Dry element question

Hi all,
I posted this elsewhere and thought it would be better here, so it might not hijack another thread.

I have been reading for days about going electric and am seriously considering a major build. My question is are all of these elements meant to be submersed in liquid or are there elements that you can use dry? The reason I ask is I think I have a different way of using an element (dry) than anything I have seen so far, and what comes to mind is the old electric stove top or oven elements. They seem to work fine dry for hours on end, could this be done with the hot water style or would they just burn themselves up, or do they make a hot water style that can be used dry? Someone posted the link below but it does not say if this element can be used dry? I have attached a chicken scratch drawing of what I am thinking of trying in hopes it helps out. If this is a complete noob question I apologize as going electric is completely new to me, been a gas man for the last 20 years!
Thanks in advance...

http://www.brew-magic.com/bm_part_element.html

I don't exactly understand why you're trying to do it that way, but the heat transfer through air would be terrible. Why do you not want the element in the liquid? That is one of the major benefits of electric heating as it allows for very good energy transfer efficiency.

They sell pipe immersion heaters where the element is encased inside a tube. Usually used for heating things that are harder to heat than water or wort, like sugar, etc.

Do an ebay search for "Cartridge Heater". You may be able to use one or several of those to do this.