Patent ID: 7004238

Claim:
In a thermal energy transfer system comprising a heat transfer member having separate first and second surfaces each subjected to separate first and second temperatures, at least one of the first and second surfaces also being configured to be subjected to a fluid so that a liquid phase of the fluid is present on the at least one of said first and second surfaces, the improvement wherein: said first surface comprising multiple and separate first surface alterations extending coextensively with an axial length of said heat transfer member and being spirally wound in plural groups, a first group being spirally wound in a first longitudinal direction along a segment of length of said heat transfer member, a mutually adjacent second group being oriented a longitudinal distance from said first group and being spirally wound in a second direction along a further segment of length of said heat transfer member opposite said first direction; a mutually adjacent third group being oriented a longitudinal distance from said second group and being spirally wound in said first direction along yet a further segment of length of said heat transfer member; separate multiple electrical conductors each being received on a respective one of said separate first surface alterations; an electric multi-phase alternating power source having multiple terminals and producing a number of phases corresponding to a number of said multiple terminals, each of said multiple electrical conductors being connected to a different one of said multiple terminals to cause, when energized by said power source, an electric traveling wave moving in a longitudinal direction of said heat transfer member to induce a pumping of the liquid phase in the longitudinal direction to thereby enhance the thermal energy transfer characteristics of said thermal energy transfer system; whereby each group will produce an electric traveling wave moving in a direction opposite to the direction of an electric traveling wave of a mutually adjacent group so as to induce pumping of said thin liquid layer in each group at least one of away from each other and toward each other.