# US 11,079,137 B2 · Condensation heat exchanger provided with a heat exchange device

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- Number: US 11,079,137 B2
- Document ID: US11079137B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/071,479
- Filed: 2017-01-16
- Published: 2019-01-24
- Granted: 2021-08-03
- Earliest claimed: 2016-01-22
- Assignees: Sermeta
- Applicants: Sermeta
- Inventors: Joseph Le Mer
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11079137B2

## CPC

- F24H 1/43: helically or spirally coiled
- F24H 1/40: with water tube or tubes
- F24H 8/00: Fluid heaters characterised by means for extracting latent heat from flue gases by means of condensation
- F28D 7/005: {the conduits for only one medium being tubes having bent portions or being assembled from bent tubes or being tubes having a toroidal configuration (F28D7/0008, F28D7/02, F28D7/04, F28D7/06, F28D7/14 take precedence)}
- F28D 7/022: {the conduits of two or more media in heat-exchange relationship being helically coiled, the coils having a cylindrical configuration}
- F28D 7/08: the conduits being otherwise bent, e.g. in a serpentine or zig-zag (F28D7/10 takes precedence){(F28D7/0016 and F28D7/0033 take precedence)}
- F28D 9/00: Heat-exchange apparatus having stationary plate-like or laminated conduit assemblies for both heat-exchange media, the media being in contact with different sides of a conduit wall {(F28F3/083, F28F3/086 take precedence)}
- F28F 9/02: Header boxes; End plates
- F28F 9/0202: {Header boxes having their inner space divided by partitions}
- F28F 9/0204: {for elongated header box, e.g. with transversal and longitudinal partitions}
- F28F 9/22: Arrangements for directing heat-exchange media into successive compartments, e.g. arrangements of guide plates
- F28D 2021/0024: {for combustion apparatus, e.g. for boilers}
- Y02B 30/00: Energy efficient heating, ventilation or air conditioning [HVAC]
- F24H: FLUID HEATERS, e.g. WATER OR AIR HEATERS, HAVING HEAT-GENERATING MEANS, e.g. HEAT PUMPS, IN GENERAL (steam generation F22)
- F28D: HEAT-EXCHANGE APPARATUS, NOT PROVIDED FOR IN ANOTHER SUBCLASS, IN WHICH THE HEAT-EXCHANGE MEDIA DO NOT COME INTO DIRECT CONTACT (fluid heaters having heat generating means and heat transferring means F24H; furnaces F27; details of heat-exchange apparatus of general)
- F28F: DETAILS OF HEAT-EXCHANGE AND HEAT-TRANSFER APPARATUS, OF GENERAL APPLICATION (water and air traps, air venting F16)
- Y02B: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS

## Abstract

The invention relates to a condensation heat exchanger which comprises: —at least two concentric bundles (5, 5′) of tubes made from a material that is a good thermal conductor, inside which tubes a heat-transfer fluid is intended to circulate, each bundle of tubes (5, 5′) comprising a series of tubes (50, 50′) in the form of an arc of a circle, the tubes of each bundle (5, 5′) being arranged in parallel planes with a gap (53, 53′) between two adjacent tubes (50, 50′), —a single collector (6) made of a material that is a good conductor of heat and to which the two ends (51, 51′, 52, 52′) of each tube (50, 50′) of the various bundles (5, 5′) are connected, this collector (6) being equipped with inlet (61) and outlet (62) couplings. This exchanger is notable in that the collector (6) comprises several partitions delimiting various channels, which allow the fluid that is to be warmed up to be made to circulate in the various successive bundles from the outermost bundle to the innermost bundle.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A heat exchanger, comprising:
a gas-tight shell, delimiting a combustion chamber, said shell including a gas discharge coupling,
a heat exchange device for circulating a to be-heated heat-transfer fluid, the heat exchange device being mounted fixedly in an interior of the shell,
said heat exchange device comprising:
a first interior tube bundle, and at least one other bundle of tubes, the first interior tube bundle being disposed closer to a central location of the heat exchange device than the at least one other tube bundle and the at least one other bundle of tubes being disposed concentrically around the first interior tube bundle, all tubes of all bundles being made of a thermally conductive material and being configured to circulate fluid therein, each bundle of tubes comprising a series of tubes each of which has the shape of a circular arc and has a first end and a second end, the tubes of each bundle being disposed in parallel planes with a gap between two adjacent tubes,
a single collector, made of a thermally conductive material, delimited by walls, a first end and a second end of each tube of the different bundles being connected to the collector, so that they lead inside said collector,
the collector being provided with an inlet connector allowing the collector to be supplied with heat-transfer fluid to be heated and with an outlet connector allowing the discharge of said fluid once heated,
means for producing hot gases in the combustion chamber of said shell, said means for producing hot gases being disposed in the vicinity of said heat exchange device, so that the hot gases pass radially through the different concentric bundles of tubes, from the interior to the exterior, by passing through the gaps provided between said tubes, before being discharged outside the heat exchanger, through said discharge coupling,
wherein the heat exchanger is a condensation heat exchanger,
wherein the shell comprises a condensation chamber, fewer than all the tubes of the interior tube bundle and fewer than all the tubes of the at least one other bundle being disposed in said condensation chamber, and the remaining tubes of the interior tube bundle and of the at least one other bundle being disposed in the combustion chamber,
wherein said collector comprises several interior partitions, welded together and to the walls of the collector, and wherein the partitions delimit different channels, which are arranged to cause the fluid to be heated to circulate from said inlet connector, through all the tubes, to the outlet connector where the fluid once heated is discharged, the circulation being carried out through different groups of at least two tubes of each successive bundle,
wherein the channels are also arranged so that, inside the tubes located in the combustion chamber, the circulation of the fluid is carried out through the different groups of at least two tubes of each successive bundle, successively, bundle by bundle, from the outermost bundle to the interior bundle,
wherein said inlet connector is put into communication with a first end or a second end of at least one group of at least two tubes, exclusively of the remaining tubes of the outermost bundle which are disposed inside the combustion chamber, through at least one channel of said collector and through the tubes of the interior bundle and the tubes of the at least one other bundle located in the condensation chamber, and
wherein the collector comprises at least one channel which allows a first end or a second end of at least one group of at least two tubes, exclusively of the remaining tubes of the interior bundle which are disposed inside the combustion chamber, to be put into communication with said outlet connector.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the collector comprises a bottom, an exterior wall, a rear wall, a front wall and two lateral walls through which the first and the second ends of the tubes of the different bundles lead inside the collector and in that the lateral walls extend in radial planes of a cylinder, a longitudinal axis of which passes through centers of each of the different circular-arc-shaped tubes.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the tubes of said bundles have a flattened oval straight section so that they comprise two mutually parallel lateral flat faces perpendicular to a longitudinal axis connecting the centers of each of the circular-arc-shaped tubes.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the partitions which delimit the different channels extend in the collector longitudinally, transversely and/or diagonally.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the partitions which delimit the different channels extend over a portion or over the totality of the height, the width and the length of the collector.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the partitions which delimit the different channels are curved.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the gap between two adjacent tubes of each bundle of tubes is calibrated by spacers.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The heat exchanger according to claim 7, wherein said spacers are bosses or corrugations, formed in the wall of a tube, facing the wall of an adjacent tube of the same bundle.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the heat exchanger comprises means for causing said heat-transfer fluid to circulate in the tubes.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the means of producing hot gases are a gas or fuel oil burner.

### Claim 11 (depends on 2)

The heat exchanger according to claim 2, wherein the tubes of said bundles have a flattened oval straight section so that they comprise two mutually parallel lateral flat faces perpendicular to the longitudinal axis connecting centers of each of the circular-arc-shaped tubes.

### Claim 12 (depends on 2)

The heat exchanger according to claim 2, wherein the partitions which delimit the different channels extend in the collector longitudinally, transversely and/or diagonally.

### Claim 13 (depends on 2)

The heat exchanger according to claim 2, wherein the partitions which delimit the different channels extend over a portion or over the totality of the height, the width and the length of the collector.

### Claim 14 (depends on 2)

The heat exchanger according to claim 2, wherein the partitions which delimit the different channels are curved.

### Claim 15 (depends on 2)

The heat exchanger according to claim 2, wherein the gap between two adjacent tubes of each bundle of tubes is calibrated by spacers.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The heat exchanger according to claim 15, wherein said spacers are bosses or corrugations, formed in the wall of one of said tubes, facing the wall of an adjacent tube of the same bundle.

### Claim 17 (depends on 2)

The heat exchanger according to claim 2, wherein the heat exchanger comprises means for causing said heat-transfer fluid to circulate in the tubes.

### Claim 18 (depends on 2)

The heat exchanger according to claim 2, wherein the means of producing hot gases are a gas or fuel oil burner.