Abstract: Heat exchangers which have heat exchange structures made from at least one layer of an isotropic polymer and at least one layer of a thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer are particularly useful where light weight is important, such as in automobiles, trucks and aircraft.

Abstract: Heat exchangers which have heat exchange structures made from at least one layer of an isotropic polymer and at least one layer of a thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer are particularly useful where light weight is important, such as in automobiles, trucks and aircraft.

Abstract: A method for making fluid handling structures by arranging and positioning polymeric tubes spaced on a sheet of foil made of metal, with plastic on at least the side facing the tubes, adding another such foil to bond on the other side of the tubes, and heating the resulting assembly, either before or after adding the second layer of foil, to bond it into a structure with spaced apart tubes encapsulated in foil on both sides.

Abstract: Plastic tube fluid handling means provided in the form of one or more polymeric tubes embedded in foil laminate which includes metal and at least one polymer. The preferred polymers are polyolefins and polyamides. The metal provides barrier protection making the structure suitable for use in fuel lines, refrigerator hose, in-floor heating pipe, solar hot water heating systems and the like. The tubes are of a geometry which provides burst strength, so that the metal can be quite thin.

Abstract: A heat exchanger comprising plates of thermoplastic tubes arranged in a way which minimizes the thermal resistance at the outer surface of the tubes preferably to not more than 5 times the resistance to heat transfer at the inside of the tubes. The tubes are arranged in the tube plates in groups that can be flat or slightly wavy, such as undulating in a periodic manner, or offset with open spaces facing groups of tubes in alternating rows. This is done in a way that maximizes turbulence outside the tubes and minimizes vortices which can trap coolant in the interstices between tubes.