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FWC Air Cooled Exchanger PDF
FWC Air Cooled Exchanger PDF
INDEX
Page
1.0 GENERAL 4
2.0 ECONOMICS 5
2.1 Air Versus Water Cooling 5
2.1.1 Advantages of Cooling with Air 5
2.1.2 Disadvantages of Cooling with Air 5
2.1.3 Effect of Approach Temperature 6
2.1.4 Cost Comparison 7
2.2 Air-Fin Optimization 8
2.2.1 Selection of Tube and Fin Dimensions 8
2.2.2 Number of Tube Rows 9
2.2.3 Design Air Velocity 9
3.0 PROCESS SPECIFICATION 10
3.1 Tubeside 10
3.2 Air Side 13
4.0 MECHANICAL DESIGN FEATURES 17
4.1 Induced or Forced Draught 17
4.1.1 Induced Draught 17
4.1.2 Forced Draught 18
4.2 Air Humidification 18
4.3 Tube Bundle Orientation 18
4.4 Header Type 19
4.5 Tubes and Fins 20
4.5.1 Tube and Fin Dimensions 20
4.5.2 Fin Types 20
4.6 Fans and Drivers 22
4.6.1 Fans 22
4.6.2 Drivers and Speed Reducers 22
4.7 Materials of Construction 23
4.7.1 Header, Cover, Plugs and Gaskets 23
4.7.2 Tubes and Fins 23
4.7.3 Fans 23
4.7.4 Corrosion Allowance 24
4.7.5 Design Pressure and Temperature 24
4.8 Distribution Piping 24
INDEX (Cont’d)
Page
7.0 NOISE 32
INDEX OF TABLES
INDEX OF FIGURES
Air cooled exchangers have been in use in the petroleum industry since the early
1930's though until about 1950 their use was confined to locations where cooling
water supplies were virtually non-existent. Their widespread adoption since the
latter date has primarily been because of economic advantages. However, the use
of water coolers has always entailed the possibility of contamination of rivers and
ground waters. Increasing awareness of authorities with regard to environmental
pollution will result in more air coolers being selected due to their relative freedom
from environmental problems.
There are few restrictions on the use of air coolers and more recently services
have included cooling/condensing of turbine exhausts and condensing of vacuum
tower overheads.
Generally, the only services for which air coolers have not been considered,
because of the relative difficulty of cleaning tubes in situ, is either where frequent
cleaning of the process side is necessary, such as in the food industry, or where
the process fluid may gel on standing.
8. Air is free.
The cost of an air fin and its ancillary equipment, assuming a fixed
duty, will decrease with increase in approach temperature.
Additionally, this decrease in cost will be at a faster rate than the
cost of a comparable water cooler. This is because of the
limitation usually imposed on the cooling water return temperature.
There is normally no similar restriction on the airside of an air fin.
Approach temperatures above 25°F to 40°F generally favor air
cooling, however, air cooled exchangers are not normally
considered practicable where the approach temperature is less
than 15 to 25°F. If a number of services require cooling to an
approach less than 25°F it is usually economical to provide air
coolers for even these services instead of water cooling
equipment if these services are only a small percentage of the
total duty. Where it is necessary to cool below a process terminal
temperature of 15°F above the design air temperature,
consideration should be given to the following alternatives:
2. Shipping
3. Construction
5. Maintenance
Water Cooled Exchanger
1. Capital cost of exchanger including foundations,
supporting structure, control system.
2. Shipping
3. Construction
4. Maintenance
The surface for the optimum exchanger will depend upon the correct
selection of tube and fin dimensions, number of rows and design air
velocity.
Air velocity is governed by the fan power and the fin density. For
services with low coefficients, it is usual to use bare tubes, but for
successively higher coefficients fin densities up to 11 fins/inch are
normal.
3.1 Tubeside
Fluid Circulated - This describes the nature of the fluid, e.g. gas, liquid,
hydrocarbon, etc. The engineer must also state whether the fluid is fouling
and advise the nature and concentration of corrosive compounds, if
present.
For conditions where heavy fouling is expected and where a very low
inside heat transfer coefficient results, it is uneconomic to apply a high
ratio have finned surface. In addition, cover plate headers may be
required for heavy fouling fluids.
Fouling Factors - Only the fouling resistance of the fluid on the inside of
the tubes is required. The Standards of Tubular Exchanger Manufacturers
Association (TEMA) give fouling resistances for various process fluids.
Fluid Viscosity - Specify the viscosity of the fluid at two temperatures within
the cooling range of the process fluid. If the exchanger has a range of
duties, specify also the maximum viscosity case. For fluids with very high
viscosity, it may be necessary to increase the allowable design pressure
drop to ensure turbulent flow.
Pour Points - Specify the pour points of fluids that contain waxy deposits or
have high viscosities. The exchanger should be designed so that the tube
wall temperature at the cold end under conditions of minimum flow, no
fouling, and winter design air temperature is at least 10°F above the pour
point.
For services where pour point is critical, vendors design should be given
close scrutiny to ensure that design has allowed for process requirements.
Steam coils and manual louvres are required for start-up operation in
services where fluids have high pour points. A rough approximation for the
steam requirement can be obtained for 30 ft. tube length by using 30 lbs/hr
of steam per foot of bundle width. However, it is recommended that each
case be considered separately taking into account the properties of the
process fluid and the minimum air temperature. Additionally, the process
fluid outlet temperature may be controlled to prevent sub-cooling.
Generally, temperature control is only used where the tube wall outlet
temperature is less than 20°F above the pour point at the winter minimum
temperature and minimum fluid flowrate. Control is accomplished using
automatic louvres, 50% or 100% auto-variable fans and/or air recirculation.
The vendor may also consider designing the exchanger with co-current
flow and/or bare tubes.
Gas Cooling:
3. For multi-pass air coolers, high pressure drops assure proper flow
distribution. Usually a minimum of 3 passes is considered in a tower
condenser. The higher pressure drop will also assure proper distribution at
lower than design throughput.
Freeze Points - Process streams that contain water may freeze due to the
ambient air temperature being below the freezing point. The same
considerations that apply to high pour point streams apply here and also to
materials that crystallize at high temperature.
Header Vents - In condensers used for total condensation but which may
contain non-condensibles, a vent should be located in the outlet header.
Site Altitude - This is required to establish the air density, which in turn
affects pressure drop across the bundle, fan size, blade pitch angle and
driver horsepower.
The cost of the air cooled heat exchanger is directly related to the chosen
design air temperature and careful consideration should be given to its
selection. The actual figure to be used may be specified by the client. If
the client does not specify a design air temperature, he should be
consulted with regard to the period of time that reduced capacity can be
tolerated as a result of the design air temperature being exceeded.
Consideration should be given to selection of services on a critical/non-
critical basis. For instance, partial condensation of a tower overheads
providing reflux can be considered critical whereas product cooling is
obviously non-critical. Different design air temperatures may be selected
for the two categories.
The common practice for determining the design air temperature is to
select a temperature from meteorological data, which is not exceeded for
more than a percentage of time throughout the year. This percentage of
time varies according to the period over which the meteorological data is
assessed and on the location but is usually between !"# and 5% based
upon annual hourly readings.
It is important to remember that consideration must also be given to the
effect of local refinery heat sources on the air temperature. Shell Europe
suggest that adding 2°C to the design air temperature is satisfactory.
See Appendix A for a statistical method to calculate the design air
temperature from meteorological data.
A forced draught unit pushes air across the tube surface with the fan
located below the tube bundle. An induced-draught design has the fan
located above the bundle and the air is pulled across the tube surface.
The two systems are compared below. The selection of induced or forced
draught type is generally made by the vendor who makes a selection
based on the advantages/disadvantages of each system related to the
process, engineering requirements and economics. However, occasions
do arise when the process itself may be a significant factor in this
selection.
1. For the same duty the forced draught unit requires less
horsepower because it moves air at the lowest available
temperature and highest density.
2. The driver, gears and fans are in the cool air stream. The
outlet air temperature of induced draught units is
restricted to protect the mechanical equipment in the hot
exit air stream.
In this system water is sprayed into the incoming air stream to pre-cool the
air passing to the exchanger. A relatively small amount of water is used.
This water has not normally undergone water treatment, hence effective
drift elimination is essential to prevent fin corrosion and the deposition of
calcium and magnesium salts onto the fins. This system is most effective
in climates with a low humidity but is also used when required process
outlet temperatures are so low that air cooling alone is not economical.
A - Frame - The tube bundle elements form a roof. This type requires
about 60% only of the plot area necessary for the horizontal type. The
most favorable applications are in vacuum plants, very large units and for
condensers having liquid after-coolers mounted beneath the condensing
elements. One particularly interesting application is for use as a vacuum
steam condenser (turbines) in cold climates as it allows counter-current
steam flow and water drainage in the tubes (vacuum pulled from the top).
Hence water freezing does not occur. For other applications, reference
should be made to manufacturers literature. However, some vendors will
not use this type of unit because of the effect of crosswinds.
V - Frame - The tube bundle elements form an inverted A. These are used
in similar applications to the A-Frame but with an induced draught fan.
FOSTER WHEELER ENERGY LIMITED 2002
PROCESS STD 302
FOSTER WHEELER HEAT TRANSFER PAGE 19
AIR COOLED REV 10
PROCESS PLANTS DIVISION EXCHANGERS DATE JULY 2002
Vertical Type - The tube bundle elements are stacked vertically. This
orientation is used extensively for small air conditioning type units
The types of headers most widely used in air coolers are described below.
For a preliminary selection of the header type use can be made of the
following recommended pressure limitations for each type.
Plugs - up to 60 kg/cm2
Plug Type - This type has a closed header with plugs opposite to each
tube end. Access for cleaning the tubes is through the plugs.
Cover Plate - The tube plugs and plug sheet are replaced with a flanged
cover plate. With this type of header it is quicker and simpler to clean the
tubes than with the plug type, but it is more expensive and requires thicker
plates. Cover plates are used where the fluid has a fouling factor greater
than 0.004 but their use is limited to services with low design pressures as
this type of construction is susceptible to leaks.
Manifold - The inlet and outlet headers are of all welded design with a U-
tube arrangement for the return bends. This type is used for very high
pressure services.
Split Headers - When the difference between the inlet and outlet
temperature of the process fluid exceeds 200°F, in multipass units, one of
the headers should be split to allow for differential expansion between the
tube passes.
4.5 Tubes and Fins
4.5.1 Tube and Fin Dimensions
Ideally tube length, spacing and pitch and the fin height and
spacing would vary with the service. Practically, however,
manufacturers find it more economical to limit these parameters to
a number of standard configurations.
Standard lengths for tubes are 8, 10, 12, 16, 20, 24, 30 and 40 ft.,
the most common being 30 ft.
FOSTER WHEELER ENERGY LIMITED 2002
PROCESS STD 302
FOSTER WHEELER HEAT TRANSFER PAGE 20
AIR COOLED REV 10
PROCESS PLANTS DIVISION EXCHANGERS DATE JULY 2002
The list below gives the available types of finned tubes with their
respective characteristics. Additional information can be obtained
from F.W. Eng. Std. 23A1.
Welded, Brazed and Soldered - The fins are attached to the tubes
by brazing or soldering instead of grooving or tension winding.
The use of the tubes is limited by the softening temperature of the
brazing compound or solder (i.e. virtually no limit on design
temperature).
FOSTER WHEELER ENERGY LIMITED 2002
PROCESS STD 302
FOSTER WHEELER HEAT TRANSFER PAGE 21
AIR COOLED REV 10
PROCESS PLANTS DIVISION EXCHANGERS DATE JULY 2002
Welded fin tubes are costly and are used only in special cases for
severe duties.
Integral - This is the best type of finned tube but also the most
expensive. The completely integral fin ensures that any
mechanical or heat transfer problem which may exist with a
bonded fin is eliminated and, therefore, this type of finned tube
may be used for the most severe temperature and pressure
services, e.g. aluminum suitable for use with wall temperatures up
to 250-280°F.
4.6.1 Fans
Fan Pitch - Fans are generally of two types; manually adjustable
where the pitch angle can be adjusted when the fan is at rest and
auto-variable in which the pitch angle can be automatically
controlled during operation. In either case the pitch normally has
a range of 30°of positive and 10-15°of negative angle. The
negative pitch can be used to suppress natural convection flow
across the tube bundle and prevent overcooling during cold
ambient conditions.
Fan Layout - To ensure even distribution of air flow across the
bundle face, each air fin should be provided with a minimum of
two fans. In addition, the fan area should not be less than 40% of
the plot area. This rule can be relaxed for induced draught
designs because the velocity of the air entering the tube bundles
on the suction side is much lower than with the forced draught
type; the value for induced draught designs is 30%.
Electric motors are the most widely used drivers and they should
be rated to operate at the specified minimum ambient air
temperature.
When the fan diameter is small (up to 5 ft.) the speed reducer is
eliminated and the motor is connected directly to the fan.
4.7.3 Fans
In general, the preferred piping system is as shown in type A&B with inlet
and outlet headers running the full length of the air fin header box with
direct connections from the header to each pass.
Type A (Co-Current)
Simple arrangement
Simple arrangement
Type C
In multipass two phase service the numerous bends and T's promote fluid
separation.
One known refinery has solved it's two phase mal-distribution problems by
adding notched stand pipes to the individual inlets in the inlet header.
Apparently the notched stand pipes distribute the condensed liquid to all
inlets allowing the vapor to readily flow through each coil pass.
One advantage of louvers is that they provide some protection to the tube
bundle during inclement weather.
Variable pitch fans are commonly used to provide accurate control of fluid
outlet temperature under conditions of varying heat load and varying
ambient air temperatures. The pitch of the fans may be adjusted either
manually or automatically. The use of auto-positioners for the fan blades
also gives a saving in horsepower as the fans move only the required
amount of air. Auto variable pitch fans cannot be used where a number of
heat exchangers for different services share common fans as auto fans
operated from the fluid outlet temperature of one cooler would affect the
operation of the other coolers.
Air recirculation systems are very expensive and with very large duties
such as residue coolers in refineries there is an economic limit to the
application of this design. As an alternative the engineer should consider
cooling the fluid liable to solidification on the shellside of a shell and tube
exchanger using tempered water from an auxiliary circuit. The water in the
auxiliary circuit is then cooled using a normal fin tube cooler. This
alternative should in fact be considered every time a viscous material is to
be cooled in an air fin. It is particularly important for large services with
laminar flow conditions in the air fin when the combination of shell and
tube + airfin + tempered water is cheaper and saves plot areas.
Airfin exchangers are supported from grade on their own structure or on top of
some other structure, a frequent location being above an elevated pipe rack; the
space beneath the structure is used for other equipment. In either case certain
precautions are necessary. Exchangers should not be located over or near
equipment giving off large quantities of heat and the amount of equipment under
the exchangers should be minimized and arranged so as not to impede air flow or
promote air recirculation. In addition, location of air fins at different levels should
be avoided as this can also promote warm air recirculation.
If airfins are unavoidable near to heat sources, then the design air temperature
should be raised accordingly.
Also to be avoided are parallel banks of airfins which are so close together as to
impede the flow of cold air.
Airfin Type
Roof-type exchangers are sometimes used for very large units as they require only
about 60% of the floor space of horizontal types. Induced draught horizontal types
have some advantages over forced draught horizontal types in plot plan
considerations. For a given column height there is more space beneath the
induced draught type which can be utilized for the installation of other equipment.
Additionally, when overhead drives are used, the induced draught type is more
suitable for mounting over existing equipment and pipe racks.
For units with a small heat transfer surface, consideration should be given to
reducing the tube length and increasing the bundle width to obtain a more compact
unit.
Combination of Services
The plot area required can be minimized by grouping together under common fans
services which are non-critical, i.e. services such as product coolers which do not
require accurate control of their outlet temperatures. Units which are too small to
have independent fans are also combined. Tower condensers should not be
combined as accurate control may be required to maintain required tower
conditions.
Fan Mounting
To ensure satisfactory air distribution, fans should be mounted at least one-half the
fan diameter (minimum distance is 6'-6") above grade for forced draught designs
FOSTER WHEELER ENERGY LIMITED 2002
PROCESS STD 302
FOSTER WHEELER HEAT TRANSFER PAGE 31
AIR COOLED REV 10
PROCESS PLANTS DIVISION EXCHANGERS DATE JULY 2002
and above the tube bundle for induced draught designs.
GEA, a German vendor with many foreign licensees, appears to have good
experience in the location of airfin condensers at the top of medium sized
fractionating towers and this system may be considered particularly for partial
condensers.
Maximum allowable operating noise levels for air cooled exchangers are specified
in the Foster Wheeler Engineering Standards 23A1. The noise emanating from
airfin coolers is essentially axial fan noise. The power of the noise generated is a
function of the fan speed and blade angle and it can be reduced by using a slower
speed fan. The fan may be equipped with a greater number of blades to move the
same quantity of air.
The use of intake and discharge silencers on the air flow has not generally been
used except on small plants near residential areas or in air conditioning systems
due to the considerable cost involved.
This section provides the process engineer with a method for determining the
approximate tube surface, operating power and plan area of the air cooled heat
exchanger.
The major factors affecting the calculation for an economic design such as air
velocity, tube and fin dimensions and number of tube rows are discussed in detail
in Section 2.2.
The method given below should not be used as a rigorous solution to the thermal
design for the optimum exchanger which depends upon the correct selection of the
above parameters and the relative costs of power and tube surface.
3. Surface Area - Calculate the bare tube surface area from the
equation:
Q
A=
U D x LMTD x Ft
A = outside bare tube surface (sq. ft.)
5. Bundle Face Area - Calculate the bundle face area (FA) from the
bare tube surface area using the ratios given in Table 3.
Q
Tao = Tai +
FA x FV x 1.08
Compare the calculated value of Tao with the assumed value from
(2). If the values do not check within 5% assume a new value for
Tao and repeat the calculations (2) to (5).
7. Air Flow Rate - Calculate the actual volumetric air flow (ACFM)
from the equation
ACFM = FA x FV x '
1
Where ' = (See Figure 6)
Air Specific Gravity
NR
SP = &P x x '% (inches of water)
3
9. Fan Selection - From the tube length and face area calculated in
(5) calculate the unit width and estimate the fan dimensions using
the following criteria:
10. Total Pressure Drop - Obtain the velocity pressure drop (VP) from
Figure 8 and calculate the total pressure drop (&P) from the
equation
Process Duty:
Length 30'-0"
Calculation:
145 - 86
P= = 0.36
250 - 86
250 - 130
R= = 2.035
145 - 86
17,700,000 ft 2
=
90 x 70.1
= 2,805 ft 2
2,805 ft 2
= (Table 3)
6.32
= 444 ft 2
9. Fan Selection:
444
Unit width = = 14.8 ft.
30
Consider 2 fans,
1/2
. 178 x 4 +
fan diameter = , )
- 2/ *
= 10.6 ft.
3900 x 2
All the overall heat transfer coefficients (UD) for air coolers listed below are based on the
total bare outside surface of the tubes.
Gas Cooling
Service UD (Btu/hr ft2o F)
Air or flue gas at 50 psig 10
(&P = 1 psi)
Hydrocarbon gases at 15 - 50 psig
30 - 40
(&P = 1 psi)
Hydrocarbon gases at 50 - 250 psig 50 - 60
(&P = 3 psi)
Hydrocarbon gases at 250 -1,500 psig 70 - 90
Ammonia Reactor Stream 80 -90
Condensing
Service UD (Btu/hr ft2°F)
Steam (0 - 20 psig) 130 – 140
Amine Reactivator 90 - 100
TABLE 3
Tube Rows 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
* sq. ft. 3.80 5.04 6.32 7.60 8.84 10.08 11.36 12.64 13.92 15.20
surface per
sq.ft. Face
Area
TABLE 4
Tube Rows 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Face Velocity, ft/min 630 595 565 540 510 490 465 445 425 405
The following statistical procedure can be used for calculating the design air temperature
from recorded meteorological data.
Assume that the temperatures recorded follow the normal Gaussian distribution.
3x2
1 e
Q1x 2 4 2
2/
A T
100
114 - 27
Then the S.D. 0= = 14.5
6
1
Shaded area (A) = 0.5 - = 0.49
100
T mean - T
Substitute in t=
0
58.5 - T
- 2.33 =
14.5
T = 92°F
The following table indicates the effect on the temperature T by a change in the
percentage of the year when T is exceeded.
Normal practice is to use the temperature which is not exceeded for 5% of the year.