Air cooled heat exchanger

Abstract

An air cooled heat exchanger ( 1 ) for cooling a medium, comprising a hollow shell ( 2 ) provided with a tube inlet ( 3 ) for receiving a medium (M, M′) to be cooled and a tube outlet ( 4 ) for discharging the medium (M), wherein the shell ( 2 ) houses a tube arrangement ( 5 ) connecting the tube inlet ( 3 ) to the tube outlet ( 4 ); wherein the shell ( 2 ) is filled with a thermally conductive air permeable material ( 6 ) in tight engagement with the tube arrangement ( 5 ); wherein the shell ( 2 ) is provided with an air inlet ( 7 ) for receiving air (A) and an air outlet ( 8 ) for di charging the air (A), and wherein the thermally conductive air permeable material ( 6 ) fluidly connects the air inlet ( 7 ) to the air outlet ( 8 ).

1 . An air cooled heat exchanger for cooling a medium,
 comprising a hollow shell provided with a tube inlet for receiving a medium to be cooled and a tube outlet for discharging the medium, wherein the shell houses a tube arrangement connecting the tube inlet to the tube outlet;
 wherein the shell is filled with a thermally conductive air permeable material in tight engagement with the tube arrangement; 
   wherein the shell is provided with an air inlet for receiving air and an air outlet for discharging the air, and wherein the thermally conductive air permeable material fluidly connects the air inlet to the air outlet,   wherein the shell is a toroidal or cylindrical shell, and wherein the tube arrangement comprises a plurality of tubes forming a wounded tube bundle extending through the toroidal or cylindrical shell around a centre thereof.   
     
     
         2 . The air cooled heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , wherein the thermally conductive air permeable material comprises a compacted arrangement of metal particles. 
     
     
         3 . The air cooled heat exchanger according to  claim 2 , wherein the metal particles are substantially spherical and/or substantially irregularly shaped. 
     
     
         4 . The air cooled heat exchanger according to  claim 2 , wherein the metal particles have a width and/or height of at most 3 mm. 
     
     
         5 . The air cooled heat exchanger according to  claim 2 , wherein the metal particles are copper alloy particles. 
     
     
         6 . The air cooled heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , wherein the thermally conductive air permeable material is a porous solid material. 
     
     
         7 . The air cooled heat exchanger according to  claim 6 , wherein the porous solid material comprises brass. 
     
     
         8 . The air cooled heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , wherein the toroidal or cylindrical shell has an inner diameter of at least 150 mm. 
     
     
         9 . The air cooled heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , further comprising an air blower connected to the air inlet, wherein the air blower is configured for providing air to the air inlet. 
     
     
         10 . The air cooled heat exchanger according to  claim 9 , wherein the shell is provided with one or more further tube inlets for receiving a further medium to be cooled and a corresponding number of one or more further tube outlets for discharging the further medium, wherein the tube arrangement connects each of the one or more further tube inlets to a corresponding further tube outlet of the one or more further tube outlets. 
     
     
         11 . The air cooled heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , wherein the shell is provided with one or more further air inlets for receiving further air and one or more further air outlets for discharging the further air, and wherein the thermally conductive air permeable material fluidly connects the air inlet  7  and the one or more further air inlets to the air outlet  8  and the one or more further air outlets. 
     
     
         12 . The air cooled heat exchanger according to  claim 11 , further comprising one or more further air blowers each of which is connected to a corresponding further air inlet of the one or more further air inlets, and wherein each of the one or more further air blowers is configured for providing the further air to the corresponding further air inlet of the one or more further air inlets. 
     
     
         13 . A method of cooling a gaseous medium using an air cooled heat exchanger comprising the steps of:
 compressing a medium using a compressor;   feeding the compressed medium to a tube inlet of a hollow shell of the air cooled heat exchanger at a first temperature, wherein the hollow shell is filled with a thermally conductive air permeable material;   feeding air to an air inlet of the hollow shell of the air cooled heat exchanger;   discharging the compressed medium through the tube outlet of the hollow shell at a second temperature, wherein a tube arrangement connects the tube inlet and the tube outlet and the second temperature being lower than the first temperature, and   feeding the discharged compressed medium (M) to a further heat exchanger for further cooling to a third temperature, the third temperature being lower than the second temperature.   
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 13 , wherein the medium is gaseous hydrogen and wherein the first temperature lies above 100° C., wherein the second temperature lies between 100° C. and 10° C., and wherein the third temperature lies below 10° C.