Additively manufactured heat exchanger

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10684080-B2
Application number	US-201715653613-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 19, 2017
Priority date	Jul 19, 2017
Publication date	Jun 16, 2020
Grant date	Jun 16, 2020

Abstract

A heat exchanger and a method for additively manufacturing the heat exchanger are provided. The heat exchanger includes a housing defining a flow passageway having a plurality of heat exchange banks stacked therein. Each heat exchange bank includes a plurality of heat exchange tubes that form a lattice structure that extends from a first end proximate a central manifold outward along the radial direction toward a second end proximate an annular outer manifold. The central manifolds and the annular outer manifolds fluidly couple the heat exchange tubes of adjacent heat exchange banks in an alternating manner to form a serpentine flow path for a flow of heat exchange fluid.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A heat exchanger defining an axial direction, a radial direction, and a circumferential direction, the heat exchanger comprising:
a housing defining a flow passageway;
a plurality of heat exchange banks stacked along the axial direction within the flow passageway, each of the plurality of heat exchange banks comprising:
an annular outer manifold in fluid communication with a first adjacent heat exchange bank;
a central manifold in fluid communication with a second adjacent heat exchange bank, the central manifold being surrounded by the annular outer manifold; and
a plurality of heat exchange tubes configured in a lattice structure and extending between the annular outer manifold and the central manifold along a radial direction.

2. The heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the heat exchange banks is an inlet bank and one or more of the heat exchange banks is a discharge bank, the heat exchanger further comprising:
an inlet manifold defined by the housing and being in direct fluid communication with the annular outer manifold of the inlet bank; and
an outlet manifold defined by the housing being in direct fluid communication with the annular outer manifold of the discharge bank.

3. The heat exchanger of claim 2 , wherein the inlet manifold and the outlet manifold are spaced apart along the axial direction.

4. The heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of heat exchange banks extends through the flow passageway substantially along the radial direction and forms a serpentine flow passageway with adjacent heat exchange banks when stacked along the axial direction.

5. The heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein the central manifolds of each of the plurality of heat exchange banks extend along a central axis and are alternately separated by a bulkhead along the axial direction.

6. The heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of heat exchange tubes defines a cross sectional area that decreases toward the annular outer manifold.

7. The heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of heat exchange tubes defines an elliptical, circular, or airfoil cross section.

8. The heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein the lattice structure comprises:
a first plurality of cells defined by a first plurality the heat exchange tubes, the first plurality of cells being positioned within a first orbit defined at a first radius along the radial direction, and each of the first plurality of tubes defining a first effective flow area; and
a second plurality of cells defined by a second plurality of the heat exchange tubes, the second plurality of cells being positioned within a second orbit defined at a second radius along the radial direction, and each of the second plurality of tubes defining a second effective flow area, wherein the relationship between the first plurality of tubes and the second plurality of tubes is governed by a mathematical model aimed at minimizing a pressure loss within the heat exchanger.

9. The heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein the lattice structure comprises an array of hexagonal cells.

10. The heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein the lattice structure comprises a plurality of junctions, each junction joining three of the plurality of heat exchange tubes separated by an angle of approximately 120 degrees.

11. The heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein the lattice structure comprises a plurality of junctions, wherein each of the plurality of junctions includes one or more inlet tubes and one or more outlet tubes, a sum of the cross sectional areas of the one or more inlet tubes being substantially equivalent to a sum of the cross sectional areas of the one or more outlet tubes.

12. The heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein the lattice structures of adjacent heat exchange banks are staggered to increase the exposure of a flow of heat exchange fluid to the heat exchange tubes within the flow passageway.

13. The heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein the heat exchanger comprises more than two heat exchange banks.

14. The heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein the annular outer manifold bridges two adjacent heat exchange banks to provide fluid communication between the two adjacent heat exchange banks.

15. The heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein the heat exchanger is an air-air heat exchanger configured for receiving a cool air stream within the flow passageway and a hot air stream within the plurality of heat exchange tubes.

16. The heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein the housing and the plurality of heat exchange banks are integrally formed as a single monolithic component.

17. The heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein the heat exchanger comprises a plurality of layers formed by:
depositing a layer of additive material on a bed of an additive manufacturing machine; and
selectively directing energy from an energy source onto the layer of additive material to fuse a portion of the additive material.

18. A method of manufacturing a heat exchanger, the method comprising:
depositing a layer of additive material on a bed of an additive manufacturing machine; and
selectively directing energy from an energy source onto the layer of additive material to fuse a portion of the additive material and form the heat exchanger, the heat exchanger defining an axial direction, a radial direction, and a circumferential direction, the heat exchanger comprising:
a housing defining a flow passageway;
a plurality of heat exchange banks stacked along the axial direction within the flow passageway, each of the plurality of heat exchange banks comprising:
an annular outer manifold in fluid communication with a first adjacent heat exchange bank;
a central manifold in fluid communication with a second adjacent heat exchange bank, the central manifold being surrounded by the annular outer manifold; and
a plurality of heat exchange tubes configured in a lattice structure and extending between the annular outer manifold and the central manifold along a radial direction.

19. The method claim 18 , wherein the housing and the plurality of heat exchange banks are integrally formed as a single monolithic component.

20. A heat exchanger defining an axial direction, a radial direction, and a circumferential direction, the heat exchanger comprising:
a housing defining a flow passageway;
a plurality of heat exchange banks stacked along the axial direction within the flow passageway, each of the plurality of heat exchange banks comprising a plurality of heat exchange tubes configured in a lattice structure and extending from a first end outward along the radial direction toward a second end;
one or more annular outer manifolds fluidly coupling the second ends of adjacent heat exchange banks; and
one or more central manifolds fluidly coupling the first ends of adjacent heat exchange banks, wherein the one or more central manifolds are surrounded by the one or more annular outer manifolds.

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Moore Nicholas Taylor
• Cerny Matthew Robert

Classifications

• F28D7/0058 Primary

  the conduits for only one medium being tubes having different orientations to each other or crossing the conduit for the other heat exchange medium (F28D7/0008 takes precedence) · CPC title

• Y02P10/25

  Process efficiency · CPC title

• F28D7/1615

  the conduits being inside a casing and extending at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the casing; the conduits crossing the conduit for the other heat exchange medium · CPC title

• F28F2210/02

  with particular branching, e.g. fractal conduit arrangements · CPC title

• F28D7/08

  the conduits being otherwise bent, e.g. in a serpentine or zig-zag (F28D7/10 takes precedence){(F28D7/0016 and F28D7/0033 take precedence)} · CPC title