A heat exchanger for a heating, ventilating and air conditioning system
comprises a plurality of heat exchange tubes extending between a pair of
spaced header tanks and arranged in groups of tubes with varying number
of tubes in each group to cause a refrigerant to flow in multiple passes
in the interior of the tubes across another fluid flowing on the exterior
of the tubes. The heat exchange tubes comprise a plurality of flow
passages having at least one corner formed by a pair of straight or
arcuate sides with an included angle of less than or equal to ninety
degrees, more preferably less than or equal to thirty degrees, to promote
intense pool boiling within the flow passages. In addition to at least
one corner region, the flow passage has a passage-specific optimal
hydraulic diameter determined by the relationship between the optimal
hydraulic diameter of the passage and the optimal hydraulic diameter of a
baseline circular passage.