Paired oil cooler and aftercooler fluid flow arrangement

Abstract

An air compressor system having a pair of heat exchangers which in one form can be an oil cooler and an aftercooler. The pair of heat exchangers can be a bar and plate heat exchanger type and which are aided in the heat transfer process by a fan the provides a source of cooling air. In one form the pair of heat exchangers can include internal passages that, when viewed relative to each other between each of the pair of heat exchangers, are arranged in a cross flow arrangement. A source of cooling fluid may traverse through respective faces of the heat exchangers while passages internal to the heat exchangers carry the respective fluid (e.g. oil or compressed air). Inlets and outlets of the heat exchangers can be arranged on opposite corners of each other.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus comprising:
 a pair of compressor system heat exchangers each having a header in fluid communication with internal passages structured for the bulk conveyance of a hot fluid between an inlet and outlet of the respective heat exchangers, each of the pair of compressor system heat exchangers also having an external exposed portion structured to receive an external flow of cooling fluid, the pair of compressor system heat exchangers placed adjacent to one another such that a second heat exchanger of the pair of heat exchangers is arranged downstream of a first heat exchanger relative to a flow of the cooling fluid to receive an elevated temperature of cooling fluid as a result of a heat exchange process from the first heat exchanger, wherein the internal passages of the first heat exchanger are oriented in a first direction and the internal passages of the second heat exchanger are oriented in a second direction transverse to the first direction to provide a cross flow pattern.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the first heat exchanger includes a substantially rectilinear external form wherein the internal passages are arranged in a plane within the rectilinear external form of the first heat exchanger. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the plane is substantially aligned with a bulk fluid direction of the cooling fluid. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the internal passages of the first heat exchanger and the internal passages of the second heat exchanger are fluidically isolated from one another. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the pair of heat exchangers are part of a compressor system having a compressor, and wherein the first heat exchanger is structured as an aftercooler for the compressor. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the compressor of the compressor system is an oil flooded compressor, and wherein the second heat exchanger is structured as an oil cooler to cool the oil used in the oil flooded compressor. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the compressor system further includes a cooling fan structured to provide a flow of the cooling fluid used to exchange heat with the pair of heat exchangers. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the heat exchanger is a bar and plate heat exchanger, and wherein the external exposed portion is part of an air passage to convey cooling air from a cooling fan, the air passage arranged transverse to the internal passages of the first heat exchanger. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the inlet of the first heat exchanger is located adjacent to the outlet of the second heat exchanger, and the outlet of the first heat exchanger is located adjacent to the inlet of the second heat exchanger. 
     
     
         10 . An apparatus comprising:
 a first air compressor heat exchanger having a first internal header and a plurality of passages that communicate a first working fluid between an inlet and outlet of the first air compressor heat exchanger and the first internal header, the first air compressor heat exchanger also having an external surface structured to receive a cooling fluid and exchange heat between the cooling fluid and the first working fluid; and   a second air compressor heat exchanger having a second internal header and a plurality of passages that communicate a second working fluid different in composition from the first working fluid between an inlet and outlet of the second air compressor heat exchanger and the second internal header, the second air compressor heat exchanger also having an external surface structured to receive the cooling fluid and exchange heat between the cooling fluid and the first working fluid after the first working fluid has exchanged heat with the first air compressor heat exchanger;   wherein the internal passages of the first heat exchanger are arranged transverse to and fluidically isolated from the internal passages of the second heat exchanger such that fluid is not shared between the internal passages of the first and second heat exchangers.   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the first air compressor heat exchanger and the second air compressor heat exchanger are aligned such that the projected frontal area of each of the first and second air compressor heat exchangers substantially overlap. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the plurality of passages of the first heat exchanger are in a plane which is parallel to a plane which includes cooling fluid passages. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the plurality of passages of the first air compressor heat exchanger are oriented perpendicular to the plurality of passages of the second air compressor heat exchanger. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the first air compressor heat exchanger includes the first internal header disposed on one end of the first air compressor heat exchanger, wherein the first air compressor heat exchanger includes a second internal header disposed on another end such that the plurality of passages of the first air compressor heat exchanger extend from the first internal header to the second internal header, the bulk conveyance of the cooling fluid oriented laterally between the first internal header and the second internal header. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the inlet of the first air compressor heat exchanger is located on a common side as the outlet of the second air compressor heat exchanger, and wherein the outlet of the first air compressor heat exchanger is located on a common side as the inlet of the second air compressor heat exchanger. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the first heat exchanger is rectilinear in shape, and wherein the inlet and outlet of the first heat exchanger are catercorner to each other. 
     
     
         17 . A method comprising:
 operating an air compressor system which includes an oil flooded compressor and heat exchanger system;   driving a fan to produce a stream of cooling fluid;   routing the fluid to a stacked heat exchanger that includes an aftercooler for compressed air and an oil cooler placed side by side, the cooling fluid driven by the fan used to exchange heat with the aftercooler and the oil cooler;   flowing compressed air through the aftercooler via a number of air passages that extend along a first direction; and   conveying hot oil through the oil cooler via a number of oil passages that extend along a second direction transverse to the first direction.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the cooling fluid flows along a direction perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the oil passages are arranged in stacked passage groupings, each group of passages aligned in a plane. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein an inlet of the aftercooler is arranged on a common corner heat exchanger as an outlet of the oil cooler, and wherein the outlet of the aftercooler and inlet of the oil cooler is arranged catercorner to the common corner.