Method and apparatus for reducing the rate of heat transfer

Apparatus for reducing the rate of heat transfer from a constrained heat loss surface to a fluid in contact therewith, comprising:

• a plurality of collectors mounted adjacent to the heat loss surface and formed for intercepting fluid displaced along said surface by forces acting in the direction of said collector in accordance with heat loss from said surface into said fluid, said collectors being disposed in an array extending outwardly from said heat loss surface;
• a plurality of distributors mounted adjacent to said heat loss surface in spaced relation to said array of collectors and formed for discharging fluid for displacement along said surface to said collector, said distributors being disposed in an array extending outwardly from said heat loss surface;
• a plurality of recirculating means formed for removing fluid from individual ones of said collectors and supplying such fluid to corresponding ones of said distributors;
• and
• recirculation rate control means for so controlling the rate at which said recirculating means removes said fluid from said collectors and supplies it to said distributors that the temperature of the recirculating fluid in each of said recirculating means tends to approach a temperature intermediate between the temperature of said heat loss surface and the temperature of said fluid, and determined in accordance with the position in said arrays of the collector and distributor associated with the particular recirculating means, at which intermediate temperature, for at least some temperature differentials between said heat loss surface and said fluid, said rate of heat transfer is less than that which is achieved when said recirculating means is operated at a fixed rate.