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  Heat exchanger assemblyUSPTO Application #: 20060162910Title: Heat exchanger assembly Abstract: An apparatus providing high efficiency heat exchange between two fluids is disclosed. The apparatus most commonly comprises multiple thin panels with fluid channels directing the flow of the two fluids, specifically: one or more flat panels aligned at some angle to the flow of the fluid traveling through the shortest channel of the thin panels. The panels are arranged in series and parallel, so that the hot fluid travels through multiple thin panels. The coolant is delivered to the thin panels through tubes or manifolds while the hot fluid is delivered through a duct or other piping. (end of abstract)
Agent: Anthony P. Iannitelli International Mezzo Technologies, Inc. - Baton Rouge, LA, US Inventors: Kevin W. Kelly, Patrick S. Luke, Kevin P. McCoy USPTO Applicaton #: 20060162910 - Class: 165148000 (USPTO) Related Patent Categories: Heat Exchange, Radiator Core Type The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060162910. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This Application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending application identified as U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/041,767, filed Jan. 24, 2005, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to heat exchangers, particularly very high efficiency heat exchangers and heat exchanger systems. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0003] Heat exchangers are used in a great many mechanical and electrical systems. Some of the most commonly known applications include the condenser of a refrigerator or the radiator of an automobile. Increasingly, customers have demanded high efficiency heat exchangers for cooling computer chips and other electronic components. This demand, among others, produces a continuing need for increased efficiency in a smaller volume. [0004] Compact heat exchangers are used in applications which demand low overall mass or weight. Until recently, such a heat exchanger was incapable of transferring the amounts of heat necessary for certain applications, such as an automobile. It is desirable to reduce the size of the necessary heat exchanger while maintaining the rate of heat exchange. Unfortunately, the small features which allow for high heat transfer create correspondingly high pressure drops in the working fluids. [0005] The rate of heat transfer for a given heat exchanger is related to the surface area-to-volume ratio of the fluid channels. Advances in microfabrication allow the design of a heat exchanger to increase the amount of surface area in relation to the overall volume. As is well understood in the field, the overall heat transfer of a given fluid channel increases when the hydraulic diameter of that channel decreases. So-called microchannels provide the reduction in hydraulic diameter necessary to produce the required heat transfer performance. [0006] Typically, the prior art defines a microchannel as any fluid flow channel with a smallest dimension less than 2.0 mm. See, e.g., WO 2004/017008 A1. Microchannels necessarily impose a significant increase in pressure drop over more conventional flow channels. [0007] In further illustration, U.S. Patent Application 2002/0125001 A1 discusses, in detail, the history of so-called micro heat exchangers and highlights the high pressure drops created in those designs. The heat exchanger disclosed in that application consists of two sets of microchannels. The length of the first fluid channels, claimed for the first time, is less than 6.0 mm and preferably less than 1.0 mm. At the same time, that heat exchanger shows that the first fluid channels number at least 50 per square centimeter, preferably as much as 1000 per square centimeter. [0008] These inventions describe and explain the need for thin panel heat exchangers, defined as a heat exchanger with shortest fluid channel less than 2.0 cm long. [0009] The inventions described in existing Patents and patent applications such as U.S. Patent Application 2002/0125001 A1 demonstrate the utility of thin panels for high heat transfer performance in a small volume. Even these breakthroughs, however, are subject to limitations based on allowable pressure drops. In addition, sometimes a single thin panel heat exchanger cannot provide the required heat transfer because it does not provide enough surface area. [0010] The current invention extends the utility of these thin panel designs by providing multiple orientations and other options which serve to increase the effective surface area without necessarily increasing the frontal area of the heat exchanger system. [0011] For instance, a typical thin panel heat exchanger is oriented so that its shortest flow channels are parallel to the approaching external fluid flow (the impinging flow). This is intended to minimize the pressure drop for that external fluid. The current invention, however, contemplates a thin panel heat exchanger inclined so that the approaching external fluid flow is no longer parallel to the fluid channels in the panel. With an inclined panel, the ratio of surface area to frontal area increases dramatically. [0012] Experimentation has proven that a thin panel of the sort contemplated by the inventions discussed above may be inclined eighty (80) degrees from perpendicular with no appreciable effect on pressure drop. If a system is amenable to some pressure drop, the thin panels may be inclined to eighty five (85) degrees from perpendicular. [0013] Experimentation has also proven that inclination of such a panel does not adversely affect the heat transfer properties of the panel, assuming the eventual configuration of headers, manifolds or other components assures proper distribution of fluid through both the internal and external channels. [0014] Once it is established that a panel may be inclined, two panels may be included in a heat exchanger system by making a `v` shape. In fact, such a v-shape may be repeated many times to create a system with a great number of panels and still retain the advantages of a small frontal area. [0015] A typical thin panel heat exchanger disclosed in the prior art contemplates the external fluid flow impinging perpendicular to the face of the panel, as if the panel is mounted in a duct. In that configuration, the panel may be plumbed so that an internal fluid passed from one side of the duct to the other. If such a panel is inclined away from the perpendicular, and especially if multiple v-shape configurations are included, plumbing the internal fluid flow requires new solutions. [0016] The current invention also addresses this concern. Internal fluid flow may be plumbed through tubes which feed one or more panels. In addition, a manifold may feed internal fluid flow to all of the panels at one time. The manifold can be made integrally with structural members of the total heat exchanger system, providing for a savings in total weight by removing mass which does not facilitate heat transfer. [0017] As an added bonus, once the thin panel cross flow micro heat exchanger is created, a person having ordinary skill in the art would be able to design heat exchanger systems which incorporate multiple panels in various alignments, such as stacking panels. One example of a heat exchanger system incorporates several thin panels in a corrugated pattern to increase thermal transfer as a factor of frontal area. If a single fluid flow passed through multiple panels, these panels are described as `in series`. If a single fluid flow may pass through one panel without passing through a separate panel, these panels are described as `in parallel`. [0018] These and other embodiments and features of the present invention will become even more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, the accompanying figures, and the appended claims. As used in this description, the term "microchannel" is used to mean a channel with at least one dimension on the scale of 2.0 mm or less. A "thin panel heat exchanger" is used to mean a heat exchanger with the shortest fluid flow channel less than 2.0 cm in length. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0019] FIG. 1 illustrates a simple embodiment of a thin panel heat exchanger in accordance with the previously claimed invention. [0020] FIG. 2 is a picture showing a complete view of a heat exchanger panel, including tubes which provide the coolant-side flow to the panel. Fluid 1 flows through the tubes to the internal channels of the thin panel, while Fluid 2 impinges the panel normal to the plane of the panel. Continue reading... Full patent description for Heat exchanger assembly Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Heat exchanger assembly patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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