Tubular heat exchanger and process for its manufacture

Claim 2

A tubular heat-exchanger comprising: a plurality of heat-exchange tubes placed in a stacked, spaced-apart relationship and disposed substantially parallel to each other in both the vertical and the horizon-tal directions, each of the opposing end portions of said plurality of tubes being adheringly embedded in a wall of a hardened, elastic material, disposed transverse to the longitudinal direction of said tubes, said wall at both end portions of said tubes sealably separating an inner zone defined by the space around said tubes from the end zones, which end zones communi-cate with the space within said tubes; metal profile bars sealably adhering to said wall of said elastic material at the uppermost and the lowermost sides of said stack, and at both opposing end portions of said tubes, said plurality of stacked tubes being disposed on a base plate; said base plate containing a plurality of spacer elements which extend substantially verti-cally from said base plate, for providing horizontal separation between adjacent rows of heat-exchanger tubes, and also containing additional spacer elements disposed transverse to the longitudinal direction of said heat-exchanger tubes, for providing vertical separation between adjacent rows of said heat-exchanger tubes; said tubular heat-exchanger being adapted to handle a first medium through the tubes themselves via said end zones, and a second medium which flows around said tubes, transverse to said tubes through said inner zone.

Claim 3

The tubular heat-exchanger unit of claim 1, wherein a plurality of said units are mounted in a common housing.

Claim 4

The tubular heat-exchanger unit of claim 1, wherein said walls of hardened elastic material are covered on at least one side thereof with a plate or foil which is penetrated by said tubes, said plate or foil being adhesively connected with said wall.

Claim 5

The tubular heat-exchanger unit of claim 3, wherein said foil is a plastic material.

Claim 6

The tubular heat-exchanger unit of claim 4, wherein said plastic material is polytetrafluoroethylene.

Claim 7

The heat-exchanger unit of claim 3, wherein said plate is a metal plate containing a number of holes which correspond with the number of heat-exchanger tubes, said heat-exchanger tubes extending through said holes with the interstices disposed between said tubes, and said holes being filled with the elastic material forming said walls.

Claim 8

The tubular heat-exchanger unit of claim 1, wherein said elastic material is silicone rubber.

Claim 9

An improvement in a method for manufacturing a tubular heat-exchanger unit, said heat-exchanger unit comprising a plurality of heat-exchange tubes in a stacked, spaced-apart relationship and disposed sub-stantially parallel to each other in both the vertical and the horizontal directions, each of the opposing end portions of said plurality of tubes being adheringly embedded in a wall of a hardened, elastic material, dis-posed transverse to the longitudinal direction of said tubes, said wall at both end portions of said tubes sealably separating an inner zone defined by the space around said tubes from the end zones, which end zones communi-cate with the space within said tubes, metal profile bars sealably adhering to said wall of said elastic material at the uppermost and the lowermost sides of said stack, and at both opposing end portions of said tubes, said plurality of stacked tubes being disposed on a base plate, said base plate containing a plurality of spacer elements which extend substantially verti-cally from said base plate for providing horizontal separation between adjacent rows of heat-exchanger tubes, and also containing additional spacer elements disposed transverse to the longitudinal direction of the heat-exchanger tubes for providing vertical separation between adjacent rows of heat-exchanger tubes, said tubular heat-exchanger being adapted to handle a first medium through the tubes themselves via said end zones, and a second medium which flows around said tubes, transverse to said tubes through said inner zone, which improved method comprises: stacking a plurality of heat-exchanger tubes both in the horizontal and in the vertical directions in a substantially parallel, spaced-apart relationship; and forming a wall of hardened, elastic material in the region of both ends of said stacked tubes, said walls defining an inner zone therebetween around the outer sur-faces of said tubes, and defining end zones which communicate with the space within said tubes.

Claim 10

An improvement in a method for manufacturing a tubular heat-exchanger unit, said heat-exchanger unit comprising a plurality of heat-exchange tubes in a stacked, spaced-apart relationship and disposed sub-stantially parallel to each other in both the vertical and the horizontal directions, each of the opposing end portions of said plurality of tubes being adheringly embedded in a wall of a hardened, elastic material, dis-posed transverse to the longitudinal direction of said tubes, said wall at both end portions of said tubes sealably separating an inner zone defined by the space around said tubes from the end zones, which end zones communi-cate with the space within said tubes, metal profile bars sealably adhering to said wall of said elastic material at the uppermost and the lowermost sides of said stack, and at both opposing end portions of said tubes, said plurality of stacked tubes being disposed on a base plate, said base plate containing a plurality of spacer elements which extend substantially verti-cally from said base plate for providing horizontal separation between adjacent rows of heat-exchanger tubes, and also containing additional spacer elements disposed transverse to the longitudinal direction of the heat-exchanger tubes for providing vertical separation between adjacent rows of heat-exchanger tubes, said tubular heat-exchanger being adapted to handle a first medium through the tubes themselves via said end zones, and a second medium which flows around said tubes, transverse to said tubes through said inner zone, which improved method comprises: stacking a plurality of heat-exchanger tubes both in the horizontal and in the vertical directions in a substantially parallel, spaced-apart relationship; and forming a wall of hardened, elastic material in the region of both ends of said stacked tubes, said walls defining an inner zone therebetween around the outer sur-faces of said tubes, and defining end zones which communicate with the space within said tubes.

Claim 11

The method of claim 8, wherein said wall of hardened, elastic material is formed by the steps of: disposing two strips of said elastic material on a surface substantially parallel to each other; embedding a layer of horizontally disposed, spaced-apart bars in parallel in said strips of elastic material; disposing a second pair of strips of said elastic material on said layer of bars above said first strip; and embedding a second layer of horizontally disposed bars in said second strips of elastic material; said second layer of bars being spaced-apart from, and disposed substantially parallel to, said first layer of bars; and adding addi-tional strips of elastic material and layers of tubes in the same manner until the desired size of heat-exchanger unit is produced containing said walls of hardened, elastic material.

Claim 12

The method of claim 9, wherein the surface comprises: two horizontally disposed, substantially parallel bars which are disposed on said base plate.

Claim 13

The method of claim 10, including the steps of: inserting substantially vertical elements between the tubes in each layer; inserting horizontal elements between the base plate and the first layer of tubes and between the tubes of adjacent layers; and removing said vertical elements from said heat-exchanger unit after the adhesive walls have hardened.

Claim 14

The method of claim 11, wherein: at least two heat-exchanger units are placed in parallel and adjoining each other with the pairs of of bars of said units being solidly connected to each other.

Claim 15

The method of claim 8, wherein: said tubes are supported in said stacked position at both ends thereof by template means, each of said template means supporting a frame member and forming a potting bottom; and including the steps of adding said elastic material to said potting bottom; and removing said templates after said elastic material has been hardened.

Claim 16

The method of claim 8, wherein the ends of said tubes extend through corresponding holes formed in hole plates enclosed by a frame or face; wherein said elastic wall is formed by pouring said elastic potting material into the hole plate and frame and into the interstices formed between the holes and the tube disposed therein; wherein said interstices are filled by the capillary action of the potting material.

Claim 17

The method of claim 14, including forming additional support walls by the elastic walls reinforced by the hole plates enclosing the ends of the tubes.

Claim 18

The method of claim 14, wherein said hole plates are made of metal or plastic, and are used both as a potting bottom and as permanent wall reinforcements.