Finned tubes

Finned tubes are used when the heat-transfer coefficient on the outside of the tube is appreciably lower than that on the inside as in heat transfer from a liquid to a gas, such as in air-cooled heat exchangers. 

The fin surface area will not be as effective as the bare tube surface, as the heat has to be conducted along the fin. This is allowed for in design by the use of a fin effectiveness, or fin efficiency, factor. The basic equations describing heat transfer from a fin are derived in Volume 1, Chapter 9 see also Kern (1950). The fin effectiveness is a function of the fin dimensions and the thermal conductivity of the fin material. Fins are therefore usually made from metals with a high thermal conductivity for copper and aluminium the effectiveness will typically be between 0.9 to 0.95. 

When using finned tubes, the coefficients for the outside of the tube in equation 12.2 are replaced by a term involving fin area and effectiveness  

The Reynolds number is evaluated for the bare tube (i.e. assuming that no fins exist). 

Kern and Kraus (1972) give full details of the use of finned tubes in process heat exchangers design and design methods. 

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In petrochemical plants, fans are most commonly used ia air-cooled heat exchangers that can be described as overgrown automobile radiators (see HeaT-EXCHANGEtechnology). Process fluid ia the finned tubes is cooled usually by two fans, either forced draft (fans below the bundle) or iaduced draft (fans above the bundles). Normally, one fan is a fixed pitch and one is variable pitch to control the process outlet temperature within a closely controlled set poiat. A temperature iadicating controller (TIC) measures the outlet fluid temperature and controls the variable pitch fan to maintain the set poiat temperature to within a few degrees. 

Fig. 8. (a) Heat pipe showing the use of finned tubing for both heating and cooling and (b), heat pipe exchanger ain heater system. ID = induced draft and... 

Aoe for effective area of finned surface At for total external area of finned tube Ad for surface area of dirt (scale) deposit ... 

R Thermal resistance, equals x/kA, 1/UA, l/hA Ri, Ro, R l, R for thermal resistance of sections 1, 2, 3, and n of a composite body Rj for sum of individual resistances of several resistances in series or parallel R -, and for dirt or scale resistance on inner and outer surface respectively Ratio of total outside surface of finned tube to area of tube having same root diameter (s-K)/J (h- F)/Btu... 

Vf Face velocity of a fluid approaching a bank of finned tubes m/s ft/h... 

For annuli containing externally Hnned tubes the heat-transfer coefficients are a function of the fin configurations. Knudsen and Katz (Fluid Dynamics and Heat Transfer, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1958) present relationships for transverse finned tubes, spined tubes, and longitudinal finned tubes in annuli. 

In atmospheric air-cooled finned tube exchangers, the air-film coefficient from Eq. (5-64) is sometimes converted to a value based on outside bare surface as follows ... 

Heat-transfer coefficients for finned tubes of various types are given in a series of papers [Tran.s. Am. Soc. Mech. Eng., 67, 601 (1945)]. 

For the general case, the treatment suggested by Kern (Pmcc.s.s Heat Transfer, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1950, p. 512) is recommended. Because of the wide variations in fin-tube construction, it is convenient to convert all film coefficients to values based on the inside bare surface of the tube. Thus to convert the film coefficient based on outside area (finned side) to a value based on inside area Kern gives the following relationship ... 

High Fins To calculate heat-transfer coefficients for cross-flow to a transversely finned surface, it is best to use a correlation based on experimental data for that surface. Such data are not often available, and a more general correlation must be used, making allowance for the possible error. Probably the best general correlation for bundles of finned tubes is given by Schmidt [Knltetechnik, 15, 98-102, 370-378 (1963)] ... 

The modified Palen-SmaU method can be employed for reboiler design using finned tubes, but the maximum flux is calculated from A, the total outside heat-transfer area including fins. The resulting value of refers to A. ... 

Fin-tube siirface/bare-tiibe surface ratio is 16.9. 

FIG. 11-39 Integrally finned tube rolled into tube sheet with double serrations and flared inlet. Wo-oetine Division, UOP, Inc.)... 

Low-fin tubes (Mfi-in-high fins) provide 2.5 times the surface per lineal foot. Surface required should be divided by 2.5 then use Fig. 11-41 to determine basic cost of the heat exchanger. Actual surface times extra costs (from Table 11-14) should then be added to determine cost of fin-tube exchanger. 

FIG. 11-42 Doiihle-pipe-exchanger section An.th longitudinal fins. (Brown Fin-tube Co. )... 

Forced and Induced Draft The forced-draft unit, which is illustrated in Fig. 11-43 pushes air across the finnedtube surface. The fans are located oelow the tube bundles. The induced-draft design has the fan above the bundle, and the air is pulled across the finned tube surface. In theoiy, a primaiy advantage of the forced-draft unit is that less power is required. This is true when the air-temperature rise exceeds 30°C (54°F). 

Tube Bundle The principal parts of the tube bundle are the finned tubes and the header. Most commonly used is the plug header, which is a welded box that is illustrated in Fig. 11-44. The finned tubes are described in a subsequent paragraph. The components of a tube bundle are identified in the figure. 

Finned-Tube Construction The following are descriptions of commonly used finned-tube construc tions (Fig. 11-45). 

Typical metal design temperatures for these finned-tube constructions are 399°C (750°F) embedded, 288°C (550°F) integral, 232°C (450°F) overlapped footed, and 177°C (350°F) footed. 

HumidiRcation Chambers The air-cooled heat exchanger is provided with humidification chambers in which the air is cooled to a close approach to the wet-bulb temperature before entering the finned-tube bundle of the heat exchanger. 

Bond resistance. Vibration and thermal cychng affect the bond resistance of the various types of tubes in different manners and thus affect the amount of heat transfer through the fin tube. 

Surface Condensers Surface condensers (indirect-contact condensers) are used extensively in the chemical-process industiy. They are employed in the air-poUution-equipment industry for recoveiy, control, and/or removal of trace impurities or contaminants. In the surface type, coolant does not contact the vapor condensate. There are various types of surface condensers including the shell-and-tube, fin-fan, finned-hairpin, finned-tube-section, ana tubular. The use of surface condensers has several advantages. Salable condensate can be recovered. If water is used for coolant, it can be reused, or the condenser may be air-cooled when water is not available. Also, surface condensers require less water and produce 10 to 20 times less condensate. Their disadvantage is that they are usually more expensive and require more maintenance than the contac t type. 

Evaporators—These usually utilize a fin-tube design. Spirally finned tubes of 1.25 in to 2 in outer diameter (OD) with three to six fins per ineh are eommon. In the ease of unfired designs, earbon steel eonstruetion ean be used and boilers ean run dry. As heavier fuels are used, a smaller number of fins per ineh should be utilized to avoid fouling problems. 

Double Pipe Each tube has own shell forming annular space for shell side fluid. Usually use externally finned tube. Relatively small transfer area service, or in banks for larger applications. Especially suited for high pressures in tube above 400 psig. Services suitable for finned tube. Piping-up a large number often requires cost and space. 0.8-1.4... 

Open Tube Sections (Air Cooled) Plain or finned tubes No shell required, only end heaters similar to water units. Condensing, high level heat transfer. Transfer coefficient is low, if natural convection circulation, but is improved with forced air flow across tubes. 0.8-1.8... 

Shutters mounted above the cooling sections serve to protect them from overhead wind, snow, ice, and hail. In addition they are also used to regulate, either manually or automatically, the flow of air across the finned tubes and thus control the process fluid outlet temperature. 

In order to improve the heat transfer characteristics of air cooled exchangers, the tubes are provided with external fins. These fins can result in a substantial increase in heat transfer surface. Parameters such as bundle length, width and number of tube rows vary with the particular application as well as the particular finned tube design. 

Common to all air cooled heat exchangers is the tube, through which the process fluid flows. To compensate for the poor heat transfer properties of air, which flows across the outside of the tube, and to reduce the overall dimensions of the heat exchanger, external fins are added to the outside of the tube. A wide variety of finned tube types are available for use in air cooled exchangers. These vary in geometry, materials, and methods of construction, which affect both air side thermal performance and air side pressure drop. In addition, particular... 

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