Heat exchanger within dense gravity layer

A heat exchanger within a dense gravity layer, comprising:

• a vertical cylindrical container provided with upper and lower end walls and forming a cavity therewith;
• a heating surface mounted inside said container in spaced relation therewith and formed by a tubular housing opened at a lower end, said housing having a perforated surface, and a plurality of tubes mounted in tiers within said housing, said tubes being so disposed that the tubes of one tier are substantially transverse to the tubes of adjacent tiers;
• opposite seals mounted between an inner surface of said container and the housing of said heating surface to vertically divide the cavity of said container into two portions, each of said opposite seals being formed by a pair of substantially parallel and vertical partition walls of which one rigidly adjoins the inner surface of said container and is spaced from a side of said housing, while the other substantially vertical partition wall rigidly adjoins the side of said housing and is spaced from the inner surface of said container, thus forming labyrinth seals;
• an inlet for supplying a first heat carrier medium inside the housing of said heating surface;
• a branch pipe for supplying a second heat carrier medium into a space between the inner surface of the container and the housing of said heating surface;
• a branch pipe for discharging said second heat carrier medium from the space provided between the inner surface of the container and the housing of said heating surface;
• a plurality of substantially horizontal baffle members mounted within the two portions of the cavity of said container in chessboard pattern relative to one another and dividing these portions of the cavity of said container into chambers disposed along the height in chessboard pattern to change the direction of flow of said second heat carrier medium;
• and
• a plurality of support members.