Vacuum spray boiler
AssigneeBlue Origin Manufacturing, LLC
InventorsMaxim Oleg Khatsenko, Michael Anton Feigenblatt, Jason Alan Cooper, Patrick Wade
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A heat exchanger system, in particular a vacuum spray boiler, cools a hot fluid by spraying a coolant onto chambers carrying the hot fluid. This process may be performed in i) a vacuum, as in space, ii) atmospheric pressure, as on a launch pad of a space vehicle, or iii) any pressure therebetween. The heat exchanger system may incorporate a plate-fin heat exchanger. A coolant spray apparatus, used for spraying the coolant, and the heat exchanger are integrated within a vacuum chamber. The coolant, subsequent to changing to a vapor state after being sprayed onto the heat exchanger, may be exhausted to outside the system.
Claims20
A vacuum spray boiler cooling system for cooling a fluid, the system comprising:
- a vacuum tank having an enclosed space at least partially surrounded by a casing;
- components integrated within the vacuum tank, the components comprising:
- a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet penetrating the casing, the fluid inlet and the fluid outlet for carrying the fluid through the casing;
- a heat exchanger in the enclosed space;
- a coolant spray apparatus including one or more spray nozzles in the enclosed space, the coolant spray apparatus for spraying coolant onto the heat exchanger;
- and
- a coolant inlet and a coolant exhaust port at least partially penetrating the casing, the coolant inlet for carrying the coolant to the coolant spray apparatus and the coolant exhaust port for carrying vaporized coolant away from the enclosed space;
- and
- an exhaust vent connected to the coolant exhaust port and in thermal contact with a portion of the components, the exhaust vent to release the vaporized coolant from the system.
A vacuum spray boiler cooling system comprising:
- a vacuum tank having a casing that encloses an internal space;
- a plate-fin heat exchanger disposed in the internal space and configured to carry a working fluid through finned chambers;
- a coolant spray apparatus mounted to a portion of the casing and configured to deliver a coolant through nozzles into the internal space;
- a coolant inlet for supplying the coolant to the coolant spray apparatus;
- a coolant exhaust port configured to remove vaporized coolant from the internal space;
- and
- one or more thermally conductive fins or members configured to conduct heat from the working fluid or the heat exchanger to the nozzles to inhibit coolant freezing at the nozzles.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.