Method for manufacturing a heat exchanger having a temperature probe

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11745280-B2
Application number	US-202117320766-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 14, 2021
Priority date	May 15, 2020
Publication date	Sep 5, 2023
Grant date	Sep 5, 2023

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a heat exchanger including stacking a set of plates parallel to one another and to a longitudinal direction so as to define a plurality of passages suitable for the flow in the longitudinal direction of a first fluid to be brought into a heat-exchange relationship with at least a second fluid, said plates being delimited by a pair of longitudinal edges extending in the longitudinal direction and a pair of lateral edges extending in a lateral direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, and forming at least one of the plates by superposing at least a first flat product and a second flat product on top of one another, having at least one groove that extends parallel to the plates and leads towards the outside of the stack through at least one opening in a lateral or longitudinal edge.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for manufacturing a heat exchanger of the brazed plate and fin type, comprising:
a) stacking, in a spaced-apart manner, a set of plates parallel to one another and to a longitudinal direction thereby defining, between said plates, a plurality of passages suitable for the flow in the longitudinal direction of a first fluid to be brought into a heat-exchange relationship with at least a second fluid, said plates being delimited by a pair of longitudinal edges extending in the longitudinal direction and a pair of lateral edges extending in a lateral direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction,
b) forming at least one of the plates stacked in step a) by superposing, in a stacking direction perpendicular to the longitudinal and lateral directions, at least a first flat product and a second flat product on top of one another, at least one of the first and second flat products comprising at least one groove that extends parallel to the plates and leads towards the outside of the stack formed in step a) through at least one opening in a lateral or longitudinal edge,
c) arranging at least one braze material between the first flat product and the second flat product,
d) arranging at least one temperature probe in the groove, a free space being provided between at least a part of the temperature probe, for the one part, and the internal walls of the groove, for the other part,
e) brazing the set of plates, including brazing the first flat product to the second flat product, with the braze material being melted and at least a part of the braze material diffusing in the first flat product and the second flat product, at least a part of the free space provided between the temperature probe and the internal walls of the groove being filled with solidified braze material.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the temperature probe comprises:
a heat-sensitive part configured to measure the temperature of a surface of the plate formed in step b) at a desired location,
electrically conductive members configured to connect the heat-sensitive part to an electrical measurement circuit, and
a sheath forming a sleeve around the heat-sensitive part and around at least a part of the electrically conductive members, the sheath extending between a first end arranged at the heat-sensitive part and a second end arranged on the outside of the stack of plates.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the sheath comprises a metal material chosen from: aluminium, nickel, platinum, tungsten, an aluminium alloy, a nickel alloy, a platinum alloy, a tungsten alloy, a stainless steel, a refractory steel.

4. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the sheath has a thickness of between 0.1 and 1 mm and/or an outside diameter of between 0.5 and 3 mm.

5. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the sheath has a length of between 100 and 10,000 mm.

6. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the sheath is deformable.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the temperature probe is a thermocouple probe comprising a pair of conductive wires formed from different metals, the conductive wires being joined at a junction point, known as measurement junction, forming the heat-sensitive part of the temperature probe.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the conductive wires are each connected to respective extension wires intended to be joined to the terminals of an electrical measurement circuit so as to form junctions known as reference junctions there, a connection piece forming a sleeve around the connections between the conductive wires and the respective extension wires thereof, said connection piece being connected to the second end of the sheath.

9. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the metals forming the conductive wires are configured to form a thermocouple probe of a type chosen from: type E, type J, type K, type N, type M, type R, type S, type B.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the temperature probe comprises an electrically insulating material arranged between the sheath and the heat-sensitive part, in particular said electrically insulating material being chosen from: a magnesium oxide, an aluminium oxide.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the temperature probe is a resistance probe comprising a pair of conductive wires connected to a measurement resistor forming the heat-sensitive part of the temperature probe, the measurement resistor having, as resistance material, a ceramic material or a metal material.

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein step e) takes place in a brazing furnace, the stack of plates being situated in a first region of the furnace in which the maximum temperature during the brazing cycle is between 550 and 900° C. and the second end of the sheath being situated in a second region in which the temperature is lower than said maximum temperature in the first region.

Assignees

• Air Liquide
• Air Liquide

Inventors

• Seiwert Jacopo
• Wagner Marc
• Cremieux Marie-Adelaide
• Belmekki Younes

Classifications

• F28F27/00

  Control arrangements or safety devices specially adapted for heat-exchange or heat-transfer apparatus (control arrangements in general G05) · CPC title

• B23K1/0012 Primary

  Brazing of heat exchangers · CPC title

• F28D9/0043

  the plates having openings therein for circulation of at least one heat-exchange medium from one conduit to another · CPC title

• F28F3/025

  the means being corrugated, plate-like elements · CPC title

• F28F21/083

  from stainless steel · CPC title