Design of Air-Cooled Exchanger (Part 1)

September 24, 2021 Rifka Aisyah Equipments, Heat Exchanger

Air-cooled exchangers are used to cool fluids with ambient air. They should be considered
when cooling water is in limited or expensive. Air-cooled exchangers are used for cooling
and condensing.

Principle of air-
cooled exchanger [1]Air-cooled exchangers consist of banks of finned tubes over which air
is blown or drawn by fans mounted below or above the tubes. Air-cooled exchangers are
classified as forced draft when the tube section is located on the discharge side of the fan,
and as induced draft when the tube section is located on the suction side of the fan.
 Induced-draft
air-cooled exchanger (a) and forced draft air-cooled exchanger (b) [2]
Advantages and Disadvantages of Induced-Draft and Forced-Draft Air-Cooled
Exchanger
Advantages and disadvantages of forced and induced draft air-cooled exchangers are shown
below.

Aspect of Comparison Induced Draft Air-Cooled Forced Draft Air-Cooled

Exchanger Exchanger

Distribution of air Better than forced-draft Poor

across the section
 Possibility of hot Less possible. The hot air discharged Greatly increased possibility of
effluent air recirculating upward with velocity around 1500 hot air recirculation due to low
around to the intake of ft/min. discharge velocity
the sections

Effect of sun, rain, and Less effect, because 60% of the Total exposure to sun, rain, and
hail surface area is covered hail

Capacity in the event of Capacity increased, because higher Low natural draft capability on
fan failure natural draft stack effect fan failure due to small stack
effect

Horsepower Higher, because fan is located in the Lower, because fan is in cold air
hot air (note 1)

Allowable effluent air Maximum 200oF, to prevent –

temperature potential damage to fan blades,
bearings, V-belts, or other
mechanical components in the hot
air streams

Accessibility of fan Less accessible Better accessibility

drive component for
maintenance

Limitation of Should not be used for process fluids –

application above 350oF; otherwise, fan failure
could subject the fan blades and
bearings to excessive temperature

1. Horsepower varies directly as the absolute temperature

Key Design of Air-Cooled Exchangers
Air-Cooled Section
Section orientation can be horizontal, vertical, or angled. Horizontal section is the most
commonly used, and generally most economical.
Vertical systems are sometimes used when maximum drainage and head are required, such
as condensing service.
Angled section, are used for condensing service like vertical one. Frequently angled sections
are sloped thirty degrees (30o) from the horizontal. A-framed are usually sloped sixty degrees
(60o) from the horizontal.
Fan
 Fan size : fan sizes range from 3 ft to 28 ft diameter. However, 14 ft to 16 ft is the
largest diameter normally used.
 Fan drivers : fan drivers may be electric motors, steam turbines, hydraulic motors, or
gas-gasoline engines.
 Speed reducer : a speed reducer, such as v-belt or reduction gear box, is necessary to
match the driver output speed to the relatively slow speed of the axial flow fan. Fan
tip speed are normally 12,000 ft/min or less. General practice is to use v-belt drives
up to about 30 bhp and gear box at higher power. Individual driver size is usually
limited to 50 hp
 Fan coverage should be above 0.4 to improve air distribution across the face of tube
section. Fan coverage is the ratio of projected area of the fan to the face of the section
served by the fan.
Tube Section
 Tube length are usually 6 ft to 50 ft and bay widths from 4 ft to 30 ft. Use of longer
tubes usually results in a less costly design
 Base tube diameters are 5/8 in to 1 ½ in OD. Tubes are usually triangular pitch.
Matching of the tube section to the fan system and the heat transfer requirement
usually results in the section having depth of 3 to 8 rows of fin tubes, with four rows
most typical.
Material of Construction
 Headers : common materials for headers are firebox quality carbon steel, ASTM SA-
515-70, SA-516-70
 Tubes : ASTM-SA-214 (ERW), SA-179 (SMLS), carbon steel
 Louver : carbon steel or aluminium with carbon steel
 Fins : aluminium
Header Design
A vast majority of the headers are plug type. There is a shoulder plug opposite each tube
which allows access for inspection and cleaning of individual tubes.
 Plug type header [3]Header with a removable bonnet (or
cover plate) is also available. The front plate can be removed for access and cleaning of the
header box. This type can be used for low-pressure application (below 435 psig) and high
fouling.

Header with a removable bonnet [3]Pipe manifold and

welded bonnet headers are non-removable and mainly used for steam coils or very high
pressure.

Pipe manifold and welded bonnet header [3]References:

[1] Improve Air-Cooled Heat Exchanger Performance
[2] Sinnot, R.K., “Chemical Engineering Design”, Elsevier: 2005
[3] API 661 Air Cooler
[4] GPSA Engineering Data Book