Porous, binderless ceramic surface modification materials are described, and applications of use thereof. The ceramic surface material is in the form of an interconnected network of porous ceramic material on a substrate. The ceramic material may include a metal oxide, a metal hydroxide, and/or hydrates thereof, or a metal carbonate or metal phosphate, on a substrate surface. The substrate may be in the form of a metal or polymer particulate, powder, extrudate, or flakes.

The present disclosure provides a laminate having low air permeability and excellent moisture permeability, a partition member for total heat exchange element composed of the laminate, a total heat exchange element provided with a plurality of the partition members for total heat exchange element, and a ventilation device provided with the total heat exchange element. The laminate of the present disclosure is provided with a porous substrate and a moisture-permeable membrane disposed on one side of the porous substrate, the moisture-permeable membrane being provided with a porous substrate and a moisture-permeable membrane disposed on at least one side of the porous substrate, and the moisture-permeable membrane being formed of a thermoplastic copolymer having a side chain containing a hydrophilic group which is a functional group.

A thermal ground plane (TGP) is disclosed. A TGP may include a first planar substrate member comprising copper and a second planar substrate member comprising a metal, wherein the first planar substrate member and the second planar substrate member enclose a working fluid. The TGP may include a first plurality of pillars disposed on an interior surface of the first planar substrate and a mesh layer disposed on the top of the first plurality of pillars, wherein the mesh layer comprises at least one of copper, polymer encapsulated with copper, or stainless steel encapsulated with copper. The TGP may also include a second plurality of pillars disposed on an interior surface of the second planar substrate member within an area defined by the perimeter of the second planar substrate member and the second plurality of pillars extend from the second planar substrate member to the mesh layer.

A heat exchanger includes: a water-repellent coating film on part of a surface of the heat exchanger. The surface on which the water-repellent coating film is disposed includes a surface structure including protrusions. D/L<0.36, D/L>0.4×(L/H), D<200, L−D<1000, H>700, 0>1.28×D×10.sup.−2+2.77 ×(L−D)×10.sup.−3−1.1×D.sup.2×10.sup.−5−5.3×(L−D).sup.2×10.sup.−7−9.8×D×(L−D)×10.sup.−6−2.0, and 90°<θ<120°, where L is an average pitch of the protrusions in nm, D is an average diameter of the protrusions in nm, H is an average height of the protrusions in nm, and θ is a contact angle of water on a smooth plane of the water-repellent coating film.

An outer finned tube includes a tube body, an outer wall of the tube body is provided with outer fins spirally arranged in an extension direction of the tube body; grid fins are arranged between two adjacent spiral parts of the outer fins correspondingly; two ends of each grid fin are connected to the two adjacent spiral parts of the corresponding outer fin respectively; a gap is kept between each grid fin and the outer wall of the tube body; and the plurality of grid fins are spaced in the extension direction of the tube body. An enhancing cavity is formed in an area defined by the outer wall of the tube body, inner walls of the grid fins and the outer fins in an encircling way, which can form a larger degree of superheat, provides a nucleation point for a boiling/condensation process and improves a heat exchange performance.

A total heat exchange element includes partitions disposed in a state of being opposed to each other, and a spacer portion keeping a space between the partitions and forming a passage between the partitions. The spacer portion has a laminate structure in which nonwoven fabric base layers including a nonwoven fabric base material are laminated on both sides of a paper layer. A first nonwoven fabric base layer that is the nonwoven fabric base layer of the spacer portion laminated on one side of the paper layer is joined to the partition opposed to the first nonwoven fabric base layer, and a second nonwoven fabric base layer that is the nonwoven fabric base layer of the spacer portion laminated on another side thereof is joined to the partition opposed to the second nonwoven fabric base layer. The element has the above-mentioned configuration and so can improve the humidity exchange efficiency.

A method of operating a heat exchanger is disclosed in which an electric field is applied to a hydrophobic surface having condensed water droplets thereon to reduce a contact angle between the individual droplet surfaces and the hydrophobic surface, and to increase droplet surface energy to a second surface energy level. The electric field is removed to increase the contact angle between the individual droplet surfaces and the hydrophobic surface, and to reduce droplet surface energy to a third surface energy level. The third surface energy level is greater than the first surface energy level and greater than a surface energy level for a free droplet. A portion of the droplet surface energy is converted to kinetic energy to detach droplets from the hydrophobic surface. The detached droplets are removed from the heat rejection side fluid flow path.

A method for fabricating a super-hydrophobic surface having excellent surface strength and an evaporator having the super-hydrophobic surface fabricated by the method are provided. The method includes preparing a metal base material, anodizing the metal base material to form a ceramic layer having a complex structure of a microstructure and nano-fiber structures on a surface of the metal base material, and applying a hydrophobic polymer material on the complex structure to form a polymer layer having the same surface shape as the complex structure.

Disclosed herein is a self-cleaning evaporation type humidification apparatus. The self-cleaning humidification apparatus is a floating drop evaporation type humidification apparatus of a new concept using a super hydrophobic surface, which provides safe humidification and does not require maintenance and repair, such as cleaning, by naturally or forcedly evaporating floating drops through control of the floating drops in the super hydrophobic surface based on the self-cleaning function, virus reproduction inhibition function, and water-repellant function of the super hydrophobic surface.

The present disclosure relates to an indirect evaporative cooling apparatus and a cooling system including the same, and more particularly, to an indirect evaporative cooling apparatus including a plurality of evaporation modules each including a first module and a second module, and a cooling system including the same. According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide an indirect evaporative cooling device that maximizes cooling efficiency and space efficiency, and a cooling system including the same.