GB1102098A - Improvements relating to tube banks - Google Patents

Abstract

1,102,098. Heat exchangers. BABCOCK & WILCOX Ltd. 15 March, 1966 [15 Dec., 1964], No. 50951/64. Heading F4S. In a tubular heat exchanger, in which a bank of tubes ends in a tube plate 2, some or all of the tube openings 6 are partially blocked by means of obturating members in order to restrict the fluid flow through individual tubes or groups of tubes and render the temperature of the discharged fluid more uniform. The obturating members as shown are strips 4 partially covering a row of tube openings 6, and are secured to the tube plate 2 by welding and/or bolting. In alternative embodiments, the obturating members may be strips (4, Figs. 3 and 5) wholly covering the tube openings (6) but with slots (12, Fig. 3) or apertures (14, Fig. 5) cut therein, or may be circular covering plates (16, Figs. 7 and 9) with apertures (20) of lesser (Fig. 7) or substantially equal (Fig. 9) diameter to the tube openings (6), one aperture corresponding to each tube opening, the covering plate (16) being rotatable with respect to the tube plate (2) in order to change the degree of obturation, or may be a wire mesh (30, Fig. 13) of which each intersection of wires corresponds to a tube opening (6).