Cooling apparatus for cooling a fluid by means of surface water

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10330389-B2
Application number	US-201515534588-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 4, 2015
Priority date	Dec 12, 2014
Publication date	Jun 25, 2019
Grant date	Jun 25, 2019

Abstract

A cooling apparatus (1) for cooling a fluid by means of surface water comprises a plurality of tubes (10) for containing and transporting the fluid to be cooled in their interior, the tubes (10) being intended to be at least partially exposed to the surface water during operation of the cooling apparatus (1). Furthermore, the cooling apparatus (1) comprises a plurality of light sources (21, 22) for producing light that hinders fouling of the exterior of the tubes (10), the light sources (21, 22) being dimensioned and positioned with respect to the tubes (10) so as to cast anti-fouling light over the exterior of the tubes (10), wherein the light sources (21, 22) have a generally elongated shape, and wherein the light sources (21, 22) are arranged in at least two mutually different orientations in the cooling apparatus (1).

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A cooling apparatus for cooling a fluid by means of surface water, comprising:
a plurality of tubes for containing and transporting the fluid to be cooled in their interior, the tubes being intended to be at least partially exposed to the surface water during operation of the cooling apparatus, and
a plurality of light sources for producing light that hinders fouling of the exterior of the tubes, the light sources being dimensioned and positioned with respect to the tubes so as to cast anti-fouling light over the exterior of the tubes,
wherein the light sources have a generally elongated shape,
wherein the light sources are arranged in at least two mutually different orientations in the cooling apparatus, and
wherein at least a part of the cooling apparatus has a layered structure in which the tubes are arranged in tube layers, each tube layer including at least one tube, wherein light sources of a first group of the light sources are arranged in an orientation for intersecting at least two adjacent tube layers, and wherein light sources of a second group of the light sources are arranged between at least one pair of two adjacent tube layers without intersecting the at least one pair of two adjacent tube layers.

2. The cooling apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein at least a part of the tubes of the respective tube layers a substantially straight part extending in a main tube direction, and wherein the light sources of the second group of the light sources have a substantially straight shape and are arranged in an orientation for extending in a direction which is different from the main tube direction.

3. The cooling apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the light sources of the second group of the light sources are arranged in an orientation for extending in a direction which is substantially perpendicular to the main tube direction.

4. The cooling apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the light sources of the second group of the light sources are arranged in an orientation for being substantially parallel to the tube layers.

5. The cooling apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the light sources of the first group of the light sources have a substantially straight shape and are arranged in an orientation for extending in a direction which is substantially perpendicular to both the main tube direction and the direction of the orientation of the light sources of the second group of the light sources.

6. The cooling apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the light sources of the first group of the light sources extend substantially parallel to each other.

7. The cooling apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the light sources of the second group of the light sources extend substantially parallel to each other.

8. The cooling apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the tubes of the respective tube layers have a curved shape, and wherein at least a number of the light sources of the first group of the light sources are arranged inside of the curved shape of at least a number of the tubes of the respective tube layers.

9. The cooling apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein a number of the light sources of the first group of the light sources are arranged outside of the curved shape of at least a number of the tubes of the respective tube layers.

10. The cooling apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the tube layers include a number of U-shaped tubes having a curved bottom portion and two substantially straight leg portions, wherein the tubes of each tube layer have mutually different sizes, ranging from a smallest tube to a largest tube, the smallest tube having a smallest radius of the bottom portion, and the largest tube having a largest radius of the bottom portion, wherein top sides of the leg portions of the tubes are at a similar level in the cooling apparatus, wherein the leg portions of the tubes extend substantially parallel to each other, and wherein at least one light source of the first group of the light sources is arranged inside of the U shape of the smallest tubes of at least a number of the respective tube layers.

11. The cooling apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the light sources comprise a tubular lamp for producing ultraviolet light.

12. The cooling apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the tubes are at least partially coated with an anti-fouling light reflective coating.

13. A ship, comprising:
an engine for driving the ship,
an engine cooling system including a cooling apparatus according to claim 1 , and
a compartment for accommodating the tubes and the light sources of the cooling apparatus, the compartment being provided with at least one entry opening for allowing the surface water to enter the compartment and at least one exit opening for allowing the surface water to exit the compartment.

14. The ship according to claim 13 , wherein the interior of walls delimiting the compartment is at least partially coated with an anti-fouling light reflective coating.

Assignees

• Koninklijke Philips Nv

Inventors

• Salters Bart Andre
• Kroeze Johannes Antonius
• Hietbrink Roelant Boudewijn

Classifications

• F28D1/022 Primary

  for immersion in a natural body of water, e.g. marine radiators · CPC title

• F28D2021/0094

  for recooling the engine coolant · CPC title

• F28F19/00 Primary

  Preventing the formation of deposits or corrosion, e.g. by using filters {or scrapers} · CPC title

• F01P3/207

  liquid-to-liquid heat-exchanging relative to marine vessels · CPC title

• B08B7/0057

  by ultraviolet radiation · CPC title