Influencias Caracteristicas Ventilador

PERGAMON Applied Thermal Engineering 18 (1998) 875±893
Plenum chamber ¯ow losses in forced draught air-cooled

heat exchangers
C.J. Meyer *, D.G. KroÈger
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa
Received 20 October 1997
Abstract
The primary objective of this experimental investigation is to determine the in¯uence that dierent fan
and heat exchanger characteristics as well as the plenum chamber geometry have on the ¯ow losses in
the plenum chamber of a forced draught air-cooled heat exchanger (ACHE). The eect of air ¯ow
maldistribution on the heat exchanger thermal performance is also investigated. A series of model tests
are conducted employing dierent fans and heat exchangers. It is found that there is a critical minimum
distance between the outlet of the fan and the heat exchanger. The heat exchanger loss coecient and its
inlet geometry have a relatively strong in¯uence on plenum losses as well as on the air velocity
distribution at the outlet of the heat exchanger. Other variables, including the position of the fan in the
fan casing, fan-to-heat exchanger area ratio and fan characteristics, have a lesser eect on plenum
performance. A plenum chamber recovery coecient is de®ned and expressed in terms of measured
parameters. This coecient can be employed in the design of practical ACHEs. It is further found that
air ¯ow maldistribution only has a small in¯uence on the heat exchanger thermal performance. # 1998
Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Forced draught air-cooled heat exchanger; Plenum chamber ¯ow losses; Flow maldistribution
Nomenclature
A area (m2)
c average chord length (m)
* Corresponding author.
1359-4311/98/$19.00 # 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

PII: S 1 3 5 9 - 4 3 1 1 ( 9 7 ) 0 0 1 0 9 - 9
876 C. Meyer, D. KroÈger / Applied Thermal Engineering 18 (1998) 875±893
d diameter (m)
K dimensionless loss or gain coecient
p pressure (N/m2)
P pitch (mm)
t thickness (mm)
v velocity (m/s)
V volume ¯ow rate (m3/s)
x distance in the fan axial direction (m)
Greek symbols
ae kinetic energy correction factor
D dierential
e heat exchanger eectiveness
r density (kg/m3)
m dynamic viscosity (kg/ms)
y heat exchanger included angle (8)
Subscripts
ave average
amb ambient
cons conservative
crit critical
f ®n
F fan
FC fan casing
fr frontal
Fs fan static
he heat exchanger
H hub
mal maldistributed
o outside/outlet
rec recovery
t tube
te trailing edge
uni uniform
1. Introduction
Forced draught air-cooled heat exchangers ®nd wide application in the chemical and process
industry where low quality waste heat has to be rejected. In a typical forced draught ACHE as
C. Meyer, D. KroÈger / Applied Thermal Engineering 18 (1998) 875±893 877
Fig. 1. Forced draught air-cooled heat exchanger.
shown schematically in Fig. 1, an axial ¯ow fan forces ambient air over the exterior of rows of
®nned tubes making up a heat exchanger bundle. The hot process ¯uid is cooled as it ¯ows
through the interior of the ®nned tubes. The heat exchanger is mounted perpendicular to the
fan axis resulting in the formation of an enclosed, box-shaped region between the fan and heat
exchanger, referred to as the plenum chamber [1].
The amount of heat that is rejected by an ACHE is largely dependent on the air volume
¯ow rate through the heat exchanger. Current design procedure employs the fan and heat
exchanger performance characteristics to predict the operating point air volume ¯ow rate. In
many instances this predicted volume ¯ow rate diers from the actual measured value.
Indications are that this may in part be due to the fact that the plenum chamber performance
characteristics are neglected during the design process.
A survey of the few available technical papers concerned with plenum ¯ow losses in forced
draught ACHE contain little useful information from a design point of view. Rubin [2]
comments on general ACHE design practices and reports the minimum allowable plenum
chamber depth (the distance between the fan and heat exchanger [1]) as one fan diameter as
speci®ed by fan manufacturers and alternatively as half a fan diameter as used by designers.
Flow ®eld visualization tests conducted by Lambert et al. [3] within the plenum chamber of a
model ACHE indicated a central core of rotating air exiting the fan and spreading within the
plenum chamber resulting in areas of recirculating ¯ow in the plenum chamber corners on the
fan side. The air reattached to the sides of the plenum before moving upwards and through the
heat exchanger. Turner [4] con®rmed these results and in addition identi®ed an area of
recirculating ¯ow extending into the plenum above the fan hub. A plenum depth of one fan
diameter is recommended for practical purposes. Russell and Berryman [5] showed that a
reduction of the plenum depth of an ACHE had little or no eect on the measured volume
¯ow rate and the associated plenum ¯ow losses until a minimum or critical plenum depth of
0.5 fan diameters was reached. A further reduction of the plenum depth resulted in a marked
decrease in the volume ¯ow rate and an increase in the plenum ¯ow losses.
The determination of the in¯uence of fan and heat exchanger performance characteristics as
well as plenum chamber geometry on plenum ¯ow losses form the primary objective of this
investigation. The plenum performance characteristics are incorporated into the design process
with the introduction of a plenum chamber recovery coecient based on the average axial
velocity in the fan casing. Additional calculations are performed to determine the in¯uence of
air ¯ow maldistribution on the amount of heat rejected by the heat exchanger.
2. Analysis
The performance evaluation of a proposed ACHE is an iterative procedure that requires that
the air temperature, velocity and pressure ®elds within the ACHE be considered. Only the
velocity and pressure ®elds will be considered in the current analysis since the air ¯ow through
the model ACHEs tested were isothermal.
The air ¯ow through the model ACHE is further assumed incompressible and modelled as 1-
dimensional ¯ow in the fan axial direction. The relationship between the velocity and pressure
values at dierent stations in the air ¯ow ®eld is expressed by a single draught equation
comprising of mechanical energy terms.
Fig. 2. ACHE operating point.

Although the draught equation is essentially a mechanical energy relation, literature more
commonly interprets it as the matching of the fan pressure performance characteristics and the
total system ¯ow resistance as shown graphically in Fig. 2. The draught equation is
consequently expressed as
DpFs =r Dphe =r v2he =2; 1
where DpFs is the fan static pressure rise de®ned according to BS 848 [6] for type A tests.
Furthermore Dphe is the isothermal heat exchanger pressure loss and v2he/2 is the kinetic energy
loss at the heat exchanger outlet.
The left hand side of Eq. (1) represents the mechanical energy made available to the air
stream by the fan and the right hand side represents the mechanical energy dissipated as the air
¯ows through the ACHE.
The terms in Eq. (1) that contain the fan static pressure rise and heat exchanger pressure
loss can be expressed in dimensionless form with the introduction of a dimensionless loss or
gain coecient de®ned as
Dp
K ; 2
1=2 r v2
where Dp is the pressure loss/rise across the ¯ow device and v is a characteristic velocity.
The dimensionless loss/gain coecient of a particular ¯ow device is determined
experimentally under ideal ¯ow conditions which usually constitute a uniform velocity and
pressure pro®le at the ¯ow device inlet.
The draught equation can now be rewritten to include the respective dimensionless loss/gain
coecients
KFs 1=2 v2F Khe 1=2 v2he 1=2 v2he 3
or
KFs Khe 1 vhe =vF 2 ;
where KFs is the gain coecient associated with the fan static pressure rise and Khe is the loss
coecient associated with the heat exchanger pressure loss.
Eq. (3) represents the draught equation in dimensionless form for isothermal ¯ow conditions.
When solved for a particular ACHE Eq. (3) is found to yield a conservative estimate of the
operating point air volume ¯ow rate, Vcons. This is largely due to the assumptions embodied in
the particular formulation of the draught equation. These assumptions relate speci®cally to the
kinetic and mechanical energy losses encountered at the heat exchanger outlet and within the
plenum chamber respectively.
By implication, Eq. (3) assumes that the velocity pro®le at the heat exchanger outlet is
uniform, which is usually not the case. It follows that the ¯ow losses or mechanical energy
dissipation given on the right hand side of Eq. (3) are more correctly expressed as (Khe
+ahe)(vhe/vF)2 where ahe is the kinetic energy correction factor at the heat exchanger outlet
which can in general be de®ned as
Z
vj2 v dA
j
ae A Z : 4
2
vave v dA
A
In Eq. (3) it is furthermore implied that the kinetic energy associated with the air stream at the
fan outlet is entirely dissipated in, presumably, the ACHE plenum chamber. Measured values
of the operating point air volume ¯ow rate of the model ACHEs tested during the course of
this investigation indicate that a portion of the air stream kinetic energy at the fan outlet is
recovered within the plenum chamber resulting in an increased amount of mechanical energy
available to the air stream. A kinetic energy recovery coecient is de®ned by the following
equation which equates the more eective fan performance characteristics to the more realistic
losses, i.e.
KFs Krec Khe ahe vhe =vF 2 ; 5
where Krec is the plenum recovery coecient based on the mean air velocity through the fan
casing. The graphical interpretation of Eq. (5) is shown in Fig. 2.
With the operating point air volume ¯ow rate as well as the velocity pro®le at the heat
exchanger outlet known, the Krec-value of a particular model ACHE can be determined from
Fig. 3. Fan test facility.

Fig. 4. Photographic images of the four axial ¯ow fans tested.
Eq. (5) as follows:

Krec Khe ahe vhe =vF 2 ÿ KFs : 6
3. Experimental equipment
ACHE model tests were conducted in a fan test facility designed according to the
speci®cations of the British Standards Organization BS 848 [6] for type A tests (free inlet, free
outlet). Fig. 3 is a schematic representation of the fan test facility. The volume ¯ow rate is
measured at the calibrated inlet bell mouth (1) having a diameter of 1008 mm. The volume
¯ow rate through the facility is controlled by means of a throttling device (3) with ¯ow
straighteners installed upstream (2) and downstream (4) thereof. Testing over a wider range of
Fig. 5. Experimental set-up showing fan and plenum chamber detail.
air volume ¯ow rates is made possible with the use of a six bladed auxiliary fan (5) with an
outside diameter of 1540 mm located downstream of the throttling device. A third ¯ow
straightener (6) is located downstream of the auxiliary fan to remove the air rotational velocity
component induced by the fan rotor. Flow guide vanes (7) are installed at the inlet of the
settling chamber to distribute the air more evenly. The settling chamber inside dimensions are
4 4 7 m. A set of 3 stainless steel mesh screens (9) is installed within the settling chamber
to ensure a uniform velocity pro®le at the test fan (10) inlet. The outlet of the settling chamber
takes on the form of a 2.5 2.5 m square opening in which fan inlets can be installed for free
outlet tests. The test fan (10) is driven by means of a hydraulic motor (11).
Four dierent eight bladed axial ¯ow fans shown in Fig. 4 were tested during the
investigation. Detail pertaining to fan installation is shown in Fig. 5. The distance between the
fan blade tip trailing edge and the exit of the fan ring (xte) was determined by the fan hub
geometry and diers for each fan. The fan could be axially moved from this position through a
distance (xF) in the upstream direction.
3.1. The S-fan (with and without hub seal)
The S-fan consists of eight narrow chord moulded glass ®bre blades (same as Venter's [7] V-
fan). The blade chord is virtually unchanged in the spanwise direction. The amount of blade
twist increases marginally from the blade tip to the blade root.
Fan casing diameter dFC = 1.542 m

Hub diameter dH = 0.3 m (0.45 m with hub seal)
Tip clearance 4 mm
Blade tip trailing edge position xte = 20 mm
Average chord length c = 119 mm
Rotational speed N = 750 rpm
3.2. The B-fan
The B-fan was designed by Bruneau [8] and makes use of a NACA LS blade cross-sectional
pro®le. In general the fan can be described as a medium chord fan with both the blade chord
and twist increasing from the blade tip reaching a maximum at the blade root close to the hub.
The B-fan blades are molded glass ®bre blades with a very smooth surface ®nish.

Hub diameter dH = 0.4 m
Tip clearance 4 mm
3.3. The DL-fan
The DL-fan is a broad chord fan with a very slight increase in blade chord at the blade root.
Virtually no increase in blade twist occurs. The DL-fan blades are cast aluminium blades with
a relatively rough surface ®nish.

Tip clearance 4 mm
3.4. The DS-fan
The DS-fan belongs to the same series as the DL-fan. Although it makes use of the same
blade cross-sectional pro®le it is not a geometrical scale model of the DL-fan. The basic blade
description is the same as for the DL-fan.

Tip clearance 3 mm
Fig. 6. Heat exchanger ®nned tube detail: type EE ®nned tube (top), type ER ®nned tube (bottom).

In addition to the four fans a number of heat exchangers are used in the investigation.
Detail pertaining to the dierent heat exchanger ®nned tubes is shown in Fig. 6. Finned tubes
with an elliptical tube and elliptical ®n cross-sectional area (type EE ®nned tubes) as well as
®nned tubes with an elliptical tube and rectangular ®n cross-sectional area (type ER ®nned
Fig. 7. Cross-sectional view of heat exchanger EA.

tubes) are used to construct these heat exchangers. The ER type ®nned tubes are available in
two ®n pitches, 2.5 mm and 4 mm. The following heat exchangers were constructed:
(1) Heat exchanger EA

This heat exchanger, shown in Fig. 7, has a frontal area of 1.6 1.9 m and consists of a
single row of type EE ®nned tubes. The tubes have a length of 1.6 m. To increase the ¯ow
resistance of the heat exchanger, lengths of aluminium angles can be ®tted in the slots created
between the ®nned tubes on the downstream side of the heat exchanger.
(2) Heat exchanger A

This heat exchanger with a frontal area of 1.64 1.9 m consists of two rows ER type ®nned
tubes. The ®rst row of ®nned tubes has a ®n pitch of 4 mm and the second row, staggered with
respect to the ®rst row, a ®n pitch of 2.5 mm.
(3) Heat exchanger B

Apart from having a frontal area of 1.9 1.9 m this heat exchanger is identical to heat
exchanger A.
(4) Heat exchanger C

This heat exchanger has a frontal area of 1.64 1.9 m and consists of a singular row of type
ER ®nned tubes with a ®n pitch of 4 mm.
(5) Heat exchanger D

This heat exchanger has a frontal area of 1.64 1.9 m and consists of a singular row of type
ER ®nned tubes with a ®n pitch of 2.5 mm.
Table 1
Model ACHEs evaluated during the course of the experimental investigation
Model ACHE Fan Heat exchanger AFC/Afr
1 S EA 0.614
2 DS C 0.394
3 DS D 0.394
4 DL A 0.599
5 S A 0.599
6 B A 0.599
7 DL B 0.517
8 DS A 0.394
9 B B 0.517
10 DS B 0.340
Fig. 8. Fan system volume ¯ow rate as a function of plenum chamber depth.
Fig. 9. Krec as a function of plenum depth.

Fig. 10. ahe as a function of plenum chamber depth.
Fig. 11. (xhe/dFC)crit as a function of Khe.

Fig. 12. ahe as a function of Khe at the critical plenum chamber depth.
Fig. 13. Krec as a function of Khe at the critical plenum chamber depth.
Fig. 14. Orientation of heat exchanger EA with (a) ®ns parallel and (b) at an angle to the incoming ¯ow.
4. Experimental procedure
The fan and heat exchanger isothermal performance characteristics were ®rst determined
making use of the fan test facility. The fan blade tip speeds of the dierent fans were restricted
to 60 m/s to avoid the generation of excessive noise levels. To determine the heat exchanger
normal ¯ow pressure drop characteristics it was necessary to remove the test fan as well as the
fan ring and casing of the fan test facility. Removal of the fan ring left a rectangular opening
in the end wall of the settling chamber. A rectangular section of ducting joined to the settling
chamber end wall by means of a rectangular inlet rounding was subsequently installed at the
Fig. 15. Heat exchanger EA oblique ¯ow characteristics.

settling chamber exit. The heat exchanger was placed in the section of ducting and air was
forced through the test facility by means of the auxiliary fan. The pressure drop across the
heat exchanger was then measured at dierent volume ¯ow rates.
To construct a model ACHE the rectangular section of ducting incorporating the heat
exchanger was attached to the the fan ring at the outlet of the test fan of the fan test facility.
Fig. 5 shows the detail of this set-up. The operating point air volume ¯ow rate and fan power
consumption were determined for every model ACHE tested. In addition the velocity pro®le at
the heat exchanger exit was measured at the model ACHE operating point by traversing a
1.9 m sta with 8 evenly spaced propeller anemometers across the heat exchanger outlet.
The dierent fan-heat exchanger combinations were carefully selected to ensure that every
model ACHE operated close to the point of maximum fan static eciency as shown in Fig. 2.
All fans exhibit a maximum fan static eciency between 50 and 55%.
5. Results and discussion
The cross-sectional area of the plenum chamber is predetermined by the frontal area of the
heat exchanger. A change in the plenum chamber geometry is consequently aected with a
change in the plenum chamber depth, xhe. A number of dierent model ACHE were evaluated
over a range of plenum chamber depths ranging from 0.15 to 1.1 fan casing diameters. These
model ACHEs, listed in Table 1, are characterized by the particular fan±heat exchanger
combination used as well as the ratio of the fan area to the heat exchanger frontal area
referred to as the fan to heat exchanger area ratio, de®ned as
2
AFC =Afr p=4 dFC =Afr : 7
The ACHE performance characteristics at the operating point are represented by the measured
volume ¯ow rate expressed as a percentage value of the conservative volume ¯ow rate
calculated according to Eq. (1), the ahe-value determined from the velocity distribution
measured at the heat exchanger exit according to Eq. (4), the Krec-value calculated according to
Eq. (6) and the heat exchanger normal ¯ow loss coecient, Khe.
The in¯uence of a variation in the plenum chamber depth on the ACHE performance
characteristics is shown in Figs. 8±10 where the plenum chamber depth is expressed as a
plenum depth to fan casing diameter ratio, xhe/dFC. Figs. 8 and 9 reveal that a reduction of the
plenum chamber depth has a small in¯uence on the volume ¯ow rate percentage and Krec-
value, respectively, until a minimum critical plenum chamber depth to fan casing diameter
ratio, (xhe/dFC)crit, is reached. A further reduction in plenum chamber depth results in a severe
decrease in the volume ¯ow rate percentage as well as the Krec-value. The ahe-value data of
Fig. 10 shows an increase with a reduction in plenum chamber depth. The tendencies of the
data displayed in Figs. 8±10 were observed for all the fan-heat exchanger combinations tested.
Fig. 11 displays the (xhe/dFC)crit-values of the dierent ACHEs tested as a function of the
heat exchanger normal ¯ow loss coecient, Khe, and Figs. 12 and 13 display the ahe-, and Krec-
value data as a function of Khe respectively at the critical plenum chamber depths of the
individual ACHEs.
Fig. 16. ehe as a function of ahe at the critical plenum chamber depth.
Fig. 11 indicates an increase in the (xhe/dFC)crit-value with a reduction of Khe. There are,
however, too few data points with Khe-values ranging from 7 to 17 to collate the data points.
Dierent types of fans and heat exchangers as well as dierent fan to heat exchanger area
ratios appear to have little in¯uence on the (xhe/dFC)crit-value. An (xhe/dFC)crit-value of 0.3 for
Khe-values ranging from 15 to 25 is recommended for design purposes.
ACHEs 1 and 5 listed in Table 1 make use of the S-fan and heat exchangers EA and A,
respectively. When considering the fan to heat exchanger area ratio data displayed in Table 1
and the (xhe/dFC)crit-value data of Fig. 11 it is clear that the two ACHEs display near identical
plenum chamber dimensions. Although the Khe-values of the two ACHEs shown in Fig. 11 are
seen to fall within the same range, the experimental results contained in Figs. 12 and 13
indicate that the Krec- and ahe-value of ACHE 1 are markedly higher than the corresponding
values for ACHE 5. The only signi®cant physical dierence between the two ACHEs is
observed in the respective heat exchanger inlet geometries.
The loss coecient, Khey, of heat exchanger EA was subsequently determined at dierent
inlet air ¯ow angles with the ®ns of the ®nned tubes parallel as well as at an angle to the
incoming ¯ow as shown in Fig. 14. Fig. 15 displays Khey as a function of the bundle included
angle, y. The Khey-data in the case where the ®ns of the ®nned tubes are at an angle to the
incoming ¯ow compares well with the results presented by Van Aarde and KroÈger [9]. In the
instance where the ®ns of the ®nned tubes are parallel to the incoming ¯ow the Khey-value is
signi®cantly lower in the range of included angles between 608 and 1808 than the
corresponding Khey-value at an included angle of 1808 which corresponds to normal ¯ow
conditions. In a heat exchanger consisting of more than one row of ®nned tubes such as heat
exchanger A, the dierence in the Khey-data with the ®nned tube ®ns at an angle and parallel
to the ¯ow is expected to be small. These results indicate that the heat exchanger inlet
geometry could signi®cantly in¯uence plenum ¯ow losses but has little in¯uence on the critical
plenum chamber depth.
Although the ACHE utilizing heat exchanger EA has a high Krec-value the velocity
distribution measured at the outlet of heat exchanger EA indicates a central area of
recirculating ¯ow that will have an adverse eect on the thermal performance of the heat
exchanger.
Fig. 12 indicates that the ahe-values of the ACHEs tested increase with a reduction of the
Khe-values in the range 25 to 5. A slight dependency on the fan to heat exchanger area ratio is
also noted. The type of fan used by the individual ACHEs is seen to have no measurable
in¯uence on the ahe-value data. The ahe-value data (excluding the model ACHE 1 data) is
consequently correlated as a linear function of the heat exchanger normal ¯ow loss coecient
and the fan to heat exchanger area ratio as shown in Fig. 14.
The Krec-data of Fig. 13 indicates the complex nature of the air ¯ow ®eld and consequently
the kinetic energy recovery within the plenum chamber. Although it is not possible to collate
the Krec-data some general observations can be made. The change in the Krec-value due to a
change in fan to heat exchanger area ratio for a speci®c fan, whilst the Khe-value remains
nearly unchanged, is 0.074, 0.272 and 0.007 for the DS-, B- and DL-fans respectively. From
the above it follows that the B-fan is more sensitive to a change in fan to heat exchanger area
ratio than the DS- and DL-fan. There is a slight indication that the Krec-value increases as the
Khe-value is decreased although too little experimental data is available for a conclusive
statement to be made. A Krec-value of 0.3 for Khe-values ranging from 15 to 25 is
recommended for design purposes.
Earlier mention was made of the fact that the test fan could be axially moved in the fan
casing through a distance xF in the upstream direction. It was found that the volume ¯ow rate
percentage, Krec-value and ahe-value for a particular fan-heat exchanger combination at a
certain plenum chamber depth were unaected by an axial movement of up to 100 mm of the
fan in the upstream direction.
Although the model tests conducted were for isothermal ¯ow conditions, it is possible to
calculate the heat rejected by the heat exchanger under non-isothermal ¯ow conditions through
the implementation of applicable heat transfer correlations. The heat exchanger eectiveness
due to the maldistribution of air ¯ow is de®ned as
emal Quni =Qmal ; 8
where Quni is the calculated amount of heat rejected when assuming a uniform velocity
distribution through the heat exchanger and Qmal is the calculated amount of heat rejected
when taking the velocity pro®le through the heat exchanger into consideration.
Fig. 16 displays emal as a linear function of ahe at the critical plenum chamber depth of the
dierent ACHEs evaluated. The S-fan, heat exchanger EA combination is not included due to
an area of recirculating ¯ow through the heat exchanger. The average velocity through the
dierent heat exchangers range from 3 to 5 m/s which is in good agreement with operational
ACHEs. The results indicate that the adverse eect of ¯ow maldistribution on the amount of
heat rejected by the heat exchanger is small.
6. Conclusions
There exists a de®nite (xhe/dFC)crit-value for all ACHEs tested below which the ACHE
performance characteristics are adversely aected. There are indications that the (xhe/dFC)crit-
value increases with a reduction in the heat exchanger normal ¯ow loss coecient, Khe. The
(xhe/dFC)crit-value is indierent to the type of fan or heat exchanger used as well as dierent
fan to heat exchanger area ratios in the range 0.340 to 0.614. An (xhe/dFC)crit-value of 0.3 for
Khe-values ranging from 15 to 25 is recommended for design purposes.
The experimental results further indicate that the heat exchanger inlet geometry could
signi®cantly in¯uence the plenum chamber performance characteristics. There is, however, too
little experimental data available to formulate any design recommendations.
The ahe-values of the ACHEs tested are an approximately linear function in the range of
Khe-values and the fan to heat exchanger area ratios of the individual ACHEs tested. The ahe-
value for a particular ACHE can be determined according to the expression and limits
presented in Fig. 12.
The Krec-data of Fig. 13 indicates the complex nature of the ¯ow ®eld within the plenum
chamber. Some fan types are seen to be more sensitive to changes in the fan to heat exchanger
area ratio and this sensitivity is re¯ected in the Krec-data. A Krec-value of 0.3 for Khe-values
between 15 and 25 is recommended for design purposes.
The heat exchanger eectiveness due to the maldistribution of air ¯ow, emal, can be
approximated as a linear function of the ahe-values. The calculated results indicate that the
eect of air maldistribution on the performance of a well-designed ACHE is small.
References
[1] American Petroleum Institute, Air-cooled heat exchangers for general re®nery services. API Standard 661,
Washington, DC, USA, 1987.
[2] F.L. Rubin, Design of air-cooled heat exchangers, Chemical Engineering 68 (1960) 91±96.
[3] P.C. Lambert, G.H. Cowan, T.R. Bott, Flow characteristics in a box-shaped plenum chamber associated with
an air-cooled heat exchanger. AERE-R 7450, Atomic Energy Research Establishment, Chemical Engineering
Division, Harwell, Berkshire, England, 1972.
[4] J.T. Turner, The aerodynamics of forced draught air-cooled heat exchangers. International Symposium on
Cooling Systems, BHRA Fluid Engineering, Cran®eld, 1975, pp. 81±99.
[5] C.M.B. Russell, R.J. Berryman, The calculation of pressure losses in air-cooled heat exchanger air inlets and
plenum chambers, ASME, Heat transfer Division, HTD Vol. 96 (1988) 429±434.
[6] British Standards Institution, Methods of testing performance. Fans for general purposes, Part I, BS 848, 1980.
[7] S.J. Venter, D.G. KroÈger, An evaluation of methods to predict the system eect present in air-cooled heat
exchangers, Heat Recovery Systems & CHP 11 (5) (1991) 431±440.
[8] P.R.P. Bruneau, The design of a single rotor axial ¯ow fan for cooling tower application. M.Eng. thesis,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Stellenbosch, Republic of South Africa, 1994.
[9] D.J. Van Aarde, D.G. KroÈger, Flow losses through an array of A-frame heat exchangers, Heat transfer
Engineering 14 (1) (1993) 43±51.

Influencias Caracteristicas Ventilador

Caricato da

Informazioni sul documento

Titolo originale

Copyright

Formati disponibili

Condividi questo documento

Condividi o incorpora il documento

Opzioni di condivisione

Hai trovato utile questo documento?

Questo contenuto è inappropriato?

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

Influencias Caracteristicas Ventilador

Caricato da

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

PERGAMON Applied Thermal Engineering 18 (1998) 875±893

Plenum chamber ¯ow losses in forced draught air-cooled

1359-4311/98/$19.00 # 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fig. 1. Forced draught air-cooled heat exchanger.

Fig. 2. ACHE operating point.

Fig. 3. Fan test facility.

Fig. 4. Photographic images of the four axial ¯ow fans tested.

Eq. (5) as follows:

Fig. 5. Experimental set-up showing fan and plenum chamber detail.

3.1. The S-fan (with and without hub seal)

Fan casing diameter dFC = 1.542 m

3.2. The B-fan

Fan casing diameter dFC = 1.542 m

3.3. The DL-fan

Fan casing diameter dFC = 1.542 m

3.4. The DS-fan

Fan casing diameter dFC = 1.250 m

Blade tip trailing edge position xte = 35 mm

Fig. 7. Cross-sectional view of heat exchanger EA.

(1) Heat exchanger EA

(2) Heat exchanger A

(3) Heat exchanger B

(4) Heat exchanger C

(5) Heat exchanger D

Fig. 9. Krec as a function of plenum depth.

Fig. 10. ahe as a function of plenum chamber depth.

Fig. 11. (xhe/dFC)crit as a function of Khe.

Fig. 15. Heat exchanger EA oblique ¯ow characteristics.

5. Results and discussion

Potrebbero piacerti anche