Influence of the outlet air temperature on the thermohydraulic behaviour of air coolers
The determination of the optimal process conditions for the operation of air coolers demands a detailed analysis of their thermohydraulic behaviour on the one hand, and the estimation of the operating costs, on the other. One of the main parameters of the thermohydraulic behaviour of this type of equipment, is the outlet air temperature. The influence of the outlet air temperature on the performance of air coolers (heat transfer coefficient overall heat transfer coefficient, required surface area for heat transfer air-side pressure drop, fan power consumption and sound pressure level) was investigated in this study. All the computations, using AirCooler software [1], were applied to cooling of the process fluid and the condensation of a multicomponent vapour mixture on two industrial devices of known geometries.