Evaporator with grooved channels
AssigneeHamilton Sundstrand Corporation
InventorWei-Lin Cho
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An orifice insert is provided and includes a center plug and a ring feature. The center plug has first and second ends and an exterior surface extending between the first and second ends. The exterior surface defines multiple inflow channels that extend from the first end toward the second end and terminate at termination points midway between the first and second ends. The ring feature is disposed about the center plug and the multiple inflow channels to define, with the center plug, a plenum with which the termination points of the multiple inflow channels are fluidly communicative.
Claims20
An orifice insert, comprising:
- a center plug having first and second ends and an exterior surface extending between the first and second ends,
- the exterior surface defining multiple inflow channels that extend from the first end toward the second end and terminate at termination points midway between the first and second ends;
- and
- a ring feature disposed about the center plug and the multiple inflow channels to define, with the center plug, a plenum with which the termination points of the multiple inflow channels are fluidly communicative.
An evaporator, comprising:
- an inlet header;
- a body defining channels, each of which comprises grooves circumferentially arranged about an open central region to extend radially outwardly from the open central region;
- and
- orifice inserts respectively interposable between the inlet header and a corresponding channel to respectively encourage fluid flow from the inlet header to the corresponding channel to flow into the grooves.
An evaporator, comprising:
- an inlet header;
- a body defining channels;
- and
- orifice inserts respectively interposable between the inlet header and corresponding channels,
- each channel comprising grooves respectively delimited by first and second interior facing sidewalls of the body which form a base and an apex with an apex angle opposite the base and defined such that, for a fluid flow moving through one of the channels in a microgravity environment:
- a portion of the fluid flow in a liquid phase within a groove of the channel will move in the groove from the base to the apex, and
- a portion of the fluid flow in a vapor phase within a groove of the channel will move in the groove from the apex to the base, and
- each orifice insert is configured to encourage fluid flow from the inlet header to the corresponding channel to flow into the grooves.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.