Interlaced heat exchanger

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11047625-B2
Application number	US-201816040269-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 19, 2018
Priority date	May 30, 2018
Publication date	Jun 29, 2021
Grant date	Jun 29, 2021

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to a climate management system that includes a heat exchanger having a first set of microchannel coils fluidly coupled to a first circuit of the climate management system and a second set of microchannel coils fluidly coupled to a second circuit of the climate management system, where the first circuit and the second circuit are fluidly separate from one another, and where the first set of microchannel coils and the second set of microchannel coils are disposed in an alternating arrangement along a length of the heat exchanger such that the first set of microchannel coils and the second set of microchannel coils are interlaced in the heat exchanger.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A climate management system, comprising:
a heat exchanger comprising a first set of microchannel coils fluidly coupled to a first circuit of the climate management system and a second set of microchannel coils fluidly coupled to a second circuit of the climate management system, wherein the first circuit and the second circuit are fluidly separate from one another, and wherein the first set of microchannel coils and the second set of microchannel coils are disposed in an alternating arrangement along a length of the heat exchanger such that the first set of microchannel coils and the second set of microchannel coils are interlaced in the heat exchanger; and
a header coupled to a first header connection of a first microchannel coil of the first set of microchannel coils and to a second header connection of a second microchannel coil of the second set of microchannel coils, wherein the first header connection of the first microchannel coil is oriented at a first oblique angle relative to a first body portion of the first microchannel coil, and the second header connection of the second microchannel coil is oriented at a second oblique angle relative to a second body portion of the second microchannel coil.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the header comprises a first passage fluidly coupled to the first header connection, a second passage fluidly coupled to the second header connection, and a divider fluidly separating the first passage and the second passage from one another.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the header comprises a first slot fluidly coupled with the first header connection and a second slot fluidly coupled with the second header connection.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first microchannel coil overlaps with the second microchannel coil at a common location along the length of the heat exchanger.

5. The system of claim 4 , comprising a plurality of fins, wherein a fin of the plurality of fins is coupled to the first microchannel coil and the second microchannel coil.

6. An interlaced heat exchanger, comprising:
a header comprising a first passage and a second passage, wherein the first passage is part of a first working fluid circuit, the second passage is part of a second working fluid circuit, and the first working fluid circuit and the second working fluid circuit are fluidly separate from one another;
a first set of microchannel tubes, wherein each microchannel tube of the first set of microchannel tubes comprises a first body portion and a first header connection fluidly configured to fluidly couple to the first passage of the header, and wherein the first body portion is oriented at a first oblique angle relative to the first header connection; and
a second set of microchannel tubes, wherein each microchannel tube of the second set of microchannel tubes comprises a second body portion and a second header connection configured to fluidly couple to the second passage of the header, the second body portion is oriented at a second oblique angle relative to the second header connection, and the first set of microchannel tubes and the second set of microchannel tubes are disposed in an alternating arrangement along a length of the interlaced heat exchanger such that the first set of microchannel tubes and the second set of microchannel tubes are interlaced.

7. The interlaced heat exchanger of claim 6 , comprising an additional header fluidly coupled to a respective third header connection of each microchannel tube of the first set of microchannel tubes and fluidly coupled to a respective fourth header connection of each microchannel tube of the second set of microchannel tubes.

8. The interlaced heat exchanger of claim 6 , wherein the first passage and the second passage are fluidly separated by a divider of the header.

9. The interlaced heat exchanger of claim 6 , wherein the first set of microchannel tubes overlaps with the second set of microchannel tubes at a common location along the length of the interlaced heat exchanger.

10. The interlaced heat exchanger of claim 9 , comprising a plurality of fins, wherein a fin of the plurality of fins is coupled to a first microchannel tube of the first set of microchannel tubes and a second microchannel tube of the second set of microchannel tubes.

11. A climate management system, comprising:
a first working fluid circulation loop configured to circulate a first working fluid through a first set of microchannel coils of a heat exchanger;
a second working fluid circulation loop configured to circulate a second working fluid through a second set of microchannel coils of the heat exchanger, wherein the first working fluid circulation loop and the second working fluid circulation loop are fluidly separate from one another, and wherein the first set of microchannel coils and the second set of microchannel coils are disposed in an alternating arrangement along a length of the heat exchanger such that the first set of microchannel coils and the second set of microchannel coils are interlaced in the heat exchanger; and
a header comprising a first passage configured to receive the first working fluid from the first set of microchannel coils and a second passage configured to receive the second working fluid from the second set of microchannel coils, wherein each microchannel tube of the first set of microchannel tubes comprises a first body portion and a first header connection configured to fluidly couple to the first passage, the first body portion is oriented at a first oblique angle relative to the first header connection, each microchannel tube of the second set of microchannel tubes comprises a second body portion and a second header connection configured to fluidly couple to the second passage, and the second body portion is oriented at a second oblique angle relative to the second header connection.

12. The system of claim 11 , comprising a fan configured to direct an airflow across the first set of microchannel coils and the second set of microchannel coils.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the fan is configured to direct the airflow across the first set of microchannel coils and the second set of microchannel coils during operation of the first working fluid circulation loop and during non-operation of the second working fluid circulation loop.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the first header connection is fluidly coupled to the first passage via a first outer surface of the header, the second header connection is fluidly coupled to the second passage via a second outer surface of the header, and the first outer surface and the second outer surface are integral to one another.

Assignees

• Johnson Controls Tech Co

Inventors

• Huang Zhiwei
• Gupte Neelkanth S

Classifications

• F28D1/0426 Primary

  with units having particular arrangement relative to the large body of fluid, e.g. with interleaved units or with adjacent heat exchange units in common air flow or with units extending at an angle to each other or with units arranged around a central element · CPC title

• F24F1/00

  Room units for air-conditioning, e.g. separate or self-contained units or units receiving primary air from a central station · CPC title

• F28D1/0417 Primary

  with particular circuits for the same heat exchange medium, e.g. with the heat exchange medium flowing through sections having different heat exchange capacities or for heating/cooling the heat exchange medium at different temperatures · CPC title

• F28D2021/007

  Condensers · CPC title

• F28D1/05366

  Assemblies of conduits connected to common headers, e.g. core type radiators · CPC title