Heat exchanger

Heat exchanger, particularly for treating flowable products, comprising a horizontally arranged axially elongated casing at least partly cylindrical in the circumferential direction transverse to the elongated direction thereof and closed at its ends forming an axially elongated space therein, said casing having a first opening adjacent one end for admitting material to be treated and a second opening adjacent its opposite end for removing the material after it is moved through said space, a shaft rotatably mounted in said casing and extending centrally through said space therein in the axially elongated direction of said casing, a plurality of disc elements secured to and extending radially outwardly from said shaft substantially perpendicularly of the axial direction of said shaft, each said disc element having a radially inner edge secured to said shaft, a radially outer edge spaced outwardly from said shaft and located closely adjacent the at least partly cylindrical surface of said casing for permitting movement of said disc elements relative to said casing, a first edge and a second edge spaced apart from one another around said shaft and extending outwardly from said inner edge to said outer edge, said first edge leading said second edge in the direction of rotation of said shaft, said disc elements providing a continuous imperforate surface from said shaft to the radially outer edge thereof and between said first and second edges thereof, said disc elements arranged in a number of uniformly axially spaced parallel planes extending between the first and second opening and each said plane disposed substantially perpendicularly of the axial direction of said shaft and containing at least one said disc element extending around said shaft, said disc elements with the first and second edges thereof spaced apart and forming a passage extending outwardly from said shaft to said casing so that at least one passage is provided in each plane of said disc elements for permitting the flowable products to pass therethrough in moving from the first opening to the second opening in said casing stirrer means for moving the flowable product from the first opening to the second opening in said casing, said stirrer means extending for approximately the axial length of said casing between the plane of said disc elements closest to said second opening, said stirring means comprising at least one stirrer element secured to at least certain ones of said disc elements disposed in spaced planes of said disc elements and located at the intersections of said first edges and said radially outer edges thereof and extending generally in the axial direction of said shaft, the radially outer surface of said stirrer element being spaced closely from the inner surface of said casing for permitting movement of said stirrer element relative to said casing, the leading edge of said stirrer element facing in the direction of rotation of said shaft extends generally in the axial direction of said shaft and is arranged at an angle to the axis of the shaft, the at least one opening located in each plane of said disc elements being positioned at the first edge of said disc element on which said stirrer element is secured so that the flowable product moved by said stirrer element passes through the at least one opening, and the openings between said disc elements in adjacent planes of said disc elements following the angular disposition of said at least one stirrer element for facilitating the passage of the flowable product through the space in said casing, and a baffle plate located within said casing and extending perpendicularly of the axial direction of said shaft from the lower inner surface of said casing in the upward direction, said baffle plate located between said second opening and said plane of said disc elements most closely adjacent to said second opening for maintaining a certain filling level in said space.