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Article: And now -- an injection-molded heat exchanger: sure, plastics are thermal insulators, but additive packages allow them to conduct heat instead. (Thermally Conductive Thermoplastic).
- Article from:
- Global Design News
- Article date:
- November 1, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Reed Business Information. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The notion of an all-plastic heat exchanger may seem a bit contradictory. After all, plastics insulate while heat exchangers need just the opposite--a material that conducts heat. But the wrong thermal properties couldn't stop Alma Coats. In her job as a polymer chemist for Peregrine Industries, a manufacturer of heat pumps for swimming pools, she recently helped develop a new type of heat exchanger made entirely from a liquid crystal polymer (LCP) modified to promote thermal conductivity.
Lighter and more corrosion-resistant than the brazed copper and aluminum models currently used by Peregrine in its pump systems, this prototype LCP heat exchanger completely ...