| 摘要 |
A flexible conduit 10 for heat transfer applications comprises a flexible tube 11 for conducting a heat transfer fluid, a sheath of material 12 having a thermal conductivity greater than 15 W / m degrees C fixed to the outer surface of the tube and having a means 13 of flexing such that the sheath is at least flexible as the tube. The tube can be made of cross-linked polythene (PEX). The sheath can be spirally wound high-purity aluminium (at least 95 percent) wire, stainless steel, carbon steel, aluminium alloy, copper or graphite. The sheath may be a spiral strip uniformly spaced apart to permit flexing, or may be a series of spaced rings along the length of the tube (fig 1b). The sheath may be bonded to the tube by an adhesive (16, fig 1c) Applications include radiant heating and cooling. For example, underfloor heating (fig 8b), geothermal ponds and solar collectors (figs 9a,b). The conduit may be located in an omega shaped channel (fig 2a), the sheath may be compressed (fig 3b & 4b), may be located in various clips (figs 5a 5c) , and may be laid in a castellated layer (fig 8a) supporting the tube. |
