US 5,881,799 AGranted

Perimeter sealing element for regenerative heat exchanger

OwnerWayne R. Kozacka, Jackie L. Kaserinventors

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Abstract

A seal for a regenerative air preheater. The seal is comprised of two members that each have a plurality of tabs and slots. The tabs and slots interlock so that the tabs on one member are positioned adjacent the slots on the other member. Further, the tabs have a narrow neck section and a wider sealing section. The wider sealing sections overlay and the narrow neck sections are positioned within a recessed region of the notch on the opposite member so as to interlock the two members. Preferably, the neck sections do not significantly overlap thereby providing greater flexibility for each of the tabs. The seal is mounted either to the rotor or to the inner wall of the housing so as to extend through the bypass gap between the rotor and the inner wall of the housing. As the tabs are flexible, the tabs can resiliently deform as a result of the tabs making contact with the sealing surface of the heat exchanger.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A seal for a regenerative air preheater for sealing a bypass gap between a movable heat exchanging element and an inner wall of an enclosure encompassing the heat exchanging element comprising:

a first seal member having a mounting section that is dimensioned to be mounted to the air preheater and a plurality of tabs with slots interposed therebetween wherein the tabs extend outward from the mounting section so that when the mounting section is mounted to the air preheater, the plurality of tabs extend into the bypass gap so as to be positioned adjacent a sealing surface of the regenerative air preheater;
a second seal member having a mounting section that is dimensioned to be mounted to the air preheater and a plurality of tabs with slots interposed therebetween wherein the tabs extend outward from the mounting section so that when the mounting section is mounted to the air preheater, the plurality of tabs extend into the bypass gap so as to be positioned adjacent a sealing surface of the regenerative air preheater;
and
wherein the tabs and slots of the first and second seal members are dimensioned so that tabs on the first member are positioned adjacent the slots on the second member and so that the tabs on the second member are positioned adjacent the slots on the first member with the tabs and slots interlocking the two members and wherein the tabs on the first and second members are resiliently flexible so that the tabs can make contact with the sealing surface and maintain contact with the sealing surface over a range of deformation of the heat exchanging body occurring as a result of thermal distortion.

1 more element

A perimeter seal for a regenerative air preheater for sealing a bypass gap between a movable heat exchanging element and an inner wall of an enclosure encompassing the heat exchanging element, the perimeter seal comprising:

a first seal member that is dimensioned to be mounted to an air preheater, wherein the first seal member includes a first plurality of tabs adapted to be positioned in a bypass space in said preheater adjacent a sealing surface, the first plurality of tabs having a first and a second face and a first and a second lateral sides wherein the first plurality of tabs are separated by a first plurality of slots;
and
a second seal member that is dimensioned to be mounted to an air preheater, wherein the second seal member includes a second plurality of tabs adapted to be positioned in the bypass space in the preheater adjacent the sealing surface, the second plurality of tabs having a first and a second face and a first and a second lateral sides wherein the second plurality of tabs are separated by a second plurality of slots and wherein the second seal member is positioned so that the second plurality of tabs are positioned within the first plurality of slots so that the first lateral side of the second plurality of tabs are positioned adjacent the first face of the first plurality of tabs and so that the second lateral side of the second plurality of tabs is positioned adjacent the second face of the first plurality of tabs.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.