Industrial Heat Exchangers

www.deltathx.com
Air-Cooled Heat Exchangers
Air-cooled heat exchangers are typically used in circumstances where a source of cold clean water is not
available or expensive, where the water may be corrosive in nature or where water is not an option due to
environmental concerns.
Compared to a water cooled exchanger a standard air-cooled heat exchanger is limited in cooling ability
by the ambient dry bulb temperature although specially designed units can improve upon this performance
(see WSAC). An advantage of an air-cooled heat exchanger is that the available air is typically free and
the use of that air only costs the user horsepower and sound.
The term Air-Cooled Exchanger is a broad term and the product can vary significantly in design,
applications and cost. The design pressure and temperature as well as the fluid being cooled typically drive
the cooler design, however, hazardous fluids, fouling consideration, noise tolerance and environmental
factors also are taken into consideration. The following is a list of considerations for the design of an aircooled heat exchanger.
Vertical or horizontal airflow: Usually driven by safety practices or obstructions. Vertical is most common.
Obstructions that could limit either the air supply or discharge need to be considered.
Induced or Forced airflow: Forced airflow (fans blowing air into the tube
bundle) is most common. Induced airflow (fans drawing air through the tube
bundle) is often used in cases where the fans are cycled and there is a
potential for ice to build up on the fan blade causing the fan to be off balance.
Obstructions that could limit either the air supply or discharge need to be
considered.
Available space: Length, width or height restriction can be considered at the thermal sizing stage of design.
Fluid flow and available pressure drop can limit the flexibility of the length and width dimensions. The total
airflow determines the minimum height of the unit. Obstructions that could limit either the air supply or
discharge need to be considered.
Tube side design: Unless specified, the tube diameter selection is based on thermal effectiveness and
cleaning considerations. As with any heat exchanger the tube side material selection is determined by;
corrosion resistance for the given environment, fouling considerations, tube joint type, thermal effectiveness
and economics.
Fin side design: There are a variety of fin types that can be
considered dependant upon the environment and design conditions.
For a description of fin types; click here. The following factors should
be considered when selecting a fin type;
Design temperature
Corrosive properties of the air (coastal environment, industrial
pollutants)
Temperature cycling frequency
Cleaning method and frequency
Type of fouling debris in air
Isolation of cooler (is it subject to frequent work in the vicinity)

Page 1 of 2

Industrial Heat Exchangers

www.deltathx.com
Header design: The header type and design are generally a function of; the design pressure and
temperature, cleaning requirements, access to tubes for repair or plugging, leak concerns, code
requirements and economics. The following are the most common header designs;
Pipe Header economical, no cleaning access to the tubes.
Removable Cover Plate gasketed joint, allows access to tubes and inside of header for cleaning or
tube plugging.
Welded Box typically for high-pressures where no access to tubes is required.
Plug Type Similar to a Welded Box except individual plugs allow access to each tube for cleaning
or plugging.
Recirculation: recirculation occurs when the heated air exiting the air cooled heat exchanger is drawn back
in to the inlet resulting in an elevated cooling air inlet temperature. Proper planning, design and layout can
eliminate the possibility of recirculation, however there are circumstances where impeding walls or
equipment are installed after the air cooled heat exchanger restricting the air flow. There are circumstances
where controlled recirculation is designed into an air cooled heat exchanger in order to better control the
cooling or to prevent freezing the tube-side fluid. Design considerations to avoid recirculation are;
Induced air flow direct air up from tube bundle exit at a high
velocity
Cooler elevation ensure that proper amount of free air area exist
to provide adequate cooling air supply at a low velocity.
Fan coverage the number of fans, fan diameter and distance
from the tube bundle need to be design to ensure that there is
proper air distribution over the tube bundle. Dead spots or pockets
of low airflow provide points where recirculated air can be drawn in.
Multiple banks in circumstances where there are more than one
air-cooled exchanger installed side by side, provisions need to
make to ensure that a consistent supply of fresh is available.
Sound level limitation: in many circumstances the sound level emitted from the fan and drive of the aircooled heat exchanger needs to be controlled to meet industrial safety requirements. The number of fans,
fan diameter, fan speed, blade profile and pitch all effect the noise emitted from the fans and drives. Meeting
strict sound level requirements can significantly increase the cost of an air-cooled heat exchanger. To
minimize the cost impact, the designer must balance between adding surface to the tube bundle, reducing
the fan speed and select fans with lower noise profiles.
Power consumption limitations: To oversimplify and generalize, for common applications, the more air that is
blown over the tube bundle, the lower the price of the tube bundle. However,
moving air requires power input to the fans, so the designer needs to optimize
the tube bundle efficiency with the fan efficiency from the fan performance
curve.
Codes or standards: various codes such as; API 661, ASME, CRN, TEMA, UL
and many others can be invoked on air-cooled exchangers. Although all these
codes have their applications, and some might be required by law, they may
add significant cost to an exchangers and it is sometimes reasonable to ensure
that value is being achieved by specifying particular codes in some
applications.

Page 2 of 2