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 method of operating a spray boiler cooling system to cool a fluid, the method comprising:
- flowing the fluid through a heat exchanger disposed within an enclosed space of a tank;
- introducing a coolant into the enclosed space through one or more nozzles directed toward the heat exchanger;
- spraying the coolant from the one or more nozzles onto the heat exchanger so that at least a portion of the coolant undergoes a phase change from liquid to vapor;
- collecting the vaporized coolant within the enclosed space;
- venting the vaporized coolant from the enclosed space through an exhaust vent;
- and
- heating the exhaust vent using heat from within the enclosed space.
A method of operating a spray boiler cooling system, the method comprising:
- flowing a fluid through a heat exchanger disposed within an enclosed space of a chamber;
- spraying a coolant from one or more nozzles onto the heat exchanger within the enclosed space;
- boiling at least a portion of the coolant on the heat exchanger to produce vapor;
- venting the vapor through an exhaust vent;
- and
- transferring heat from components of the cooling system to the exhaust vent to inhibit freezing of the vaporized coolant.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.