Technical Field

The present invention relates to a process for making a heat exchanger, and the heat exchanger so obtained. The heat exchanger can be inserted in any cold or warm source, in particular, in a heating boiler.

Background Art

In the prior art, for example biomass boilers or fuel oil boilers work with the passage of fumes that, by passing through the sheet or tube bundles, heat the water or other fluids that will be used for heating systems or other purposes. These boilers produce soot that impede exchange of heat with water or other fluids, and require an almost daily cleaning to improve performance.

Disclosure of the Invention

According to the invention there is provided a box of any shape inside which fluids, such as water or air, intended for heating or cooling, are allowed to pass through. The box can be made of metallic materials, for example, aluminium, copper, iron, steel, bronze, cast iron, brass, or plastics such as teflon, PVC and the like.

Drilled in the box are holes of a certain diameter and in a number depending on the desired effect, and inserted in each hole is a rod of steel, aluminium, brass, copper, bronze, etc., which can be either screwed or welded or stuck by an O- ring and a fastening support for O-ring, the rod entering about 3-5 cm inside the box. As another special feature the rod tapers to a tip like a nail to transmit heat better. The length and size of the rods, that advantageously are solid, can vary depending on the applications. The end of the solid rod can be ball-shaped and of various sizes, provided that it is in a single piece. The external part of the solid rod can be bent for bringing it closer as possible to the source of heat or refrigeration. It is best to avoid solid rods being angled because this would cause a loss of transmitted heat. The end of the solid rod can also be shaped differently from a ball. Brief description of drawings

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a box provided with through holes for the heat exchanger according to the present invention;

Figure 2 shows a perspective view of the box in Figure 1, in whose holes rods are inserted to make the heat exchanger;

Figure 3 shows a perspective view of a hot source, essentially a boiler, inside which the heat exchanger in Figure 2 is built-in;

Figure 4 is an enlarged side view of an example of a rod inserted into the box in Figure 1 ;

Figure 5 shows a perspective view of the box in Figure 1 with inlet and outlet pipes; and

Figure 6 is a schematic front view of a heat exchanger according to the invention within a well.

Description of embodiments

In a first aspect, with reference to the figures, in particular to Figure 3, the invention concerns a method for making a heat exchanger, comprising the manufacture of a box 1 with an inlet opening 2 and an outlet opening 3, the connection of an inlet pipe 4 into the inlet opening 2 and of an outlet pipe 5 into the outlet opening 3. A plurality of through holes 9 is made in the box 1, and inserted and locked in a sealing way in each through hole 9 is a rod 10 provided with a tip portion 1 1 and a tail portion 12 so that the tip portion 1 1 is inside the box and the tail portion 12 is outside of the box 1. The tail portion of the rods is at least 7-8 times longer than the tip portion inserted in the box.

The insertion and the sealed locking of the rods 10 in the box 1 is obtained with various methods such as screwing, welding, fastening by means of O-ring.

The box 1 is installed in a warm source 6, such as a boiler, in which the admission from the outside 7 of a fluid to be heated is arranged in the inlet pipe 4, and the exit of the heated fluid is arranged from the box 1 through the outlet pipe 5 up to output 8 from the warm source 6.

In a second aspect, the invention relates to a heat exchanger comprising a housing 1 with an inlet opening 2 and an outlet opening 3, an inlet pipe 4 into the inlet opening 2 and an outlet pipe 5 in the outlet opening 3. According to the invention, the box 1 is provided with a plurality of rods 10 provided with a tip portion 1 1 and a tail portion 12, the tip portion 1 1 being inside the box 1 and the tail portion 12 being outside of the box 1.

The rods 10 are metallic, preferably solid, and advantageously, the tail portion 12 of the rods 10 is threaded in its portion 15.

In particular, the tail portion 12 of the rods is thickened integrally at its end, advantageously with a ball 16.

in operation, inserted in a boiler 6 is the box 1 in which the solid rods 10 are inserted according to the present invention.

Water to be heated passes through the box 1.

The boiler 6 is feed with firewood as a fuel. When the wood burns, the solid rods 10 begin very quickly to heat up by the heat produced by burning wood. The heat is transmitted to water because the part of solid rod not inserted in the water is at least 7-8 times longer than the part inserted in the box, part that is equal e.g. to 5 cm; the solid rod reaches the temperature of 300/400 degrees Celsius and heats the water very quickly by conduction, convection and irradiation. The process of the invention allows to have very low energy consumption, and the maintenance is reduced to a minimum. The output fumes are at very low temperatures because the energy produced by the boiler is captured by the solid rods, and little fuel is used thanks to the high efficiency of the boiler. The supplied heat being equal, overall dimensions of the boiler according to the invention, the maintenance and the fuel consumption thereof are less than those of the prior art boilers.

The process of the invention can be applied to boilers with open circuit or to those with closed circuit and with expansion vessel. The heat exchanger can have any size.

Advantageously, the solid rod should be tipped like a nail and ended with a ball, preferably flattened and integral with the rod.

The solid rod can be inserted into the box with various inclinations, although its position perpendicular to the walls of the box is preferable to increase the yield. It is noticed that the yield increases if the rods are threaded in its part not immersed in the box so that the heated surface is increased and the fumes are allowed to touch the thread and release heat to the solid rods, which transmit it to the water .

The fields of application are both hot and cold sources like the well schematically shown in Figure 6, that can be used for refrigeration. Heat can also be retrieved from other forms of energy such as the geothermal one.