Tubular heat exchanger and process for its manufacture

Claim 1

A tubular heat exchanger comprising a plurality of heat exchange tubes placed in a stacked, spaced-apart relationship and disposed substantially parallel to each other in the vertical and horizontal direction, each of the opposing end portions of said plurality of tubes being adheringly embedded in a wall of a hardened, elastic material, disposed transverse to the longitudinal direction of said tubes, said wall at both end portions of said tubes sealably separating an inner zone defined by the space around said tubes from the end zones which communicate with the space within said tubes, metal profile bars sealably adhering to the wall of the elastic material at the uppermost and lowermost sides of said stack and at both opposing end portions of said tubes, said plurality of stacked tubes being disposed on a base plate, said base plate containing a plurality of spacer elements which extend substantially vertically from said base plate for providing horizontal separation between adjacent rows of heat exchanger tubes and additional spacer elements disposed transverse to the longitudinal direction of the heat exchanger tubes for providing vertical separation between adjacent rows of heat exchanger tubes, said tubular heat exchanger being adapted to handle a first medium through the tubes themselves via said end zones and a second medium which flows around said tubes, transverse to said tubes through said inner zone.