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US 7,128,310 B2Granted
Air-to-air atmospheric heat exchanger for condensing cooling tower effluent
AssigneeSPX Cooling Technologies, Inc.
InventorsEldon F. Mockry, Jason Stratman, Jidong Yang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A cooling tower having a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger includes at least one heat exchanger pack having a generally diamond shape. The heat exchanger pack includes a first set of passageways for receiving a stream of warm, water laden air and a second set of passageways for receiving ambient air. The first set of passageways and second set of passageways are separate. Cooling tower configurations including the heat exchanger pack are disclosed for achieving effluent plume abatement, and capture of a portion of the effluent for replacement back into the cooling tower reservoir or as a source of purified water.
Claims26
A cooling tower having an outside and an inside and a longitudinal axis, comprising:
- an evaporative media;
- a liquid distribution system that distributes hot liquid over said evaporative media;
- a heat exchanger that transfers heat from a first air stream into a second air stream, said heat exchanger comprising at least one generally diamond shaped heat exchanger pack that includes a first set of passageways and a second set of passageways;
- an air current generator that directs said first air stream through said evaporative media and through said first set of passageways and wherein said air current generator directs said second air stream through said second set of passageways;
- a first plurality of air ducts that open to the inside of the cooling tower, wherein said first plurality of air ducts connect to said first set of passageways of said plurality of generally diamond shaped heat exchanger packs;
- and
- a second plurality of air ducts that open to the outside of the cooling tower, wherein said second plurality of air ducts connect to said second set of passageways of said plurality of generally diamond shaped heat exchanger packs,
- wherein said at least one generally diamond shaped heat exchanger pack is a plurality of generally diamond shaped heat exchanger packs, each of said plurality of generally diamond shaped heat exchanger packs having said first set of passageways and said second set of passageways,
- wherein said plurality of generally diamond shaped heat exchanger packs are positioned adjacent to each other so that a portion of each of said plurality of generally diamond shaped heat exchanger packs abut one another so that said heat exchanger extends across the inside of the cooling tower to form a single tier heat exchanger.
6 more elements
A cooling tower having an outside and an inside and a longitudinal axis, comprising:
- an evaporative media;
- a liquid distribution system that distributes hot liquid over said evaporative media;
- a heat exchanger that transfers heat from a first air stream into a second air stream, said heat exchanger comprising at least one generally diamond shaped heat exchanger pack that includes a first set of passageways and a second set of passageways;
- an air current generator that directs said first air stream through said evaporative media and through said first set of passageways and wherein said air current generator directs said second air stream through said second set of passageways;
- a first plurality of air ducts that open to the inside of the cooling tower, wherein said first plurality of air ducts connect to said first set of passageways of said plurality of generally diamond shaped heat exchanger packs;
- and
- a second plurality of air ducts that open to the outside of the cooling tower, wherein said second plurality of air ducts connect to said second set of passageways of said plurality of generally diamond shaped heat exchanger packs,
- wherein said at least one generally diamond shaped heat exchanger pack is a plurality of generally diamond shaped heat exchanger packs, each of said plurality of generally diamond shaped heat exchanger packs having said first set of passageways and said second set of passageways,
- wherein said plurality of generally diamond shaped heat exchanger packs are positioned adjacent to each other so that a portion of each of said plurality of generally diamond shaped heat exchanger packs abut one another so that said heat exchanger extends across the inside of the cooling tower to form a single tier heat exchanger,
- wherein said first plurality of air ducts each comprise side portions, and wherein said second plurality of air ducts each comprise side portions and base portions, wherein said base portions are angled generally downwardly away from the longitudinal axis of the cooling tower.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.