Phelan,
Your understanding of heat exchanger principles is very sound. You may have your background in areospace, but you have a good grasp of heat transfer fundamentals.
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Originally Posted by phelan
I assume the 'B' part of the tube, is that done for structural support purposes, to give added safety to a large flat surface. I might be wrong on that, but I would hesitate to have a large flat surface without some sort of support.
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The "B-tube" design was used for both strength and function.
By breaking up the one larger tube into a "B-tube" (and thus 2 flow paths), the negative effect of the laminar flow is reduced. The total volume of the hot middle section of liquid is larger in a single layer tube and is reduced in the "B-tube" configuration.
Quote:
Originally Posted by phelan
In my experience, it's not altogether uncommon to see some sort of turbulating element in heat exchangers to increase the heat transfer capabilities of the unit.
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You are correct that some sort of turbulator can increase the efficiency further. The industry used to use this technique many years ago, generally in larger size rounded tubes. With the current improved design of thin wall flat tubes the need for turbulated tubes has been eliminated for various reasons such as clogging problems.
I hope I was able to sufficiently answer your question.