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Common Operating Problems for Aircoolers
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Aircooled heat exchangers (ACHE) are commonly used in industry. They offer
About Us definite advantages in certain types of applications. However, due to their use of
atmospheric air, aircooled heat exchangers experience operating problems not
Expertise encountered in other types of heat exchangers. We present here some of the more
common operating problems with aircoolers.
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Reduced Air Flow Rate
Design Tips Air flow is the single most important variable in the operation of aircooled heat
exchangers. In continuous processes, the heat load on an ACHE generally remains
Design Tools fairly constant while the air flow is increased or decreased based on the ambient air
temperature. There are a variety of reasons why aircoolers may experience
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reduced air flow (see below). When an aircooler experiences reduced air flow, its
cooling capacity is reduced and it is during warm summer days when the impact on
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production is most often seen. Below is a list of several causes of reduced air flow
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and possible solutions.
Dirty Tube Bundles
Air flow is directly related to pressure drop. When the pressure drop through the
tube bundle of an aircooler increases, the air flow decreases. The most likely cause
of increased pressure drop is a dirty tube bundle. As the tube bundle gets fouled
over time, the pressure drop gradually increases leading to reduced air flow around
the tubes. Tube bundles can become plugged with leaves, paper or poplar fluff
pollen.
The most efficient way to determine if an aircooler is dirty and experiencing reduced
air flow is to develop an air flow profile using an anemometer. The anemometer is
used to measure the air velocity at multiple locations and the data can be analyzed to
display air volumetric profiles and overall air flow. Figure 1 below shows data
generated using an anemometer. The most useful way to use the data measured
from the anemometer is to compare the current air profile to an existing baseline
profile taken for the same fan when first installed or after cleaning. The two profiles
are then compared to determine if the overall air flow has dropped significantly over
time. Reverse air flow at the tip of the fan blades (shown by negative air flow values
on Figure 1) would be an indication of a fouled aircooled heat exchanger. Reverse
air flow is caused by excessive pressure drop through the tube bundles which leads
the air to flow back around to the suction side of the blade.
Figure 1
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Once the cleaning is complete, a second set of air flow measurements should be
taken for two reasons: 1) the new air flow profile can serve as the clean baseline to
evaluate future performance; 2) if the air profile still shows reverse air flow at the
fan tips or fan hub, it could be an indication that other problems still exist (see
Reverse Flow below).
The required cleaning frequency for an aircooler will depend greatly on its location.
Some ACHE will require frequent tube bundle cleaning while others may never need
to be cleaned. Air flow measurements are a nonintrusive way to determine when
the tube bundle of an aircooler needs to be cleaned. Figure 2 shows air flow profiles
before and after cleaning. As can be seen, cleaning can significantly increase the air
flow through and aircooler and lead to improved performance.
Figure 2
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Reverse Flow
Reverse flow is a common problem in older aircoolers. This misdirected flow causes
two problems for the heat exchanger: 1) the obvious one is a net loss in the amount
of air that travels through the tube bundle to provide cooling; 2) the secondary effect
is that when the air flow returns to the suction side of the fan, it is again sucked up
and creates artificially high inlet air temperatures which ultimately lead to less heat
transfer capacity.
There are two areas where reverse flow is most prevalent. The most common one
is at the tip of the fan blade where it meets the plenum housing. Over time or with
incorrect installation, a gap can be found which will increase the amount of air flow
that loops around the blade and travels back to the fan suction side. This gap should
be approximately 3/8” but not greater than 3/4” as per API660. Reverse flow can
be detected by measuring the fan tip gap but the recommended way to determine if
reverse flow is present is to conduct an air velocity profile (shown above in Figure 2)
and look for a negative air flow number. Again, it is better to look at the air profile
from an exchanger immediately after it was cleaned. If the exchanger is not clean,
the high pressure drop caused by the dirt could lead to reverse flow which could be
eliminated with a simple cleaning. If reverse flow exists after cleaning, the fix is to
install tip a seal on the plenum which will eliminate the gap.
A less common form of reverse flow in ACHE occurs if there is a gap in the area
above the motor or hub. Air will loop back through the center of the fan blade and be
caught in a recycle. This problem will again be obvious if an air flow profile is taken.
The fix to this problem is more complicated and costly but in most cases installing a
hub seal will eliminate this problem.
Blade Pitch
ACHE fans can have fixed or adjustable pitch blades. Adjustable pitch blades are
most often used and the adjustment can be either manual or automatic. The blade
angle on manually adjusted pitch fans can only be changed when the air cooler
shutdown. Automatically adjusted fan blades can be rotated to various angles while
the air cooler is in operation. Newer aircooled heat exchangers are usually provided
with manually adjusted fan blades and use variable speed motors to provide the
required air flow variability. Blades require an initial angle setting to achieve
optimum performance. Quite often, automatically adjusted fan blades get stuck after
some time and the air flow variability from the variable blade pitch angle is not longer
available for process control.
A common problem with aircoolers is improper blade pitch angle. This problem may
result from efforts to decrease energy usage by reducing the fan motor load. If the
blade pitch is set low to reduce the motor load, the air flow may be too low to
provide the desired cooling. On the other hand, if the blade pitch is set too high the
load on the motor may be too high and the motor may stall or burn out. Typically,
the optimum blade pitch angle is in the range of 12 and 17 degrees. It is always best
to refer to the manufactures specifications to set the optimum blade pitch angle.
Generating air flow profiles can help narrow in on the optimum blade pitch angle.
Motor Amps
A related problem that is often encountered is motor not running near their full load
amps (FLA). To optimize peak air flow and heat transfer, fan motors should operate
near their full load amp (FLA) set point. If a motor is running below 70% of FLA,
adjusting either the motor or the blade pitch angle to increase the air flow will lead to
better performance. It is preferred to have the %FLA at or above 85.
Mechanical Integrity
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The overall condition of an ACHE can greatly reduce its ability to transfer heat. The
following list contains common areas where aircoolers can experience minor
problems that are relatively easy to fix.
Louvers
Aircoolers sometimes use louvers to control the outlet temperature by throttling the
air flow. Missing or inoperable louvers are a common problem. Louvers should be
inspected periodically to validate that the actuators are working properly. At full
open, the louvers should be at least 50% to 60% open to allow unimpeded air to
travel through the tube bundle.
Plenum
Another structural component of every air cooled heat exchangers is the plenum
housing. The plenum should be inspected periodically to confirm that no panels are
missing or that no large holes exist. If there are gaps in the plenum, the air will have
a path through which to escape without going through the tube bundle. This reduces
the overall heat transfer capability of the heat exchanger.
Tube Bundles
Although a fairly common practice, it is not recommended to spray water on tube
bundles to provide temporary additional heat transfer capacity during hot summer
days. Operating plants which adopt this practice see a deterioration of the aluminum
tube fins overtime from corrosion and fouling due to chloride formation in the heat
transfer surface. This practice leads to a reduction in performance over time and in
time the tube bundle needs to be replaced. Replacing tube bundles is expensive and
time consuming and should be used as a last resort. If the fins are corroded or have
become detached, there may not be any other option than replacing the tube bundle.
A common problem is bent or crushed tube fins. In this case, a comb type device
can be used to rake through and lift the fins back into a position perpendicular to the
tubes. This will help increase the heat transfer performance of the aircooler.
Control Philosophy
This section covers a few of the potential control problems with aircoolers.
Inlet Process Conditions
Over time or periodically, the inlet process conditions can change. The process flow
rate, composition and inlet temperature may vary from design conditions. Often air
coolers are thought of as underperforming when actually the total required heat duty
has changed over time or suddenly increased.
Control Set Point
Another less common cause for aircooler problems is improper control set points.
Often the use of heat exchangers changes over time but the set points tend to be
“fixed and forgotten”. A quick check of the current heat exchanger design
documentation can provide insight into the expected process conditions and set
points. The plant data should be compared to the design data and any discrepancies
investigated.
NonCondensable Purges
Many aircoolers are used as overhead condensers on distillation columns. Similar to
all other heat exchangers, aircoolers performance can suffer if noncondensable
vapor gets trapped in the tubes reducing the effective heat transfer area. The usual
design technique to eliminate this effect is to provide a noncondensable purge line
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that will provide a way out of the system. If an aircooler is not performing well in
an overhead condensing service, one cause could be that the noncondensable purge
line has been closed or plugged. This line should be checked periodically to assure a
clear path and prevent gas buildup.
Process Side Issues
The easiest and most cost effective fixes to aircooler problems usually occur on the
air side of the exchanger. Unfortunately this does not fix all problems and we also
find that heat transfer limitations can occur because of poor conditions on the
process side.
If the process side of the tubes gets fouled or scale builds up, the performance of the
aircooler will be reduced. Many exchangers that do foul on the process side are well
known and should be put on a routine maintenance schedule to keep them clean. If
a heat exchanger is suspected to be fouled, pressure drop readings and tracking can
be used to confirm fouling. As the tube inside diameter gets smaller when fouling is
present, the velocity increases and the overall pressure drop starts to increase. If
this is encountered, the exchanger should be taken off line and cleaned.
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