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US 5,911,271 AGranted
Floating bypass seal for rotary regenerative heat exchangers
AssigneeABB Air Preheater, Inc.
InventorsKurt M. Fierle, Robin B. Rhodes
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The gas flow bypass around the heating elements in a regenerative air preheater is reduced by the use of floating bypass seals which are placed in the rotor compartments between stacked heating elements. The seals comprise a frame with an open center with the peripheral frame portion bridging the gaps between the heating elements and the sides of the compartments. The seals may be adjustable and may include a deformable edge seal to actually contact and seal against the sides.
Claims13
A rotor for a rotary regenerative heat exchanger comprising:
- a. a rotor post;
- b. an outer shell;
- c. diaphragm plates dividing said rotor into a plurality of pie-shaped sectors;
- d. a plurality of tangential plates in each of said sectors dividing said sectors into a plurality of compartments;
- e. a plurality of heating elements stacked in each of said compartments, wherein gaps may exist around said heating elements between said heating elements and said diaphragm plates and said tangential plates;
- and
- f. floating bypass sealing means adjacent to at least one of said heating elements to prevent gases from bypassing around said heating element through said gaps, said floating bypass sealing means comprising a peripheral band having an outside perimeter and an open center, said outside perimeter shaped to fit into said compartment closely adjacent to and forming a seal with said diaphragm plates and said tangential plates and said peripheral band having a width selected to bridge said gap between said heating elements and said diaphragm plates and said tangential plates and at least partially overlap said heating elements thereby preventing gases from bypassing said heating elements through said gaps.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.