| Common to all air cooled heat exchangers is the tube, through which the process fluid flows.To compensate for the poor heat transfer properties of air, which flows across the outside of the tube, and to reduce the overall dimensions of the heat exchanger, external fins are added to the outside of the tube. A wide variety of finned tube types are available for use in air cooled exchangers. These vary in geometry, materials, and methods of construction, which affect both air side thermal performance and air side pressure drop. The operating environment may influence the choice of materials used and the shape of the fin. Aluminum is very often satisfactory as a fin material, although copper, steel and stainless-steel fins are also used. The fin shape may be of edge-type, L-foot type or double L-foot design. The edge type is used for the grooved fin tube, and in cases, where the base tube is not subject to corrosion. |
