| CPC F28F 9/0131 (2013.01) [F28D 1/0476 (2013.01); F28F 2240/00 (2013.01)] | 16 Claims |
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1. A bent-tube heat exchanger; the heat exchanger comprising:
a plurality of tubes folded in a region to form a coil-like configuration having a flattened cross-section along with multiple parallel flow channels;
a plurality of fins that extend between the tubes;
one or more manifolds that form an inlet and outlet for fluid flow within the heat exchanger; each of the plurality of tubes being in fluid communication with the one or more manifolds; and
a plurality of spacer devices, each spacer device comprising one or more fingers protruding from opposite sides of a spine, the fingers exerting a force against the tubes in the folded region;
wherein the bent-tube heat exchanger includes one spacer device for every two tubes;
wherein the plurality of spacer devices provides and maintains a separation between the tubes in the folded region;
wherein each of the plurality of spacer devices is not attached to a mounting fixture nor does each of the plurality of spacer devices span multiple tubes.
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