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Induced Draft
Air-cooled heat exchangers are classified as forced draft when the tube section is located
on the discharge side of the fan, or induced draft when the tube section is located on the
suction side of the fan. Forced draft units are more common.
Typically, 25.4 mm (1 in) OD carbon steel tubes are fitted with aluminum fins, 12.7 to
15.9 mm high ( to 5/8 inch), providing outside surface area about 14 to 21 times greater
than the area of the bare tubes. The process stream, flowing inside the tubes, can be
cooled to about 10C to 15C (20F to 30F) above the dry-bulb temperature of the air.
Air flows at a velocity of 3 to 6 m/s (10 to 20 ft/s)/
Table 2-10: Comparison of forced draft and induced draft air-cooled heat exchangers (Ref 8)
Attribute Forced Draft Induced Draft
Distribution of air across section Poor distribution of air over the
section
Better
Effluent air recirculation to intake Greatly increased possibility of
hot air recirculation due to low
discharge velocity and absence of
stack
Lower possibility because fan
discharges air upward, away from
the tubes, at about 2 times the
intake velocity, or about 450
m/min (25 ft/s)
Influence of weather conditions Total exposure of tubes to sun,
rain, and hail
Less effect from sun, rain, and
hail because 60% of face is
covered
Freezing conditions Easily adaptable for warm air
recirculation during freezing
conditions
Warm discharge air not
recirculated
Result of fan failure Low natural draft capability on
fan failure due to small stack
effect
Natural draft stack effect is
greater than forced draft type
Power requirement Slightly lower fan power because
the fan is located in the cold air
stream (air has higher density)
Slightly higher fan power because
the fan is located in the hot air
stream (air has lower density)
Temperature limit discharge air
stream
No limit Limited to about 95C (200F) to
prevent potential damage to fan
blades, bearings, belts, and other
components in the air stream
Temperature limit tubeside
process fluid
Limited by tube components Limited to 175C (350F)
because fan failure could subject
fan blades and bearings to
excessive temperatures
Maintenance Better access to mechanical
components
condensers where the flow area in each pass can be gradually reduced as the liquid
fraction increases progressively
Optimize to obtain uniform pressure drop in each pass
Fan power
consumption
Power varies directly with volumetric air flow rate and pressure drop
Fan horsepower varies to the 2.75 power of the air mass velocity
Optimum air mass velocity is higher when air-side heat transfer coefficient is highly
controlling (e.g., steam condensers and water coolers)
Exchangers are usually designed with a pressure drop between 0.3 in H2O and 0.7 in
H2O