Wind tunnel and heat exchanger therefor
First Claim
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1. A wind tunnel comprising:
- a flow generating member;
a test section;
a flow path from said flow generating member to said test section; and
at least one plate-fin heat exchanger unit positioned in said flow path and having;
an air inflow end, an air outflow end, a peripheral edge, a plurality of air flow sections each having a plurality of first heat transfer fins generally aligned in said first direction and each defining a plurality of air flow passageways generally parallel to said first direction wherein air enters said inflow end, flows through said air passageways in a first direction and exits from said outflow end, and first and second coolant flow sections positioned adjacent to and on opposite sides of said plurality of air flow sections, each of said first and second coolant flow sections including a first section having a plurality of fins defining a plurality of first coolant passageways for directing coolant through said first coolant passageways in a first coolant passageway direction perpendicular to said first direction, a second section having a plurality of fins defining a plurality of second coolant passageways for directing coolant through said second coolant passageways in a second coolant passageway direction parallel to said first direction and perpendicular to said first coolant passageway direction and a third section having a plurality of fins defining a plurality of third coolant passageways for directing coolant through said third coolant passageways in a third coolant passageway direction perpendicular to said first direction and parallel to said first coolant passageway direction.
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Abstract
A wind tunnel and a heat exchanger for use in the wind tunnel. The heat exchanger is a plate-fin type heat exchanger having at least one heat exchanger unit with an inflow end and an outflow end, and air flow section and a coolant flow section. The air flow section includes fins generally aligned with the air flow through the exchanger and the coolant flow section includes fins defining a coolant passageway.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A wind tunnel comprising:
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a flow generating member;
a test section;
a flow path from said flow generating member to said test section; and
at least one plate-fin heat exchanger unit positioned in said flow path and having;
an air inflow end, an air outflow end, a peripheral edge, a plurality of air flow sections each having a plurality of first heat transfer fins generally aligned in said first direction and each defining a plurality of air flow passageways generally parallel to said first direction wherein air enters said inflow end, flows through said air passageways in a first direction and exits from said outflow end, and first and second coolant flow sections positioned adjacent to and on opposite sides of said plurality of air flow sections, each of said first and second coolant flow sections including a first section having a plurality of fins defining a plurality of first coolant passageways for directing coolant through said first coolant passageways in a first coolant passageway direction perpendicular to said first direction, a second section having a plurality of fins defining a plurality of second coolant passageways for directing coolant through said second coolant passageways in a second coolant passageway direction parallel to said first direction and perpendicular to said first coolant passageway direction and a third section having a plurality of fins defining a plurality of third coolant passageways for directing coolant through said third coolant passageways in a third coolant passageway direction perpendicular to said first direction and parallel to said first coolant passageway direction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A wind tunnel comprising:
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a flow generating member generating a flow path;
a test section in said flow path; and
a plate-fin heat exchanger in said flow path comprised of a plurality of plate-fin heat exchanger units in which each of said heat exchange units includes;
a plurality of heat exchanger plates, said plates being generally planar, being adjacent to and spaced from one another and being aligned generally parallel to said flow path and to one another;
a first pair of said plates defining a first coolant section and a second pair of said plates defining a second coolant section wherein each of said coolant flow sections includes a manifold end having a coolant inlet and a coolant outlet and an opposite closed end;
a plurality of fins extending between each of said first pair of plates and said second pair of plates to define a plurality of first coolant passageways extending in a direction perpendicular to said flow path, a plurality of fins extending between each of said first pair of plates and said second pair of plates to define a plurality of second coolant passageways extending in a direction parallel to said flow path and perpendicular to said first coolant passageways, and a plurality of fins extending between each of said first pair of plates and said second pair of plates to define a plurality of third coolant passageways extending in a direction perpendicular to said flow path and parallel to said first coolant passageways;
at least one of said plurality of plates positioned between said first pair of plates and said second pair of plates;
a plurality of air flow sections, at least one of said air flow sections defined by one of said first pair of said plates and one of said at least one plate and the other defined by at least one of said second pair of plates and said at least one of said plates;
each of said air flow sections including a plurality of fins extending between its respective plates and in a direction generally parallel to said flow path. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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Specification