AC-10 Study on Effects of Tube Pitch and Row for Air-Cooled Heat Exchangers: Data and Method Improvement

Z. H. Yang

1999

This report documents research on the effects of tube pitch and number of rows on heat transfer and pressure drop for air-cooled heat exchangers. Seven tube bundles were tested at isothermal and non-isothermal operating conditions with varied airside Reynolds numbers. Using the data from these tests, HTRI evaluated and improved existing methods for calculating the airside pressure drop and heat transfer coefficient. Comparisons show that the improved methods predict pressure drop and heat transfer within 15 percent accuracy over a wide range of industrial operating conditions. These improvements, which have been added to the ACE computer program, provide a high level of accuracy in determining pressure drop and heat transfer coefficients.