Faculty of Engineering

Alexandria University
Mechanical Engineering Department
Heat Transfer Branch

Lecture (5)
Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Reference, “Process Heat Transfer, Principles and Applications,
Elsevier (2007)” by Robert W. Serth.

Dr. Mohamed A. Qassem

 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Introduction:
• Air-cooled heat exchangers are used in chemical and petroleum
processing.

• These units are used to cool and/or condense process streams with
ambient air.

• Cooling with air is often economically advantageous in areas where

no water available.

• Although the capital cost of an air-cooled exchanger is generally

higher, the operating cost is usually significantly lower compared
with a water-cooled exchanger.

• Air cooling also eliminates the fouling and corrosion problems

associated with cooling water, and there is no possibility of leakage
and mixing of water with the process fluid. Thus, maintenance costs
are generally lower for air-cooled exchangers.
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers

Equipment Description:
• In an air-cooled heat exchanger, the hot process fluid flows through a
bank of finned tubes, and ambient air is blown across the tubes by
one or more axial-flow fans.

• For applications involving only sensible heat transfer, the tubes are
oriented horizontally as shown in Figures 1 & 2.

• In units employing horizontal tubes, the fan may be located either

below (forced draft) or above (induced draft) the tube bank. In either
case, the air flows upward across the tubes.

• For condensers, an A-frame configuration (Figure 3) is often used,

with the condensing vapor flowing downward through the tubes.
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers

Equipment Description:

Figure 1 Configuration of a forced-draft air-cooler

 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers

Equipment Description:

Figure 2 Configuration of a induced-draft air-cooler

 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers

Equipment Description:

Figure 3 Configuration of an A-frame air-cooled condenser

 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers

Equipment Description:
• The fan drive assembly in an induced-draft unit may be mounted
below the tube bundle or it may be mounted above the fan. With the
former arrangement, the drive assembly is easily accessible for
inspection and maintenance, and it is not exposed to the heated air
leaving the unit. However, the drive shaft passes through the tube
bundle, requiting omission of some tubes, and the relatively long
shaft is more susceptible to vibration problems.

• Forced-draft configuration provides the simplest and most convenient

fan arrangement. With all blower components located below the tube
bundle, they are easily accessible for maintenance and are not
exposed to the heated air leaving the unit. However, these exchangers
are susceptible to hot air recirculation due to the low velocity of the
air leaving the unit.
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers

Equipment Description:
• Induced-draft operation gives more uniform air flow over the tube
bundle and the exit air velocity is several times higher than in forced-
draft operation, thereby reducing the potential for hot air to be
recirculate back to the intake of the unit or other nearby units.

• For a given mass flow rate of air, induced-draft operation consumes

greater power consumption than forced-draft operation due to the
higher volumetric flow rate of the heated air that is handled by the
induced-draft fan. In practice, however, this potential disadvantage
tends to be offset by the more uniform flow distribution and lower
potential for hot gas recirculation obtained with induced-draft
operation. As a result, induced-draft units typically do not require
significantly more power than forced-draft units and in some cases
may actually require less power.
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers

High-fin tubing:
• Finned tubes are always used in air-cooled exchangers to compensate
for the low air-side heat-transfer coefficient. Radial (annular) fins
arranged in a helical pattern along the tube are used. The fin height is
significantly larger than that of the low-fin tubes used in shell-and-
tube exchangers.

• Various types of high-fin tubing

are available, including:
- Integrally finned
- Bimetallic
- Tension-wound fin
- Embedded fin
- Brazed fin
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers

Figure 4 High-fin tubing: (a) L-fin, (b) G-fin, (c) Shoulder-grooved fin, and (d) E-fin
(bimetallic). I-fin is similar to G-fin except that the fins are not embedded in the tube wall
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
High-fin tubing:
• Integrally finned (K-fin) tubing is made by extruding the fins from
the tube metal. It is generally made from copper or aluminum alloys
that are relatively soft and easily worked. Since the fins are integral
with the root tube, perfect thermal contact is ensured under any
operating conditions.

• Bimetallic (E-fin) tubes consist of an inner tube, or liner, and an

outer tube, or sleeve. The inner tube may be made from any tubing
material and has the same dimensions as standard heat exchanger
tubing. The outer tube is integrally finned and is usually made of
aluminum alloy. Since the contact between the two tubes is not
perfect, there is a contact resistance at the interface between the tubes.
this type of tubing is not recommended for tube-side temperatures
above 300 ̊C.
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
High-fin tubing:
• Tension-wound finned tubing is widely used due to its relatively low
cost. The fins are formed by winding a strip of the fin material around
the tube under tension. The metal strip may be either straight (edge-
wound or I-fin) or bent in the shape of the letter L (L-footed or L-fin)
as shown in Figure 4. The latter configuration provides more contact
area between the fin strip and tube surface and also helps protect the
tube wall from atmosphere corrosion. This type of tubing is used for
temperatures below 200 ̊C (below 125 ̊C in the case of I-fin).

• Embedded-fin (G-fin) tubing is made by winding a strip of the fin

metal into a helical groove machined in the surface of the tube. This
type of tubing is much more robust than tension-wound tubing and is
widely used for this reason. It is applicable for tube-side temperatures
up to 400 ̊C. Shoulder-grooved-fin tubing is a type of embedded-fin
tubing that combines the characteristics of L- and G-fin tubing.
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
High-fin tubing:
• Brazed-fin tubing is made by first winding a trip of the fin material
around the tube under tension. The fin and tube metal are then
bonded together by brazing to minimize the contact resistance and
allows operation under more severe conditions. Tube-side
temperatures up to 500 ̊C are permissible with copper fins and up to
800 ̊C with stainless steel fins.

• In addition to the fins, corrosion at the base of the fins may cause the
performance of an air-cooled heat exchanger to deteriorate over time.
Tension-wound finned tubes are the most susceptible to corrosion
since moisture can penetrate between the fin material and tube wall
even with overlapping (LL) fins. Embedded-fin tubing is less
susceptible to fin-root corrosion, while bimetallic tubing is very
corrosion resistant.
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
High-fin tubing:

• High-fin tubing is made in a variety of sizes and configurations:

Base tube outer diameters = 19.05-50.8 mm (0.75-2 in)

Fin heights = 6.35-19.05 mm (0.25-0.75 in)
Fin thickness = 0.3-0.5 mm (0.012-0.02 in)
Number of fins = 276-433 per m (7-11 per in)
Surface area ratio = 17-24
Fin tips clearance = 3-9 mm (0.125-0.375 in)
Tube Pitch angle = 30 ̊
No. of tube rows = 3-6
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Tube bundle construction:
• Tube bundles are rectangular in shape and usually 2-4 m wide.
• The tubes are either welded to or rolled into rectangular tube sheets
that are welded to box-type headers.
• Both front and rear headers are equipped with screwed plugs that are
aligned with the tube holes as illustrated in Figure 5. The plugs can be
removed to provide access to the tubes for cleaning and other
maintenance.
• Headers are also available with flanged end plates that can be
removed to provide access to the tube sheets for cleaning and repair.
In addition to being more expensive, this type of header is prone to
leakage because the long rectangular gasket is difficult to seat
properly.
• Box headers become impractical at pressures above about 260 bars
due to the large wall thickness required. For these high-pressure
applications, the tubes are welded directly into a section of pipe that
serves as the header.
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Tube bundle construction:

Figure 5 Typical construction of a tube bundle with plug-type box headers

 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Tube bundle construction:
• For multi-pass operation, the headers are equipped with pass partition
plates.
• The tubes are partitioned so that the process fluid flows from the top
tube row to lower tube rows.
• The downward flow of process fluid in combination with the upward
flow of air gives an overall flow pattern that is a combination of
counter-current and cross flow, and maximizes the mean temperature
difference in the heat exchanger.
• Tube supports and spacers are provided to hold the tubes securely in
place and to dampen tube vibration.
• The bundle is held together by side members that are bolted or
welded to the headers, tube supports, and the framework that supports
the unit.
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Fans and drivers:
• Axial-flow fans with four or six blades and diameters of 2-6 m are
typically employed in air-cooled heat exchangers.
• Plastic fan blades are used for air temperatures up to 80 ̊C; metal
(usually aluminum) blades are required for higher air temperatures.

• Electric motors are most frequently used as fan drivers, but steam
turbines are also used.
• Speed reduction is usually accomplished using V-belts, high torque-
drive (HTD) belts, or reduction gear boxes. Hydraulic variable-speed
drives may also be used.
• Variable speed drives are used to provide process-side temperature
control in air-cooled exchangers. The motor speed is automatically
adjusted to provide the required air flow to maintain the desired outlet
temperature of the process fluid.
• Reducing air flow also reduces power consumption when the ambient
temperature is low.
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Fans and drivers:
• The fans are situated in bay, a bay consists of one or more tube
bundles that served by one or more fans.
• An air-cooled heat exchanger consists of one or more fan bays for an
individual service is called a unit, with multiple bays operating in
parallel. Some typical configurations are illustrated in Figure 6.

Figure 6 Some typical configurations of fan bays in air-cooled heat exchangers

 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Thermal Design of Air Cooled Exchangers:
• The optimum design of the selected air cooler unit must meet the
process requirements with the lowest total cost. The procedures for
sizing an air cooled heat exchanger are carried out as follows:

• Air-Side Heat-Transfer Coefficient

The flow of air over banks of finned tubes has been extensively studied,
the correlation of Briggs and Young has been widely used:

i- Induced draught fan with Nr ≥ 6 rows

k s f 0.2 s f 0.1134
ho = 0.134  ( ) Pr Re m ( ) ( )
0.33 0.681

d f tf

For N r  6 rows multiply by (1+Vmax/Nr2)-0.14

 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Thermal Design of Air Cooled Exchangers:
ii- Forced draught fan with Nr ≥ 6 rows

k Ao −0.311
ho = 0.271  ( ) Pr Re m (
0.33 0.685
)
d Abare

For 2  N r  6 multiply by (Nr/6)-0138

Where,
U m d U Face d 2n f  f t f
Re = Um =  = 1− −
  PT PT

f  f   tf 
Abare = N t (d o L )
Ao
= 1 + 2  + 1 − 
Abare s f   
do   sf 
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Thermal Design of Air Cooled Exchangers:

• Tube-side Heat transfer coefficient

i- For Turbulent flow inside tubes (Re ≥ 10000)

k
hi = 0.0225  ( ) Pr 0.445 Re 0.795 exp[−0.0225(n Pr) 2 ]
d
Vd i
Re =

ii- For laminar flow: (Re ≤ 2000)

 k 
1/ 3
di 
hi = 1.86
d 
 Re Pr L 
 i  
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Thermal Design of Air Cooled Exchangers:

iii- For transition flow (2000 ≤ Re ≤ 10000)

 k 
  
2/3

hi = 0.1 ( )  d 
 Re 2 / 3 − 125 Pr 0.495 exp − 0.0225(n Pr )2 1 + i 
 di   L

• Overall Heat Transfer coefficient, Uo

1
Uo =
1 Ao
+ rf +
 f ho Ai hi

Fin efficiency is calculated graphically using charts for circular fins.

 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Thermal Design of Air Cooled Exchangers:

• Mean Temperature Difference, ΔTm

(Thi − Tco ) − (Tho − Tci )

Tm = F  TCF = F 
Thi − Tco
n( )
Tho − Tci

The LMTD correction factor, F for an air-cooled heat exchanger

depends on the number of tube rows, the number of tube passes, and
whether the tube-side fluid is mixed (in a header) or unmixed (in U-
tubes) between passes.

Charts for a number of industrially significant configurations are given

by Taborek.
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Thermal Design of Air Cooled Exchangers:

• The charts can be grouped into three categories as follows:

1) One tube pass and three (Figure A.1), four (Figure A.2), or more tube rows. With
more than four tube rows, the F-factor is nearly the same as for unmixed-unmixed
cross flow. Hence, the chart for an X-shell exchanger can be used for these cases.

2) Multiple tube passes with one pass per tube row. Charts are given for three rows and
three passes (Figure A.3) and four rows and four passes (Figure A.4). With more than
four passes, the flow pattern approaches true counter flow, and the F-factor should be
close to unity.

3) Multiple tube passes with multiple tube rows per pass. Of the many possible
arrangements of this type, a chart is available only for the case of four tube rows and
two passes with two rows per pass. The tube-side fluid is mixed (in a return header)
between passes as shown in Figure A.5.
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Thermal Design of Air Cooled Exchangers:

Figure A. 1 Mean temperature difference relationships for cross flow: three tube rows
and one tube pass
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Thermal Design of Air Cooled Exchangers:

• Heat Transfer rate

    . 
Q =  mC P  (Thi − Th 0 ) =  m C P  (Tco − Tci )
 h  c

• Total outer area, Ao

Q
Ao =
U o Tm
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Thermal Design of Air Cooled Exchangers:

• Calculation of Exchanger Dimensions

The dimensions of the air-cooled exchanger of the box type are

expressed by:

i- The length of the tube L

ii- The width of the exchanger W = PT * Nc , Nc = W/PT
iii- The depth of the exchanger H = PT * Nr , Nr = H/PT

where,
Nc: number of tubes per row
Nr: number of rows
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Thermal Design of Air Cooled Exchangers:

To calculate the dimensions of the exchanger (L,W,H) we need to apply

three equations, which are:

1-The continuity equation for the air:

.
. 𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑟
𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑟 = 𝜌 𝑊𝐿 𝑉𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑊𝐿 = (a)
𝜌𝑉𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑒

2-The continuity equation for the process fluid

.
𝑁𝑡 𝜋 2 𝑊𝐻 𝜋 𝑑𝑖 2
𝑚ℎ. = 𝜌ℎ 𝑑 𝑉 = 𝜌ℎ ( ) 𝑉𝑡𝑢𝑏𝑒
𝑁𝑡𝑝 4 𝑖 𝑡𝑢𝑏𝑒 𝑁𝑡𝑝 4 𝑃𝑇
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Thermal Design of Air Cooled Exchangers:

 4mhN tp  PT 2
WH =  ( ) (b)
  hVtube  di

Where, Ntp: number of tube passes

3- The heat transfer area:

Ao =  Volume =  (WHL)

Ao
WHL = (c)

 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Thermal Design of Air Cooled Exchangers:

Where;  is the heat exchanger compactness, m2/m3, and defined as:

d o   f 
2 f   t f 
 = 2  1 +  + 1 − 
PT  s f  d o   s f 

Total number of tubes, Nt:

WH
Nt =
PT2

Now the heat exchanger size is evaluated, and the next step is to estimate
the pressure losses.
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Design of Air Cooled Exchangers:

Tube-side Pressure losses:

For flow inside tubes the pressure drop can be calculated from;

 LN tp   tVt 2
Pt =  4 f + 4 N tp 
 di  2

f = (1.58n Re d − 3.28)
−2

Where;
f : Friction factor
Ntp: Number of tube passes
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Design of Air Cooled Exchangers:

Air-Side Pressure Drop:

The pressure drop for flow across a bank of high-finned tubes is given
by the following equation:

2
2 fN r Gair
Pair =
 air
Where:
f : Fanning friction factor
Nr : number of rows
Gair = Vair
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Design of Air Cooled Exchangers:

For the flow of air across tube banks with equilateral triangular pitch, the
friction factor correlation is:

1. Induced draught fan:

−0.412 −1.54 Ao 0.3
f = 16.36 Re b ( PT / d r ) ( )
Abare
2. Forced draught fan:

f = 1.532 Re b−0.25
Where;
Gair d p
Re b =

 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Design of Air Cooled Exchangers:
dh
dp =
( f / 2s f ) 0.4
1 /( PT / d h − 1 
1/ 2 4


 ( A / Abare ) d r 

dh =  o 
 2 f N f + 1
 

In addition to the tube bank, other sources of friction loss on the air side
include the following:
• The support structure and enclosure (including louvers, and screens)
• Fan casings and fan supports
• The plenums
• Screens used as fan guards and the drive assemblies
• Diffusers (if present)

these secondary losses are often between 10% to 25% of bundle

pressure drop
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Design of Air Cooled Exchangers:

Fan and Motor Sizing:

The total pressure in a flowing fluid is defined as the sum of the static pressure
and the dynamic (or velocity) pressure, the latter comprising the kinetic energy
term in Bernoulli's equation.

V 2
Ptotal = Pstatic +
2

The power that must be supplied to the fan motor (the brake power in
unit of W) is given by the following equation:
. 
Wmotor = motor power, W .
(Ptotal ) fan V fan
.
V fan = Volumetric flow rate of air
through fan, m3/s Wmotor =
 motor fan
 fan = Fan efficiency
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Design of Air Cooled Exchangers:

Design Guidelines
Tubing
Tubing selection should be based on the tube-side fluid temperature and the
potential for corrosion of the external tube surface

Air flow distribution

In order to obtain an even distribution of air flow across the tube bundle, the fan
area should be at least 40% of the bundle face area.
for two-fan bays, the ratio of tube length to bundle width should be in the range
of 3-3.5. It is also desirable to have a minimum of four tube rows.

Design air temperature

For induced-draft operation, the outlet air temperature should be limited to about
100 ̊C in order to prevent damage to fan blades. Therefore, forced-draft
operation should be considered if the tube-side fluid temperature is greater than
175 ̊C.
 Air-cooled Heat Exchangers
Design of Air Cooled Exchangers:

Air velocity
The air velocity based on bundle face area is usually between 2-4 m/s. A value
in this range will usually provide a reasonable balance between air-side heat
transfer and pressure drop.

Design Strategy
The basic design procedure for air-cooled heat exchangers is similar to that for
shell-and-tube exchangers.

An important preliminary step in the design process is the selection of the outlet
air temperature. Increasing the outlet air temperature reduces the amount of air
required, which reduces the fan power and, hence, the operating cost.

However, it also reduces the air-side heat-transfer coefficient and the mean
temperature difference in the exchanger, which increases the size of the unit
and, hence, the capital investment. Thus, optimization with respect to outlet air
temperature (or equivalently, air flow rate) is an important aspect of air-cooled
heat-exchanger design.
Thank you