Microchannel heat exchangers for gas turbine intercooling and condensing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11208954-B2
Application number	US-201916453061-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 26, 2019
Priority date	Feb 21, 2014
Publication date	Dec 28, 2021
Grant date	Dec 28, 2021

Abstract

A microchannel heat exchanger (MCHX) includes an air-passage layer including a plurality of air-passage microchannels, a working fluid layer including a plurality of working fluid microchannels, and a sealing layer coupled to the working fluid layer to provide a working/sealing layer set. The working/sealing layer set includes an arrangement of raised pedestals. The raised pedestals may extend from the working fluid layer to the sealing layer and contact the sealing layer.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A microchannel heat exchanger, comprising:
an air-passage layer including a plurality of air-passage microchannels structured and arranged to convey an air stream in a first direction;
a working fluid layer including a plurality of working fluid microchannels structured and arranged to convey a working fluid in a second direction opposite to the first direction, an internal intake manifold disposed at an inlet of the plurality of working fluid microchannels, and an internal outtake manifold disposed at an outlet of the plurality of working fluid microchannels;
a sealing layer coupled to the working fluid layer to provide a working/sealing layer set;
wherein the working/sealing layer set includes an arrangement of raised pedestals disposed in the internal intake manifold and the internal outtake manifold, and wherein the arrangement of raised pedestals comprises raised pedestals that extend from the working fluid layer to the sealing layer and contact the sealing layer; and
wherein the plurality of air-passage microchannels extend from a first distal end of the air-passage layer to a second distal end of the air-passage layer along a longitudinal plane of the air-passage layer.

2. The microchannel heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of air-passage microchannels are disposed on a first side of the air-passage layer and on a second side of each air-passage layer of the plurality of air-passage layers, and wherein the first side is opposite the second side.

3. The microchannel heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of air-passage microchannels converge at the second distal end relative to the first distal end of the air-passage layer.

4. The microchannel heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein the working fluid layer further includes a raised substrate perimeter, the raised substrate perimeter defining a lateral intake void disposed at the internal intake manifold and a lateral outtake void disposed at the internal outtake manifold to provide a cross-flow between the working fluid and the air stream in a region of the internal intake manifold and the internal outtake manifold.

5. The microchannel heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein at least one of:
the raised pedestals have a circular shape in cross-section; and
the first distal end is a top end of the air-passage layer and the second distal end is a bottom end of the air-passage layer that is arranged downstream of the top end relative to the air stream.

6. The microchannel heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein the air-passage layer, the working fluid layer, and the sealing layer are respectively composed of a material including at least one of nickel, titanium, and aluminum alloys.

7. The microchannel heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein the working fluid layer further includes a plurality of substrate rises structured and arranged to guide the working fluid through the plurality of working fluid microchannels, the plurality of substrate rises having a longitudinal extent arranged axially to the second direction and extend between the internal intake manifold and the internal outtake manifold.

8. The microchannel heat exchanger of claim 7 , wherein the sealing layer is diffusion bonded or brazed to the plurality of substrate rises and the raised pedestals of the working fluid layer.

9. A gas turbine engine, comprising: a microchannel heat exchanger, the microchannel heat exchanger including:
a plurality of air-passage layers respectively including a plurality of air-passage microchannels structured and arranged to pass an air stream therethrough, the plurality of air-passage microchannels converging at a second distal end of a respective air-passage layer relative to a first distal end of the respective air-passage layer along a longitudinal plane of the respective air-passage layer;
a plurality of working fluid layers respectively including a plurality of working fluid microchannels structured and arranged to pass a working fluid therethrough, an internal intake manifold disposed at an inlet of the plurality of working fluid microchannels, and an internal outtake manifold disposed at an outlet of the plurality of working fluid microchannels;
a plurality of sealing layers coupled to the plurality of working fluid layers such that a single sealing layer of the plurality of sealing layers is coupled to a single working fluid layer of the plurality of working fluid layers to provide a plurality of working/sealing layer sets; and
wherein the plurality of working fluid layers respectively further include an arrangement of raised pedestals disposed in the internal intake manifold and the internal outtake manifold, and wherein the arrangement of raised pedestals comprises raised pedestals that extend transversely to a through-flow direction of the plurality of working fluid microchannels from the single working fluid layer to the single sealing layer and contacts the single sealing layer of the plurality of working/sealing layer sets.

10. The gas turbine engine of claim 9 , wherein the internal intake manifold of at least one working fluid layer has a dimensional volume different than the internal outtake manifold of the at least one working fluid layer.

11. The gas turbine engine of claim 9 , wherein the microchannel heat exchanger has a porosity of between 0.30 and 0.70, and wherein the porosity is a sum of each void volume in the microchannel heat exchanger divided by a total volume of the microchannel heat exchanger.

12. The gas turbine engine of claim 9 , wherein the microchannel heat exchanger is an intercooler or a condenser.

13. The gas turbine engine of claim 9 , wherein the raised pedestals are diffusion bonded to a side of the single sealing layer facing towards the internal intake manifold and the internal outtake manifold of the single working fluid layer of the plurality of working/sealing layer sets.

14. A method of manufacturing a microchannel heat exchanger, comprising:
providing an air-passage layer by machining an air-passage substrate to include a plurality of air-passage microchannels that extend from a first distal end of the air-passage layer to a second distal end of the air-passage layer along a longitudinal plane of the air-passage layer; and
providing a working fluid layer by machining a working fluid substrate to include a plurality of working fluid microchannels, an internal intake manifold disposed at an inlet of the plurality of working fluid microchannels, an internal outtake manifold disposed at an outlet of the plurality of working fluid microchannels, and a plurality of raised pedestals disposed in the internal intake manifold and the internal outtake manifold;
forming a working/sealing layer set by bonding a sealing layer to the working fluid layer such that the sealing layer seals over the working fluid layer;
wherein the sealing layer is bonded to the working fluid layer via the plurality of raised pedestals disposed in the internal intake manifold and the internal outtake manifold, where the plurality of raised pedestals extend from the working fluid substrate to the sealing layer.

15. The gas turbine engine of claim 9 , wherein each air-passage layer of the plurality of air-passage layers is diffusion bonded between two working/sealing layer sets of the plurality of working/sealing layer sets.

16. The gas turbine engine of claim 15 , wherein the microchannel heat exchanger has a saddle shape.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein machining the air-passage substrate includes forming the plurality of air-passage microchannels to converge at the second dist

Assignees

• Rolls Royce Corp
• Rolls Royce Nam Tech Inc

Inventors

• Loebig James C
• Dejulio Emil R

Classifications

• F02K3/115 Primary

  by means of indirect heat exchange · CPC title

• F28D9/0037

  the conduits for the other heat-exchange medium also being formed by paired plates touching each other (F28D9/0043 takes precedence) · CPC title

• F28F2275/061

  by diffusion bonding · CPC title

• F05D2260/205

  Cooling fluid recirculation, i.e. after cooling one or more components is the cooling fluid recovered and used elsewhere for other purposes · CPC title

• F28F2275/00

  Fastening; Joining · CPC title