6 replies to this topic

I have got the temperature of water inlet 80 oC and outlet 30oC, air inlet 15oC and outlet 30oC.
I have got the flow rate, velocity for water and air.
How can i design a air cooled heat exchanger?
How can i start?
Finding heat transfer coefficient, estimate wall thickness and what else do i have to consider?

Please help me Thankyou
Raymond

[Telma]

Hello, I'm facing the same difficulty, design of an air cooled heat exchanger. And I'm not finding information about how to design it. It's for a college work. I hope you can help, any kind of information would be fine!
my email is eq00093@fe.up.pt

Thank You,
Telma Rocha

[Radionise]

Hi guys, before that, you'd need to tell us which type of the air-cooled heat exchanger are you going to design; fin/plate extended surface? spike? etc...

Normally air-cooled heat exchangers have extended surface like fin or plate to improve heat transfer characteristics. Reason?
Air is a bloody poor heat conductor.

If you could tell us the sort of HEX , then we can take it from there.

[jetul]

Well,...

You can have some extra parameters for that and if you r stuck some wheere use Wolverine data book have suggested the best for air cooled heat exchanger, and meanwhile u can fine recent published artical in Chemical engineering journal, if u want than i can give the reference, right now i do not have the published year....

hope this will do.......................
Bye

[Art Montemayor]

All:

To take advantage of an excellent source of engineering information and tool(s) on the basics of designing Air-Cooled Heat Exchangers, go to:

http://www.hudsonpro...infan/tech.html

Be sure to download the design software and the technical literature (Adobe files) that Hudson offers. Be advised that you are dealing with a lot of information and the files could be close to 20 MB - a lot of information and tools, but well worth it. You won't find this type of liberal source in a lot of places.


Telma:
Have you gotten all you need to get you started?

Radionise:
Were you successful in gaining Eng-Tips attention and entry?

Buen Apetito,

Art M.

[Radionise]

Say if you have decided on a fin type air-cooled HEX,

I believe in your design work , the most important thing that you need to calculate out is your fin diameter. Although the idea of the fin is to create more area for heat transfer, adopting a fin size with a diameter too large will result in less heat being dissipated instead. In other words - fin efficiency.

Why wouldn't it be able to release more heat if I simply design an air-cooled HEX with as much surface area as I can?
Well, the answer is short: Conduction is a resistance to heat transfer. So if you have too big a diameter of fin, the temperature gradient over the fin will be big, reducing the efficiency.

You may get info on the fin efficiency curve for your design work from heat transfer handbooks.

[Radionise]

Art Montemayor,

I sent you a PM just now. Cheers!