Heat exchanger for hvac&r system

Abstract

A heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC&R) system may include a compressor to motivate a working fluid through a vapor compression circuit and an evaporator disposed along the vapor compression circuit to transfer heat to the working fluid from one or more evaporator conditioning fluids. The HVAC&R system may also include a multi-bundle condenser, disposed along the vapor compression circuit, having at least two condenser tube bundles. Additionally, the multi-bundle condenser may selectively transfer heat from the working fluid to a first condenser conditioning fluid operatively within a first condenser tube bundle fluidly coupled to a cooling tower via a first fluid circuit, a second condenser conditioning fluid operatively within a second condenser tube bundle, or both.

1 . A heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC&R) system comprising:
 a compressor configured to motivate a working fluid through a vapor compression circuit;   an evaporator disposed along the vapor compression circuit and configured to transfer heat to the working fluid from one or more evaporator conditioning fluids; and   a multi-bundle condenser disposed along the vapor compression circuit, comprising at least two condenser tube bundles, and configured to selectively transfer heat from the working fluid to:
 a first condenser conditioning fluid operatively within a first condenser tube bundle of the a least two condenser tube bundles, wherein the first condenser tube bundle is fluidly coupled to a cooling tower via a first fluid circuit; 
 a second condenser conditioning fluid operatively within a second condenser tube bundle of the a least two condenser tube bundles; or 
 both. 
   
     
     
         2 . The HVAC&R system of  claim 1 , wherein the second condenser tube bundle is fluidly coupled to the cooling tower via a second fluid circuit. 
     
     
         3 . The HVAC&R system of  claim 2 , wherein the second condenser tube bundle comprises fewer tubes, smaller tubes, or both relative to the first condenser tube bundle. 
     
     
         4 . The HVAC&R system of  claim 2 , wherein the first fluid circuit comprises a first pump configured to motivate the first condenser conditioning fluid through the first fluid circuit, and the second fluid circuit comprises a second pump configured to motivate the second condenser conditioning fluid through the second fluid circuit. 
     
     
         5 . The HVAC&R system of  claim 2 , wherein, when selectively transferring heat to the second condenser conditioning fluid, the multi-bundle condenser is configured to transfer less heat to the second condenser conditioning fluid, via the second condenser tube bundle, from the working fluid than to the first condenser conditioning fluid, via the first condenser tube bundle, from the working fluid when selectively transferring heat to the first condenser conditioning fluid. 
     
     
         6 . The HVAC&R system of  claim 2 , wherein the at least two condenser tube bundles comprises a third condenser tube bundle, wherein the multi-bundle condenser is configured to selectively transfer heat from the working fluid to:
 the first condenser conditioning fluid;   the second condenser conditioning fluid;   a third condenser conditioning fluid operatively within the condenser tube bundle; or   one or more combinations thereof.   
     
     
         7 . The HVAC&R system of  claim 6 , comprising an air distribution system having one or more air handlers, wherein the third condenser tube bundle is fluidly coupled to the air distribution system and configured to provide heat to the air distribution system via the third condenser conditioning fluid. 
     
     
         8 . The HVAC&R system of  claim 7 , wherein the evaporator is configured to provide a first evaporator conditioning fluid of the one or more evaporator conditioning fluids to the air distribution system, wherein the first evaporator conditioning fluid is chilled by the evaporator prior to being provided to the air distribution system. 
     
     
         9 . The HVAC&R system of  claim 8 , wherein the evaporator comprises a double bundle evaporator configured to provide heat to the working fluid from a heat source via a second evaporator conditioning fluid of the one or more evaporator conditioning fluids. 
     
     
         10 . The HVAC&R system of  claim 9 , wherein the heat source comprises waste water, ground water, sea water, geothermal spring water, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         11 . The HVAC&R system of  claim 7 , wherein the multi-bundle condenser is configured to transfer heat from the working fluid to the second condenser conditioning fluid and the third condenser conditioning fluid simultaneously. 
     
     
         12 . The HVAC&R system of  claim 1 , wherein the second condenser tube bundle is fluidly coupled to an air distribution system and configured to provide heat to the air distribution system via the second condenser conditioning fluid. 
     
     
         13 . The HVAC&R system of  claim 1 , comprising a controller configured to select to which of the first condenser conditioning fluid, the second condenser conditioning fluid, or both to supply heat from the working fluid via the multi-bundle condenser. 
     
     
         14 . A vapor compression system comprising:
 a multi-bundle condenser comprising at least two condenser tube bundles and configured to selectively transfer heat from a working fluid to one or more condenser conditioning fluids of a set of condenser conditioning fluids, wherein the set of condenser conditioning fluids comprises:
 a first condenser conditioning fluid operatively within a first condenser tube bundle of the a least two condenser tube bundles, wherein the first condenser tube bundle is fluidly coupled to a cooling tower via a first fluid circuit; and 
 a second condenser conditioning fluid operatively within a second condenser tube bundle of the a least two condenser tube bundles, wherein the second condenser tube bundle is fluidly coupled to an air distribution system via a second fluid circuit; and 
 a controller configured to select the one or more condenser conditioning fluids from the set of condenser conditioning fluids based on a conditioning load of the air distribution system. 
   
     
     
         15 . The vapor compression system of  claim 14 , wherein the set of condenser conditioning fluids comprises a third condenser conditioning fluid operatively within a third condenser tube bundle of the at least two condenser tube bundles. 
     
     
         16 . The vapor compression system of  claim 15 , wherein the third condenser tube bundle is fluidly coupled to the cooling tower or a second cooling tower via a third fluid circuit. 
     
     
         17 . The vapor compression system of  claim 16 , wherein the first fluid circuit is fluidly coupled to the first condenser tube bundle via a first fluid box, and wherein the second fluid circuit is fluidly coupled to the second condenser tube bundle via a second fluid box physically separate from the first fluid box. 
     
     
         18 . A multi-bundle condenser comprising:
 a shell; and   at least two condenser tube bundles disposed within the shell and configured to independently transfer heat from a working fluid of a vapor compression circuit to one or more condenser conditioning fluids of a set of condenser conditioning fluids, wherein the set of condenser conditioning fluids comprises:
 a first condenser conditioning fluid operatively within a first condenser tube bundle of the a least two condenser tube bundles, wherein the first condenser tube bundle is fluidly coupled to a cooling tower via a first fluid circuit; and 
 a second condenser conditioning fluid operatively within a second condenser tube bundle of the a least two condenser tube bundles, wherein the second condenser tube bundle is fluidly coupled to an air distribution system cooling tower via a second fluid circuit. 
   
     
     
         19 . The multi-bundle condenser of  claim 18 , wherein the set of condenser conditioning fluids comprises a third condenser conditioning fluid operatively within a third condenser tube bundle of the at least two condenser tube bundles, and wherein the third condenser tube bundle is fluidly coupled to the cooling tower or a second cooling tower via a second third fluid circuit. 
     
     
         20 . The multi-bundle condenser of  claim 19 , wherein the third condenser tube bundle comprises fewer tubes, smaller tubes, or both relative to the first condenser tube bundle.