Heat exchanger

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9857109-B2
Application number	US-201414494967-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 24, 2014
Priority date	Jan 2, 2008
Publication date	Jan 2, 2018
Grant date	Jan 2, 2018

Abstract

A condenser includes a shell having a vapor refrigerant inlet, a first tube bundle and a liquid refrigerant outlet. A second tube bundle is positioned in a subcooler component. The subcooler component has a center channel and at least two outer channels and conforms to the shell.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A condenser comprising:
a cylindrical shell having an axis;
a first tube bundle positioned in the shell;
a subcooler positioned in the shell beneath the first tube bundle, the subcooler comprising:
a housing, the housing having a top surface positioned next to the first tube bundle;
a second tube bundle enclosed within the housing;
at least two inlets, the at least two inlets extending through the top surface of the housing to permit liquid refrigerant to enter the housing; and
a cap positioned against the housing and covering the at least two inlets, the cap and the top surface of the housing defining a passageway for liquid refrigerant to flow to the at least two inlets, the cap having a pair of cap sidewalls extending downwardly from opposed edges of an upper surface of the cap, the housing having a pair of housing sidewalls, and at least one entrance to the passageway permitting liquid flow between at least one cap sidewall of the pair of cap sidewalls and at least one housing sidewall of the pair of housing sidewalls, wherein the pair of cap sidewalls extends from the upper surface of the cap away from the first tube bundle, such that the pair of cap sidewalls at least partially overlaps with the pair of housing sidewalls, wherein the cap comprises a pair of flanges extending from opposed second edges of the upper surface of the cap to the top surface of the housing, and wherein a distance between the pair of flanges of the cap is less than a length of tubes of the second tube bundle.

2. The condenser of claim 1 wherein the upper surface of the cap is substantially parallel to the top surface of the housing.

3. The condenser of claim 2 wherein the pair of cap sidewalls are substantially perpendicular to the pair of flanges.

4. The condenser of claim 1 wherein the at least one entrance is located below the top surface of the housing.

5. The condenser of claim 1 wherein the upper surface of the cap has a width greater than a width of the top surface of the housing.

6. The condenser of claim 1 wherein the housing comprises a center channel and at least two outer channels positioned on opposing sides of the center channel.

7. The condenser of claim 6 wherein each inlet of the at least two inlets is positioned over a corresponding outer channel of the at least two outer channels to permit liquid refrigerant to enter a corresponding outer channel.

8. The condenser of claim 7 wherein the at least two outer channels are in fluid communication with the center channel.

9. The condenser of claim 7 wherein the center channel has an outlet for discharging refrigerant liquid from the subcooler, the outlet being positioned midway in the shell.

Assignees

• Johnson Controls Tech Co
• Johnson Controls Building Efficiency Tech (Wuxi) Company Ltd

Inventors

• Hu Hongming
• Su Xiuping
• Wang Shenglong
• Bodell Ii Mark R
• Welch Andrew M

Classifications

• F25B39/04 Primary

  Condensers · CPC title

• F25B2600/024

  by controlling the electric parameters, e.g. current or voltage · CPC title

• F25B2600/0261

  external to the compressor · CPC title

• F28B1/02

  using water or other liquid as the cooling medium · CPC title

• F25B1/10

  with multi-stage compression (with cascade operation F25B7/00) · CPC title