A _______ evaporator has refrigerant surrounding the tubes and chilled water is inside the tubes?

A flooded evaporator is characterized by refrigerant surrounding the tubes while chilled water flows inside them. In this system design, there is a significant level of refrigerant in the evaporator, allowing it to absorb heat efficiently from the chilled water. This setup aids in maximizing the heat transfer process, ensuring that the refrigerant can effectively boil and turn into vapor as it absorbs heat.

In flooded systems, the presence of a larger volume of liquid refrigerant ensures that there is consistent and efficient heat exchange with the chilled water, which is crucial for maintaining desired temperature levels in cooling applications. This method is highly effective in large systems where maintaining a balance between the refrigerant and chilled water flow is necessary for optimal operation. Other types of evaporators, such as dry, direct, or DX (direct expansion) systems, utilize different configurations and methods involving the refrigerant in relation to the refrigerant flow, which is why they do not match the description of having refrigerant surrounding the tubes.