US 10,502,597 B2Granted

Monitored heat exchanger system

AssigneeForum US, Inc.

InventorsRandy Vanberg, Hamid Reza Zareie Rajani, Seyed Reza Larimi, Morteza Abbasi

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

Embodiments of the disclosure pertain to a monitored heat exchanger system that includes a heat exchanger unit in operable engagement with a heat generating device. The heat exchanger unit has a frame; and at least one cooler coupled with the frame, the at least one cooler having an airflow side and a service fluid side. The system includes a monitoring module coupled to the heat exchanger unit. The monitoring module an at least one sensor coupled with a panel; and at least one controller housing coupled with the panel. A microcontroller is disposed within the controller housing and in operable communication with the at least one sensor. The at least one sensor has a rotating member configured to generate a system signal proportional to an amount of rotation of the rotating member.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A monitored heat exchanger system, the system comprising:

a heat exchanger unit in operable engagement with a heat generating device, with at least one service fluid being transferable therebetween, the heat exchanger unit comprising:
a frame;
and
at least one cooler coupled with the frame, the at least one cooler having an airflow side and a service fluid side;
a monitoring module coupled to the heat exchanger unit, the monitoring module comprising:
a cover panel;
at least one sensor coupled with the cover panel;
at least one controller housing coupled with the cover panel;
a microcontroller disposed within the at least one controller housing and in operable communication with the at least one sensor, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a rotating member configured to generate a system signal proportional to an amount of rotation of the rotating member, and wherein the microcontroller is provided with computer instructions for processing the system signal;
and
a fan mounted to the frame to move ambient air through the cover panel and through the airflow side of the at least one cooler to rotate the rotating member.

8 more elements

A monitored heat exchanger system, comprising:

a heat exchanger unit in operable engagement with a heat generating device, with at least one service fluid being transferable therebetween, the heat exchanger unit comprising:
a frame;
and
at least one cooler coupled with the frame, the at least one cooler having an airflow side and a service fluid side fluidly separated from each other;
a monitoring module coupled to the heat exchanger unit, the monitoring module comprising:
a cover panel;
at least one sensor coupled with the cover panel, and positioned proximate to the airflow side;
at least one controller housing coupled with the cover panel;
and
a microcontroller disposed within the at least one controller housing and in operable communication with the at least one sensor, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a rotating member configured to generate a system signal proportional to an amount of rotation of the rotating member, wherein the microcontroller is provided with computer instructions for processing the system signal, wherein the amount of rotation is dependent upon an amount of fouling in the airflow side;
and
a fan mounted to the frame to move ambient air through the cover panel and through the airflow side of the at least one cooler to rotate the rotating member.

9 more elements

A monitored heat exchanger system, comprising:

a heat exchanger unit in operable engagement with a heat generating device, with at least one service fluid being transferable therebetween, the heat exchanger unit comprising:
a frame;
and
at least one cooler coupled with the frame, the at least one cooler having an airflow side and a service fluid side fluidly separated from each other;
a monitoring module, comprising:
a cover panel configured for direct or indirect coupling to the heat exchanger unit;
a plurality of sensors coupled with the cover panel, each one of the plurality of sensors having a respective rotating member with a plurality of blades extending therefrom;
a logic circuit in operable communication with the plurality of sensors, and further comprising:
a microcontroller and a data storage, wherein the microcontroller is configured with computer instructions for performing the tasks of:
acquiring a set of data from at least one of the plurality of sensors;
sampling the set of data over a predetermined period of time;
computing an average and a standard deviation of the set of data;
comparing the standard deviation with predetermined data;
determining whether the set of data is acceptable within a defined parameter;
determining whether a first lookup table comprising a set of lookup data has been completed, and creating the first lookup table using an averaging method if the first lookup table has not been completed;
comparing the set of data to the set of lookup data;
and
providing an indication based on a result of the comparing the set of data to the set of lookup data;
and
a fan mounted to the frame to move ambient air through the cover panel and through the airflow side of the at least one cooler to rotate the respective rotating member of the plurality of sensors.

17 more elements

A monitored heat exchanger system, comprising:

a heat exchanger unit in operable engagement with a heat generating device, with at least one service fluid being transferable therebetween, the heat exchanger unit comprising:
a frame;
and
at least one cooler coupled with the frame, the at least one cooler having an airflow side and a service fluid side fluidly separated from each other;
a monitoring module, comprising:
a cover panel mountingly associated with an airflow side of the heat exchanger unit;
a plurality of sensors coupled with the cover panel, each one of the plurality of sensors having a respective rotating member with a plurality of blades extending therefrom;
a logic circuit in operable communication with the plurality of sensors, and further comprising:
a microcontroller configured with computer instructions for performing the tasks of:
acquiring a set of data from at least one of the plurality of sensors;
sampling the set of data over a predetermined period of time of less than 120 seconds;
computing an average and a standard deviation of the set of data;
comparing the standard deviation with predetermined data stored in a data storage;
determining whether the set of data is acceptable within a defined parameter;
determining whether a first lookup table comprising a set of lookup data has been completed, and creating the first lookup table using an averaging method if the first lookup table has not been completed;
comparing the set of data to the set of lookup data;
and
providing an indication based on a result of the comparing the set of data to the set of lookup data;
and
a fan mounted to the frame to move ambient air through the cover panel and through the airflow side of the at least one cooler to rotate the respective rotating member of the plurality of sensors.

17 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 15/591,076Filed 9 May 2017 · continuation in part
Priority: 10 Apr 2016
Published: US 2017/0292735 A112 Oct 2017
Granted: 10 Dec 2019
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification15 codes

G01F 1/05
Measuring the volume flow or mass flow of fluid or fluent solid material wherein the fluid passes through a meter in a continuous flow: by using…
F01M 5/002
Heating, cooling, or controlling temperature of lubricant ; Lubrication means facilitating engine starting: cooling
F01P 1/06
Air cooling: arrangements for cooling other engine or machine parts
F01P 5/06
Pumping cooling-air; Arrangements of cooling-air pumps, e.g. fans or blowers: guiding or ducting air to, or from, ducted fans

Family

Application62/320,606Us provisional application · filed 10 Apr 2016
Application62/320,611Us provisional application · filed 10 Apr 2016
Application15/477,097Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 2 Apr 2017
US 2017/0292800 A1Pre-grant publication · published 12 Oct 2017
US 10,480,820 B2Related patent
US 2017/0292735 A1Published application
US 10,502,597 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

Timeline

Citations

Open elsewhere

Building an agent or pulling many patents? Use the API or MCP server instead of scraping pages. Get an API key