Abstract: Embodiments of a heat transfer apparatus, and related methods, involve at least one boundary wall defining a first flow path through a neck portion, a first heat source external to and in thermal communication with the boundary wall, and a working fluid (e.g., a first fluid component with a second fluid component entrained therein). The neck portion may be shaped such that at least a portion of the second fluid component impinges upon at least a portion of the boundary wall as the working fluid flows therethrough, whereby heat is transferred from the first heat source to the working fluid through the boundary wall.

Abstract: Embodiments of a heat transfer apparatus, and related methods, involve a first flow path through at least one neck portion defined by at least one boundary wall, a first heat source external to and in thermal communication with the at least one boundary wall, an inflow portion in fluid communication with the first flow path, an outflow portion in fluid communication with the first flow path, and a drive system for driving a first fluid through the first flow path, whereby heat is transferred from the first heat source to the first fluid as it flows through the first flow path.

Abstract: Heat pumps move heat from a source to a higher temperature heat sink. This invention enables spontaneous source-to-sink heat transfer. Spontaneous heat transfer is accomplished by conducting heat from the source through rotating disks to a portion of the generally warmer sink flow that is cooled to a temperature below that of the source by the Bernoulli effect. The nozzled flow required for Bernoulli cooling is provided by the corotating disk pairs. The distance between the opposing surfaces of the disk pair decreases with distance from the rotation axis, forming a nozzle. The heat-sink flow through the nozzle is maintained by centrifugal force caused by the circular motion of the gas near the disk surfaces. Embodiments of the invention differ in the paths followed by the source and sink fluid flows, by the number of disk pairs and by the state (gas or liquid.) of the heat source.

Abstract: Heat pumps move heat from a source to a warmer sink, with Bernoulli heat pumps accomplishing this movement by reducing the temperature in a portion of the generally-warmer heat-sink flow. Heat flows spontaneously from the generally cooler heat-source flow into the locally cold portion of the heat-sink flow, which is the neck of a Venturi. The temperature reduction results from the Bernoulli conversion of random gas-particle motion (temperature and pressure) into directed motion (flow). This invention is a Bernoulli heat pump in which the heat transfer into the Venturi neck exploits unusual thermodynamic transport properties of rare-gases. Rare gases, especially mixtures of them, possess unusually small Prandtl numbers and thereby facilitate the diffusion of random particle motion (heat) relative to the diffusion of directed particle motion (viscosity), viscous friction being responsible for most of the power consumed by a Bernoulli heat pump.