Heat exchangers, boilers, and systems incorporating the same

A boiler for a home heating system, comprising:

• a fume generator configured to produce a hot fume;
• and
• a heat exchanger coupled to the fume generator, the heat exchanger including:
• an enclosure defining an interior area;
• a separator disposed within the enclosure and extending vertically within the enclosure to divide the interior area of the enclosure into a mixing area and a heat exchange area, the separator defining a plurality of orifices, wherein the mixing area is configured to receive the hot fume from the fume generator and droplets of a liquid for mixing with each other to form a fume-droplet vapor mixture within the mixing area of the enclosure, the fume-droplet vapor mixture configured to pass horizontally through the orifices of the separator into the heat exchange area of the enclosure;
• and
• a plurality of magazines disposed within and stacked vertically within the heat exchange area of the enclosure, the plurality of magazines including a lower-most magazine, an upper-most magazine, and at least one intermediate magazine disposed therebetween, each magazine including a horizontally-oriented plate defining a recess and a cover disposed about the recess of the plate to define and enclose a cavity therebetween, the cavities of the magazines disposed in communication with one another, the lower-most magazine configured to receive a receiver medium that is pumped through the cavity of each successive magazine from the lower-most magazine to the upper-most magazine in an upward zig-zag spiral, wherein the mixture is configured to circulate within the heat exchange area of the enclosure and about the magazines to incrementally heat the receiver medium as the receiver medium is pumped through the cavity of each successive magazine,
• wherein the orifices defined through the separator are arranged to permit the fume-droplet vapor mixture to flow horizontally through the orifices of the separator from the mixing area into the heat exchange area between each pair of adjacent magazines.

A power generating system comprising:

• a fume generator configured to produce a hot fume;
• a primary heat exchanger coupled to the fume generator, the primary heat exchanger including:
• an enclosure defining a volume;
• a separator disposed within the enclosure and extending vertically within the enclosure to divide the volume of the enclosure into a mixing area and a heat exchange area, the separator defining a plurality of orifices, wherein the mixing area of the enclosure is configured to receive the hot fume from the fume generator and droplets of a liquid for mixing with each other to form a fume-droplet vapor mixture within the mixing area of the enclosure, the mixture configured to pass horizontally through the orifices of the separator into the heat exchange area of the enclosure;
• and
• a plurality of magazines disposed within and stacked vertically within the heat exchange area of the first enclosure, the plurality of magazines including a lower-most magazine, an upper-most magazine, and at least one intermediate magazine disposed therebetween, each magazine including a horizontally-oriented plate defining a recess and a cover disposed about the recess of the plate to define and enclose a cavity therebetween, the cavities of the magazines disposed in communication with one another, the lower-most magazine configured to receive a receiver medium that is pumped through the cavity of each successive magazine from the lower-most magazine to the upper-most magazine in an upward zig-zag spiral, wherein the mixture is configured to circulate within the heat exchange area of the enclosure and about the magazines to incrementally heat the receiver medium as the receiver medium is pumped through the cavity of each successive magazine, the upper-most magazine configured to output vapor at about 700° F.,
• wherein the orifices defined through the separator are arranged to permit the fume-droplet vapor mixture to flow horizontally through the orifices of the separator from the mixing area into the heat exchange area between each pair of adjacent magazines;
• a secondary heat exchanger configured to receive the vapor output from the upper-most magazine of the primary heat exchanger, heat the vapor to a superheated vapor of at least 1000° F., and output the superheated vapor;
• and
• a steam turbine configured to receive the superheated vapor from the secondary heat exchanger and utilize the superheated vapor to drive an electrical generator.