US 7,231,958 B1Granted

Reinforced sealing element

AssigneeParagon Airheater Technologies, Inc.

InventorsJack Kaser, Deborah Kaser

Life of this patent

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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. 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. 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 may resiliently deform as a result of the tabs making contact with the sealing surface of the heat exchanger. The air preheater further comprises a reinforcing section that stabilizes the tabs when the tabs resiliently deform.

Claims31

Dependent claims

A seal assembly for a regenerative air preheater having a heat exchanging body that rotates in a first direction with respect to a housing and is distally spaced from the housing so as to define a gap therebetween, the seal assembly comprising:

a sealing section that is positioned to at least partially span the gap between the heat exchanging body and the housing, wherein the sealing section includes a deformable biasing section that engages with at least a portion of both the housing and the heat exchanging body in a manner so as to resiliently deform in a second direction relative to the first direction during rotation;
and
a reinforcing member interposed between the housing and the heat exchanging body so as to cover at least a portion of the sealing section, wherein the reinforcing member is positioned with respect to the sealing section so as to reinforce the sealing section when the sealing section is deformed in the second direction, the reinforcing member constructed to apply a counter-deflection force on the sealing section in a direction substantially opposite to the second direction to limit the deformation of the sealing section and thereby inhibit damage to the sealing section as a result of the deformation during rotation,
wherein the reinforcing member is positioned adjacent the sealing section so as to define a deflection gap therebetween so that the sealing section deforms the width of the deflection gap prior to engaging the reinforcing member during rotation.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 10/675,595Filed 30 Sep 2003 · us provisional application
Priority: 1 Oct 2002
Granted: 19 Jun 2007
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification9 codes

F23L 15/02
Heating of air supplied for combustion: arrangements of regenerators
F28D 19/041
Using rigid bodies, e.g. mounted on a movable carrier: with axial flow through the intermediate heat-transfer medium
F28D 19/047
Using rigid bodies, e.g. mounted on a movable carrier: sealing means
Y02E 20/34
Combustion technologies with mitigation potential: indirect CO2mitigation, i.e. by acting on non CO2directly related matters of the process, e.g.…