Polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger with twisted tubes

Abstract

Polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchangers with twisted tubes are provided. The heat exchanger may include one or more polymeric tube bundles, wherein each of the one or more polymeric tube bundles includes at least one tube twisted about its length or at least one pair of tubes twisted or wound around each other. The presently disclosed polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchangers with twisted tubes may be especially suited for applications where the use of polymer tubes offers advantages, such as in the case of acid solutions, food and beverage fluids, and carbon capture applications where the use of metal heat exchangers destroy the amines used for capture.

1 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger with twisted tubes, the heat exchanger comprising:
 one or more polymeric tube bundles, wherein at least one of the one or more polymeric tube bundles comprises one or more sets of two or more tubes twisted or wound around one or more tubes, each tube comprising a tubular wall and a passage configured for a first fluid to flow through, the heat exchanger configured for a second fluid to pass through space between the twisted tubes.   
     
     
         2 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , wherein the one or more sets of two or more tubes have a fixed length. 
     
     
         3 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , wherein the one or more polymeric tube bundles comprise a plurality of pairs of tubes twisted or wound around each other. 
     
     
         4 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , wherein the one or more polymeric tube bundles comprise a plurality of triplets of tubes or multiple numbers of tubes twisted or wound around each other. 
     
     
         5 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , wherein the one or more polymeric tube bundles comprise a plurality of non-circular tubes, each tube twisted about its respective length. 
     
     
         6 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , wherein the one or more polymeric tube bundles comprise an elliptical tube twisted about its respective length. 
     
     
         7 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , wherein the one or more polymeric tube bundles comprise a peanut-shaped twisted tube twisted about its respective length. 
     
     
         8 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , wherein the one or more polymeric tube bundles comprise a polygon twisted tube twisted about its respective length. 
     
     
         9 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , wherein the one or more polymeric tube bundles comprise a petal twisted tube twisted about its respective length. 
     
     
         10 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , wherein the one or more polymeric tube bundles comprise a lobed twisted tube twisted about its respective length. 
     
     
         11 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , wherein the two or more polymeric tubes comprise one or more external ribs extending outward from an outer surface of the two or more tubes twisted, each tube about its respective length. 
     
     
         12 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , wherein the two or more tubes comprise one or more internal channels or internal ribs extending outward or inward from an inner surface of the one or more tubes twisted about its respective length. 
     
     
         13 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , further comprising a housing disposed outside the one or more polymeric tube bundles. 
     
     
         14 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , further comprising an outer wrap disposed around the one or more polymeric tube bundles, the outer wrap configured to tighten the one or more polymeric tube bundles to enable tube configurations to provide uniform spacing between tubes and/or reduce space between the housing and the one or more polymeric tube bundles. 
     
     
         15 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger with twisted tubes, the heat exchanger comprising:
 one or more polymeric tube bundles, at least one of the one or more polymeric tube bundles comprising a plurality of polymeric tubes,   each tube comprising a tubular wall and a passage configured for a first fluid to flow through, the heat exchanger configured for a second fluid to pass through space between the twisted tubes, wherein at least one of the plurality of polymeric tubes comprises one or more ribs extending from the tubular wall twisted about its length.   
     
     
         16 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of polymeric tubes has a fixed length. 
     
     
         17 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 15 , wherein the one or more polymeric tube bundles comprise a plurality of non-circular tubes, each tube twisted about its respective length. 
     
     
         18 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 15 , wherein the one or more polymeric tube bundles comprise an elliptical tube twisted about its respective length. 
     
     
         19 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 15 , wherein the one or more polymeric tube bundles comprise a peanut-shaped twisted tube twisted about its respective length. 
     
     
         20 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 15 , wherein the one or more polymeric tube bundles comprise a polygon twisted tube twisted about its respective length. 
     
     
         21 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 15 , wherein the one or more polymeric tube bundles comprise a petal twisted tube twisted about its respective length. 
     
     
         22 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 15 , wherein the one or more polymeric tube bundles comprise a lobed twisted tube twisted about its respective length. 
     
     
         23 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 15 , wherein at least one of the two or more tubes comprises one or more internal channels or internal ribs extending outward or inward from an inner surface of the one or more tubes twisted about its respective length. 
     
     
         24 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 15 , wherein the one or more external ribs extend outward from an outer surface of the tubular wall. 
     
     
         25 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 15 , wherein the one or more ribs extend inward from an inner surface of the tubular wall. 
     
     
         26 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 15 , further comprising a housing disposed outside the one or more polymeric tube bundles. 
     
     
         27 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 15 , further comprising an outer wrap disposed around the one or more polymeric tube bundles, the outer wrap configured to tighten the one or more polymeric tube bundles to enable tube configurations to provide uniform spacing between tubes and/or reduce space between the housing and the one or more polymeric tube bundles. 
     
     
         28 . A polymeric tube-in-tube exchanger with tubes, the heat exchanger comprising:
 one or more polymeric tube bundles, wherein at least one of the one or more polymeric tube bundles comprises one or more polymeric dual-tube structures, each polymeric dual-tube structure comprising an inner tube, an outer tube, a plurality of ribs extending from an inner surface of the outer tube to an outer surface of the inner tube, the plurality of ribs being twisted along a longitudinal axis of the polymeric dual-tube structure.   
     
     
         29 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 28 , wherein the outer tube of the polymeric dual-tube structure is straight along its respective length. 
     
     
         30 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 28 , wherein the inner tube comprises a first tubular wall and a passage configured for a first fluid to pass through, and the outer tube comprising a second tubular wall, space between an inner surface of the second tubular wall of the outer tube and an outer surface of the first tubular wall of the inner tube configured for a second fluid to pass through. 
     
     
         31 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 28 , wherein the one or more polymeric dual-tube structures have a fixed length. 
     
     
         32 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 28 , further comprising a housing disposed outside the one or more polymeric tube bundles. 
     
     
         33 . A polymeric tube-in-shell heat exchanger according to  claim 28 , further comprising an outer wrap disposed around the one or more polymeric tube bundles, the outer wrap configured to tighten the one or more polymeric tube bundles to enable tube configurations to provide uniform spacing between tubes and/or reduce space between the housing and the one or more polymeric tube bundles. 
     
     
         34 . A method of fabricating the one or more polymeric tube bundles of  claim 1 , the method comprising:
 forming polymeric tubes by extrusion from a polymer;   twisting one or more polymeric tubes to form a twisted tube or a subset of two or more twisted tubes; and   forming a bundle of twisted tubes from the twisted tube or the subset of two or more twisted tubes.