FOREWORD

It is a pleasure for me to respond to the invitation of writing a foreword to

the English translation of the original book Manual Para el Cálculo de
Intercambiadores de Calor y Bancos de Tubos Aleteados. In my opinion, this is a
very complete and practical handbook on the topic, both for advanced
students, researchers, and especially for professional practitioners in me-
chanical, energy, chemical, and thermal engineering. It covers exhaustively
the dimensioning and thermo-fluid performance calculation of banks of
tubes as a part of the layout of industrial heat exchangers, incorporating
transversal fins as external area extenders to compensate the low heat car-
rying capacity of flowing gases and among them, air and combustion fumes.
It represents an excellent example of international collaboration on
technological progress between the Faculty of Thermal Engineering of the
National Technical University of Ukraine, Kiev Polytechnic Institute and
the Superior School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Thermal
Engineering and Applied Hydraulic Laboratory of the National Polytechnic
Institute in México. It also represents an example of the high-quality work
of the laboratories where the tests were performed. The modern meth-
odology chosen has been extensively communicated to the scientific and
technology communities and includes empirical information that gathers
practical experience.
The handbook deals with the internal-flow convection coefficient for
smooth round tubes or tubes that could be treated as equivalently round,
with the conduction of the wall and with the external convection coeffi-
cient for circular, square, and helical fins, considered as components of the
overall heat transfer coefficient, including the effect of particle-containing
gases. Algorithms for both the pressure loss of the internal and external
flows are offered in the book, and it even provides a mechanical-strength
calculation procedure for the wall thickness under thermal stresses and
internal pressure. The book introduces correlations valid for a wide range of
the influencing parameters under steady-state operational conditions
without forgetting the influence of boiling and radiation. Care has been
taken to include real-world effects such as flow maldistribution and flow
nonuniformities. The methodology relies on the use of nondimensional
groups, which guarantees consistency and wide applicability.

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xii Foreword

A fully solved exercise is offered at the end of the book, illustrating the
top-down approach that is specially oriented toward power plant heat
exchangers.
The Spanish edition of the book has obtained an excellent acceptance,
especially in Latin America and Spain. Its translation to the English will
broaden the community of professionals that can use it.

Antonio Lecuona Neumann

Professor of the Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering,
ITEA group
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain
January 2012