Indirect evaporative cooling heat exchanger
AssigneeMunters Corporation
InventorNicholas Des Champs
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A heat exchanger including a header having a plurality of header openings with rigid tubes that may be made of plastic are inserted in the openings. The tubes are sealed to the header to prevent leakage between the header and the tubes to prevent water and air leakage between the wet, scavenger air stream flowing through the tubes and a dry air stream flowing around the tubes. A method of making the heat exchanger includes providing the openings with a flange and uses an interference fit between the rigid heat exchange tubes and the header openings. A self-leveling sealant may be used to seal the heat exchanger tubes to the header using, for example, a paint roller and/or a paint sprayer.
Claims32
A method of sealing a plurality of rigid tubes to a metal header having a plurality of openings therethrough, comprising:
- forming a flange into each of the openings in the header;
- inserting the rigid tubes into the openings in the header, the header having an exterior surface and an interior surface and the rigid tubes having a top portion and a bottom portion, the rigid tubes are inserted with the bottom portion first, and are placed into the openings of the header so that the top portion of the rigid tubes are substantially flush with the exterior surface of the header;
- and
- applying a sealant to the exterior surface of the header and the inserted rigid tubes by an absorbent applicator and/or a spray applicator.
A heat exchanger for an indirect evaporative cooling unit, comprising:
- a header having a plurality of openings penetrating the header;
- and
- a plurality of rigid plastic tubes inserted in the openings in the header, ends of the plurality of rigid plastic tubes being sealed in a leak tight manner to the header,
- wherein the plurality of rigid plastic tubes are each configured to expand and contract within a predetermined range to separate solid deposits accumulating on the plurality of rigid plastic tubes.
A heat exchanger for an indirect evaporative cooling unit, comprising:
- a header having a plurality of openings penetrating the header;
- and
- a plurality of rigid plastic tubes that individually have two opposing planar major walls connected to each other by two opposing rounded minor walls, the plurality of rigid plastic tubes being inserted in the openings in the header, and ends of the plurality of rigid plastic tubes being sealed in a leak tight manner to the header,
- wherein the plurality of rigid plastic tubes are each configured to expand and contract within a predetermined range to separate solid deposits accumulating on the plurality of rigid plastic tubes.
An evaporative cooling unit comprising:
- a base;
- a frame supported by the base;
- a heat exchanger within the frame, the evaporative cooling unit being configured to provide water and air to the heat exchanger;
- a fan configured to intake air into the evaporative cooling unit;
- and
- an exhaust configured to exhaust air from the evaporative cooling unit,
- wherein the heat exchanger comprises:
- a header having a plurality of openings penetrating the header;
- and
- a plurality of rigid tubes inserted in the openings in the header and ends of the plurality of rigid tubes being sealed in a leak tight manner to the header, the plurality of rigid tubes each being configured to expand and contract within a predetermined range to separate solid deposits accumulating on an internal or external surface of the plurality of rigid tubes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.