Refrigeration system with integrated core structure

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9927158-B2
Application number	US-201615282212-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 30, 2016
Priority date	Oct 2, 2015
Publication date	Mar 27, 2018
Grant date	Mar 27, 2018

Abstract

A refrigeration system includes a core comprising a stack of core plates. The core defines a condenser, an evaporator and a refrigerant reservoir. The condenser has a plurality of refrigerant flow passages and a plurality of first coolant flow passages in alternating arrangement. The evaporator has a plurality of refrigerant flow passages and a plurality of second coolant flow passages in alternating arrangement. The condenser has a refrigerant outlet in flow communication with the refrigerant inlet of the refrigerant reservoir, where the refrigerant side of at least one of said core plates includes a refrigerant communication passage providing flow communication between the refrigerant outlet of the condenser section and the refrigerant inlet of the reservoir section.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A refrigeration system comprising a core, wherein the core comprises a stack of core plates and defines: (a) a condenser comprising a plurality of refrigerant flow passages and a plurality of first coolant flow passages in alternating arrangement throughout said core, the condenser further comprising a refrigerant inlet, a refrigerant outlet, a first coolant inlet, and a first coolant outlet; (b) an evaporator comprising a plurality of refrigerant flow passages and a plurality of second coolant flow passages in alternating arrangement throughout said core, the evaporator further comprising a refrigerant inlet, a refrigerant outlet, a second coolant inlet, and a second coolant outlet; and (c) a refrigerant reservoir having a refrigerant inlet and a refrigerant outlet; wherein the refrigerant outlet of the condenser is in flow communication with the refrigerant inlet of the refrigerant reservoir, and the refrigerant outlet of the refrigerant reservoir is in flow communication with the refrigerant inlet of the evaporator; wherein each of the core plates has a refrigerant side and a coolant side and includes a plurality of partitions on both the refrigerant side and the coolant side, said plurality of partitions dividing the core plate into a condenser section, an evaporator section and a reservoir section; wherein the condenser section of each said core plate comprises a condenser wall separating the refrigerant flow passages of the condenser from the first coolant flow passages, wherein the condenser sections of the core plates are aligned throughout the core; wherein the evaporator section of each said core plate comprises an evaporator wall separating the refrigerant flow passages of the evaporator from the second coolant flow passages, wherein the evaporator sections of the core plates are aligned throughout the core; wherein the refrigerant reservoir section of each said core plate comprises an aperture, wherein said apertures are aligned throughout the core; wherein the refrigerant side of at least one of said core plates includes a refrigerant communication passage providing flow communication between the refrigerant outlet of the condenser section and the refrigerant inlet of the reservoir section.

2. The refrigeration system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of said partitions on the refrigerant side divides the condenser section from the refrigerant reservoir, and wherein the refrigerant communication passage comprises an interruption in said at least one partition.

3. The refrigeration system of claim 1 , wherein the condenser wall of each said core plate has a first refrigerant opening and a second refrigerant opening, and wherein the first refrigerant openings align throughout the core to form a first refrigerant manifold space of the condenser, and wherein the second refrigerant openings align throughout the core to form a second refrigerant manifold space of the condenser.

4. The refrigeration system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first refrigerant manifold space and the second refrigerant manifold space includes an internal partition so as to direct flow of the refrigerant to follow a multi-pass refrigerant flow path through the condenser;
wherein the multi-pass refrigerant flow path includes a first pass in which the refrigerant inlet of the condenser is located, and a last pass in which the refrigerant outlet of the condenser is located; and
wherein the last pass is comprised of said at least one core plate including a refrigerant communication passage, and the other passes of the multi-pass refrigerant flow path are comprised of core plates in which the condenser is sealed from the refrigerant reservoir by at least one of said partitions.

5. The refrigeration system of claim 1 , wherein the refrigerant inlet of the condenser is located above the refrigerant outlet of the condenser.

6. The refrigeration system of claim 1 , wherein the refrigerant outlet of the refrigerant reservoir is located below the refrigerant inlet of the refrigerant reservoir.

7. The refrigeration system of claim 1 , wherein the refrigerant inlet of the evaporator is located below the refrigerant outlet of the evaporator.

8. The refrigeration system of claim 1 , wherein the flow communication between the refrigerant outlet of the refrigerant reservoir and the refrigerant inlet of the evaporator is provided through a return passage located outside the core.

9. The refrigeration system of claim 8 , further comprising a thermal expansion valve located in the return passage between the refrigerant outlet of the refrigerant reservoir and the refrigerant inlet of the evaporator.

10. The refrigeration system of claim 9 , wherein the thermal expansion valve is located in an upper portion of the core, and wherein the refrigeration system further comprises an external passage for delivering the refrigerant from the thermal expansion valve to the refrigerant inlet of the evaporator.

11. The refrigeration system of claim 1 , wherein each of the core plates further comprises a peripheral flange, and wherein the peripheral flanges of adjacent core plates in said core are sealingly joined together.

12. The refrigeration system of claim 1 , wherein corresponding partitions of adjacent core plates are sealingly joined together so as to provide separation of the condenser section, the evaporator section and the refrigerant reservoir from one another.

13. The refrigeration system of claim 1 , further comprising a back plate and a front plate, wherein one of the back plate and the front plate includes an external inlet connection for the refrigerant, wherein the external inlet connection provides flow communication with the refrigerant inlet of the condenser.

14. The refrigeration system of claim 13 , further comprising a compressor having an inlet in flow communication with the refrigerant outlet of the evaporator and an outlet in flow communication with the external inlet connection of the front plate.

15. The refrigeration system of claim 13 , wherein the front plate is further provided with a plurality of coolant fittings, each of which is in flow communication with one of the first coolant inlet, the first coolant outlet, the second coolant inlet and the second coolant outlet.

16. The refrigeration system of claim 1 , wherein the evaporator and the reservoir are both located adjacent to the condenser, and wherein the evaporator is located above the refrigerant reservoir.

17. The refrigeration system of claim 1 , wherein the evaporator and the condenser are both located adjacent to the refrigerant reservoir, and wherein the refrigerant reservoir is located between the evaporator and the condenser.

18. The refrigeration system of claim 17 , wherein a first thermal break is provided between the condenser and the refrigerant reservoir, and a second thermal break is provided between the evaporator and the refrigerant reservoir;
wherein each said thermal break comprises one or more openings in at least some of the core plates of the stack, wherein the one or more openings comprising each said thermal break are in alignment with one another;
wherein the openings comprising the first thermal break are located in at least one of the partitions separating the condenser section from the reservoir section; and
wherein the openings comprising the second thermal break are located in at least one of the partitions separating the evaporator section from the reservoir section.

19. The refrigeration system of claim 18 , wherein said one or more openings are provide

Assignees

• Dana Canada Corp

Inventors

• Martin Michael A

Classifications

• F25B39/022 Primary

  with plate-like or laminated elements · CPC title

• F25B2500/18

  Optimization, e.g. high integration of refrigeration components · CPC title

• F25B39/00 Primary

  Evaporators; Condensers · CPC title

• F25B41/062

  Mechanical Engineering · mapped topic

• F25B2339/047

  Water-cooled condensers · CPC title