Exhaust gas heat exchanger

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9777680-B2
Application number	US-201615275585-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 26, 2016
Priority date	May 10, 2013
Publication date	Oct 3, 2017
Grant date	Oct 3, 2017

Abstract

A heat exchanger that transfers heat from an exhaust gas flow to a liquid coolant includes a first heat exchange section and a second heat exchange section located adjacent the first heat exchange section. The first heat exchange section is located within a first housing that at least partially encloses a first fluid volume. The second heat exchange section is located within a second housing that at least partially encloses a second fluid volume. A first plurality of heat exchange tubes traverses the first heat exchange section, and a second plurality of heat exchange tubes traverses the second heat exchange section. An exhaust gas flow path of the heat exchanger includes the first fluid volume and the interiors of the second plurality of heat exchange tubes. A coolant flow path of the heat exchanger includes the second fluid volume and the interiors of the first plurality of heat exchange tubes.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An exhaust gas heat exchanger comprising:
a first heat exchange section to remove heat from a flow of exhaust gas passing through the exhaust gas heat exchanger, the first heat exchange section being disposed within a first housing of the exhaust gas heat exchanger;
a second heat exchange section to remove heat from a flow of exhaust gas passing through the exhaust gas heat exchanger, the second heat exchange section being disposed within a second housing of the exhaust gas heat exchanger and arranged downstream of the first heat exchange section with respect to the flow of exhaust gas;
a first fluid volume within the first housing, the flow of exhaust gas passing through the first fluid volume as it traverses the first heat exchange section;
a second fluid volume within the second housing, a flow of coolant passing through the second fluid volume in order to remove heat from the flow of exhaust gas as it traverses the second heat exchange section; and
a header arranged between the first and second housings, the header separating the first fluid volume from the second fluid volume.

2. The exhaust gas heat exchanger of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of first tubes extending from the header plate through the second fluid volume, the flow of exhaust gas passing through the plurality of first tubes as it traverses the second heat exchange section.

3. The exhaust gas heat exchanger of claim 2 , further comprising a plurality of second tubes arranged within the first heat exchange section, a flow of coolant passing through the plurality of second tubes in order to remove heat from the flow of exhaust gas as it traverses the first heat exchange section.

4. The exhaust gas heat exchanger of claim 3 , wherein each one of the plurality of first tubes is a flattened tube having a minor dimension and a major dimension substantially greater than the minor dimension.

5. The exhaust gas heat exchanger of claim 4 , wherein each one of the plurality of second tubes is oriented so as to be parallel to the major dimension of each one of the plurality of first tubes.

6. The exhaust gas heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein the first housing comprises an inlet diffuser for the flow of exhaust gas.

7. The exhaust gas heat exchanger of claim 1 , wherein the header includes a plurality of holes and wherein the first housing, the second housing, and the header are secured to one another by a plurality of mechanical fasteners extending through said plurality of holes.

8. An exhaust gas heat exchanger comprising:
a first heat exchange section comprising a plurality of coolant tubes extending between a first and a second coolant manifold, ends of the coolant tubes being joined to the first and second coolant manifolds by brazing; and
a second heat exchange section comprising a first and a second header and a plurality of exhaust tubes, ends of the exhaust tubes being joined to the first and second headers by brazing, wherein the first and second heat exchange sections are directly adjacent to one another and are joined together to define an exhaust gas flow path that extends sequentially through the first and then the second heat exchange sections.

9. The exhaust gas heat exchanger of claim 8 , wherein the second heat exchange section further comprises a casing into which the plurality of exhaust tubes are received, the casing defining a fluid volume through which a coolant flows to remove heat from exhaust gas flowing through the plurality of exhaust tubes.

10. The exhaust gas heat exchanger of claim 9 , wherein the casing is constructed of an aluminum alloy.

11. The exhaust gas heat exchanger of claim 8 , wherein each one of the plurality of coolant tubes is provided with twisted embossments.

12. The exhaust gas heat exchanger of claim 8 , wherein the first heat exchange section further comprises a housing defining a fluid volume through which exhaust gas flows, the plurality of coolant tubes extending through said fluid volume to allow for the transfer of heat from the exhaust gas to coolant flowing through the plurality of coolant tubes.

13. The exhaust gas heat exchanger of claim 12 , wherein the first heat exchange section further comprises:
a coolant inlet to deliver coolant to the first heat exchange section;
a coolant outlet to receive coolant from the first heat exchange section; and
a coolant flow path extending through the first heat exchange section from the coolant inlet to the coolant outlet; the plurality of coolant tubes being arranged along the coolant flow path.

14. The exhaust gas heat exchanger of claim 13 , wherein a wall section of the housing is cooled by coolant passing between the coolant inlet and the coolant outlet.

15. The exhaust gas heat exchanger of claim 14 , wherein at least one of the first and second coolant manifolds is arranged within said wall section of the housing.

16. A method of making an exhaust gas heat exchanger, comprising:
joining a plurality of exhaust tubes, a first header, and a second header in a brazing process to create a first brazed assembly;
joining a plurality of coolant tubes, a first coolant manifold, and a second coolant manifold in another brazing process to create a second brazed assembly; and
joining the first and second brazed assemblies together to define a continuous exhaust gas flow path through the exhaust gas heat exchanger, outer surfaces of the plurality of coolant tubes and inner surfaces of the plurality of exhaust tubes being located along the exhaust gas flow path.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising inserting at least a portion of the first brazed assembly into a housing.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein joining the first and second brazed assemblies together comprises inserting mechanical fasteners through a pattern of aligned holes in the first header, the second brazed assembly, and the housing.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein joining the first and second brazed assemblies together comprises disposing a planar face of the second brazed assembly against the first header.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein joining the first and second brazed assemblies together comprises joining a cast inlet diffuser to the first header.

Assignees

• Modine Mfg Co

Inventors

• Janke David
• Setty Viswanath
• Wattelet Jonathan
• Grotophorst Thomas

Classifications

• F02B29/04

  Cooling of air intake supply · CPC title

• F02M26/24 Primary

  with two or more coolers · CPC title

• F28D7/1623

  with particular pattern of flow of the heat exchange media, e.g. change of flow direction · CPC title

• F02M26/28

  with liquid-cooled heat exchangers · CPC title

• F28D7/16

  the conduits being arranged in parallel spaced relation ({F28D7/0008 - F28D7/0058 take precedence}; F28D7/02 - F28D7/10 take precedence) · CPC title