Scientists using 3 d printing to develop the next generation of more efficient heat exchanger

Heat exchanger plays an important role in the modern world, almost all the heating or cooling equipment need to use it. The so-called heat exchanger, just as its name implies, is to heat from one area to another area. Globally, heat exchange is a industry billions of dollars, it involved in areas ranging from consumer products, automobile to the industries of aerospace engineering, range is wide. In other words, the improvement of the heat exchanger performance is to improve the performance of the millions of products. Reported that 3 d printing to researchers at the university of Maryland offers several advantages, to help them again and again the prototype their innovative design to achieve better performance of heat exchanger. 1, modern old technology for decades, manufacturers have been using is a known as pipe heat exchanger ( 管- fin） Heat exchangers - — So far no major changes. Although the design of new type, high performance exists, many companies are also trying to commercialise its, but they are often too complicated, it is difficult to use traditional production process is very economical. But for 3 d printing technology, the manufacture of complex design and simple design basically no difference. 3 d Systems, the company's direct metal printing technology enables researchers to use unconventional, the shape of the variable to improve the efficiency of heat exchanger. In addition, the researchers at the university of Maryland, also can use 3 d printing to speed up their design process. In the past, a unique high performance design prototype manufacturing process, often need to take a few months, through 3 d printing, this process has been reduced to a few weeks. This will enable researchers to earlier more frequently in the process of project to test the new design. 2, improve performance, reduce waste for 3 d printing, a team of scientists at the university of Maryland for the optimization design was carried out on the development of heat exchanger, so that you can make it as a single whole one-time print it out. As a result, the prototype compression or leakage protection ability, and improve the performance and reliability of the product, and ultimately for your family to bring more effective heating or cooling systems. Because of the heat exchanger is one-piece printed with reliable material, so the material waste is very little, it's for manufacturers to save money, and environmentally friendly. Now a team of scientists at the university of Maryland, has developed a 1 kw prototype small air condensing heat exchanger, and in the near future will also create a 10 kw prototype prototype. The two prototype will be in a 3 tons of heat pump for testing and display. The team predicts that the new type heat exchanger is expected to be in five years to become commercially available products.