Condenser with tube support structure

A condenser adapted to be used in a vapor compression system, the condenser comprising:

• a shell having a refrigerant inlet that at least refrigerant with gas refrigerant flows therethrough and a refrigerant outlet that at least refrigerant with liquid refrigerant flows therethrough, with a longitudinal center axis of the shell extending generally parallel to a horizontal plane;
• a tube bundle including a plurality of heat transfer tubes disposed inside of the shell to receive the refrigerant discharged from the refrigerant inlet onto the tube bundle, the heat transfer tubes extending generally parallel to the longitudinal center axis of the shell;
• and
• a tube support structure configured and arranged to support the plurality of heat transfer tubes in the tube bundle within the shell,
• the tube support structure including a plurality of tube support plates arranged at intervals relative to each other along a longitudinal direction of the shell, each tube support plate being inclined relative to a vertical direction perpendicular to the longitudinal center axis of the shell, and
• the plurality of tube support plates being arranged to overlap with each other when viewed from above along the vertical direction, with a top end of a single plate of the plurality of tube support plates overlapping with a bottom end of only one adjacent single plate of the plurality of tube support plates located next along the longitudinal direction of the shell.