Appeal No. 1999-2643
Application 08/512,395
contact with the heat exchange tubes. According to
Katterjohn, this particular arrangement of elements promotes
maximum heat transfer efficiency (see column 5, line 55,
through column 6, line 63).
Magari discloses a prior art heat exchanger (see Figure
14) used in an acrylic acid reactor. As explained by Magari,
a plurality of reaction tubes (heat transfer tubes)
1 packed with a catalyst and disposed in parallel to
one another are fixed by upper and lower header
plates 2. A heat medium serving as shell side fluid
is introduced into a reactor shell 11 through an
inlet nozzle 3 at the lower portion of the reactor
shell 11, and after reaction heat has been
recovered, the heat medium is discharged through an
outlet nozzle 4 at the upper portion of the reactor
shell 11. At that time, in order to improve the
heat transfer performance of the heat medium, a
plurality of baffle plates 5 are disposed within the
reactor shell 11. The arrangement is such that raw
material gas formed by mixing heated fluid propylene
with air may flow into the reaction tubes 1 from the
above through a nozzle 6, and after acrylic acid has
been produced in the tubes 1 it is discharged
through a nozzle 7 [column 1, lines 32 through 49].
In one embodiment (see Figure 16), the prior art baffle plates
take the form of alternating annular and circular plates 5b,
5b’, which would appear to promote fluid flow radially
5
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