US 4,395,618 AGranted

Electric circulation heater for heating fluids such as oil

AssigneeEmerson Electric Co.

InventorDonald M. Cunningham

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Abstract

A circulation heater for heating a fluid, particularly a liquid such as oil, includes an imperforate heavy-duty steel tubular body closed at both ends and having internal vanes establishing a plurality of separated longitudinally - extending chambers therein. The vanes are ported to establish a fluid flow path serially through the chambers from an inlet communicating with a first chamber to an outlet communicating with a last chamber. One or more metal-sheathed electric heating elements are located within each chamber and the chambers and heating elements therein are so arranged and designed, for example, by making the chambers of uniform transverse cross-sectional area and placing different numbers of heating elements of identical transverse cross-sectional area in each chamber, that the velocity of the fluid increases as it flows from the inlet to the outlet. The watt density of the heating elements in the respective chambers is correlated to the velocity of the fluid flowing through the chamber and temperature of the fluid in the chamber to prevent overheating of the fluid.

Claims4

Dependent claims

A circulation heater for heating a fluid, comprising:

an imperforate tubular body having one end closed and the other end open,
a head connected to said body to close and seal said open end,
a baffle member longitudinally within said body and extending from the inner surface of said closed end to the inner surface of said head, said baffle member having a plurality of radially-extending vanes engaging the interior surface of said body and establishing therewith a plurality of separated longitudinaly extending chambers of equal transverse cross sectional area,
a plurality of elongated metal-sheathed electric heating elements carried by said head, said heating elements being of equal transverse cross section and having their terminal portions extending in sealed relation through openings in said head, said heating elements being disposed longitudinally within said chambers,
said body having an inlet for fluid to be heated and an outlet for the exhaust of the heated fluid, said inlet communicating with one body chamber and said outlet communicating with another body chamber,
said vanes being ported to establish fluid flow from said inlet, serially through said chambers and outwardly of said outlet,
a certain number of said heating elements being disposed longitudinally within a certain of said body chambers and a different number of said heating elements being disposed in a certain other of said body chambers, whereby the effective transverse cross sectional area of the flow-through space in said certain and said certain other of said body chambers is different to accordingly cause variation of the velocity of the fluid flowing through such chambers.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.