of the tubes. Tubes and fins are preferably soldered to
form a core, that is, core 2. However, other modes of construction,
for example, mechanically constructed round or oval tube systems,
can also be considered. The tube ends of the not-shown tubes
individually discharge into collection boxes 3, 4, wherein the
first collection box 3 is subdivided by a separation wall 3a into
an inlet chamber 3b and an outlet chamber 3c, whereas the second
collection box 4 does not have a separation wall, but rather is
designed as a deflection box. As a result of the separation wall
3a, coolant that enters the inlet chamber 3b via an inlet
connection 3d first flows in a first passage 2a (first tube group),
at the tip in the drawing, in the direction of arrow A through the
core 2. The coolant is subsequently deflected in the deflection box
4 and then flows back through a second passage 2b (second tube
group), which is lowermost in the drawing, in the direction of
arrow B, enters the outlet chamber 3c, and leaves the radiator 1
via an outlet connection 3e. The two passages or tube groups 2a, 2b
are separated at the level of the separation wall 3a by a broken
line m. The coolant which flows through the tubes is cooled by
ambient air, which flows through core 2 perpendicular to the
drawing plane.
[0022] On the one hand, an increased flow rate of the coolant, as a
result of the deflection, and thus an improved heat exchange, are
advantageous in this arrangement. On the other hand, with certain
installation conditions, the arrangement of coolant inlet and
outlet connections on the same side or on the same collection box
can be advantageous.
[0023] FIG. 2 shows a heat exchanger 5 according to the invention
that is also designed as a coolant/air radiator for a motor vehicle
and corresponds to the known radiator 1 according to the state of
the art; the reference numbers of radiator 1 from FIG. 1 are
therefore adopted for the corresponding parts of radiator 5. In
contrast to the known radiator 1, radiator 5 has a bypass line 6
which bypasses the first passage 2a of core 2 without the coolant
being cooled. The entering coolant flow is labeled by arrow
V.sub.E; the outleting coolant flow, by arrow V.sub.A. Bypass line
6 therefore branches off before or in the inlet chamber 3b and is
connected with the deflection box 4 via an inlet opening 7. Bypass
line 6 can be designed as a separate line, for example, a tubular
line, or, not shown in the drawing, integrated in radiator 5. This
can be achieved, for example, with a radiator with side parts,
wherein one side part, which fits snugly against the core half of
the first passage, is hollow and designed as a flow channel, and
receives a coolant throughflow from the inlet chamber to the
deflection box.
[0024] The inlet opening 7 is preferably located in an area b,
which deviates by approximately 15% of the width of core 2 on
either side of line m. The inlet opening or inlet point 7 is
understood to mean the location where the bypass flow (the coolant
flow through the bypass channel 6) meets the coolant flow in the
deflection box 4 and the two flows mix.
[0025] According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the
diameter of the bypass line for a radiator is in the range of 7-16
mm, thus establishing the proportion of the bypass flow relative to
the total throughput through radiator 5 between 10% and 25%.
[0026] In the drawing, that is, in a preferred embodiment, the
inlet opening 7 in the deflection box 4 is located above line m
that separates the first passage 2a, which is uppermost in the
drawing, from the second passage 2b, which is lowermost in the
drawing. Since the first passage 2a and the second passage 2b have
the same number of tubes (not shown) with the same flow cross
sections, the upper and the lower core halves 2a, 2b are the same.
However, design of the flow cross sections of the passages 2a, 2b
in a ratio different from 50:50, for example, at 40:60, also lies
within the scope of the invention.
[0027] By means of the bypass flow, that is, the proportion of the
coolant flowing through the bypass line 6 and the reentry of the
practically uncooled coolant in the middle area of the deflection
box 4, hot or relatively uncooled coolant is supplied to the second
passage 2b, so that the temperature of the coolant in the second
passage 2b rises. This effect of the bypass flow according to the
invention is explained in more detail below.
[0028] FIG. 3 is a diagram in which the inlet temperature TE of the
coolant, that is, the coolant flow V.sub.E, is plotted over time t.
The depicted temperature curve is based on the following two
operating states in the vehicle: in the first operating state
(short-circuit operation) the (not shown) thermostat of the coolant
circulation is closed; the engine is running in the partial load
range. The coolant radiator cools the coolant almost to the ambient
temperature (T1). The volume flow in the radiator is equal to zero
or very low in this operating state. In the second operating state,
the engine runs under load; more heat is therefore removed from it,
that is, the thermostat is opened. The volume flow rises, and
coolant with a temperature T2, which is increased in comparison to
T1, flows into the radiator.
[0029] In the diagram, T1 is the low coolant inlet temperature,
whereas T2 represents the increased coolant inlet temperature,
which as mentioned above can arise with an increased motor load.
The continuous lines, which represent the time dependence of the
temperature TE on the time t, show the delay with which a
temperature increase of T1 to T2 at the radiator inlet is
propagated up to the deflection box. While the coolant inlet
temperature increases to T2 in a time period (t2-t1), a time period
(t4-t2) also elapses until the temperature T2 has arrived at the
deflection box, that is, at the inlet to the second passage.
[0030] FIG. 4 shows a schematic representation of a radiator
according to the state of the art, that is, according to FIG. 1,
which shows the temperature fronts in the first (upper) passage
with a temperature of T1, and an increased temperature of T2, at a
time t=t3 (see FIG. 3). With a temperature jump, in particular at
the inlet, the upper core 2a of the radiator has essentially the
shaded area A in which the coolant in the tubes has reached the
inlet temperature T2. In a transition area with T2>T>T1, cold
coolant and hot coolant are mixed with one another. Cold coolant
with the temperature T=T1 is found in an area T=T1. From this it
can be clearly seen that the temperature difference (T2-T1) is in
full effect, that is, the tubes of the upper passage for the most
part already have an elevated temperature T2, whereas the tubes of
the lower passage still have a lower temperature of T1. The
aforementioned thermal stresses result from this.
[0031] FIG. 5 shows the propagation of the temperature fronts at a
time t=t3 (see FIG. 3) with a radiator according to the invention
having a bypass line 6 and inlet point 7 of the bypass flow in the
deflection box 4 corresponding to the embodiment according to FIG.
2. The inlet point 7 is advantageously located in the area +/-15%
of the radiator width from the position of the separation wall
(line m). By means of the bypass flow and its entry in the vicinity
of line m, coolant at the elevated temperature T2 is conducted
directly to the inlet of the second passage 2b. In this way, a
temperature distribution or a temperature front is formed that is
depicted by a shaded area 8 in an exemplary manner (in an idealized
manner). The area with the elevated coolant inlet temperature T2 in
the first passage is also shaded and provided with the reference
number 9. The shaded areas 8, 9 form areas A.sub.u and A.sub.o
which correspond to the coolant volumes with the temperature T2.
The corresponding shaded area of temperature T2 is designated by A
in FIG. 4. In comparing FIGS. 4 and 5, the relationship
A=A.sub.o+A.sub.u holds. The diagram shows that the temperature
fronts of area 8 (A.sub.o) in the first passage and area 9
(A.sub.u) in the second passage run contrary one another, that is,
toward one another. In this way, the increased temperature
differences known from the state of the art are reduced, and
consequently the stresses resulting therefrom are also reduced.
[0032] Based on the flow resistance and the cross section of the
bypass line, the delay between the rise in temperature in box 3a
and in box 4 at location 7 can be varied and adjusted.
[0033] FIGS. 6 and 7 show an embodiment of an introduction tube 21.
The introduction tube 21 is connected to the bypass channel 6 by
means of a tube flange 20 and is used to introduce the coolant from
the bypass channel 6 into the deflection box 4. The introduction
tube 21 thereby projects at least in part into the deflection box
4. Furthermore, the introduction tube 21 is at least offset at
right angles and/or has at least one opening 22 to introduce the
coolant from bypass channel 6.
* * * * *