AIR- COOLER MODELING

AND
ANALYSIS
 AIR-COOLED HEAT EXCHANGER
INTRODUCTION

 Air Cooled Heat exchangers are

used when process system heat
needs to be removed from the
fluid with the help of Air.

 The cooling effect is caused by air,

which is provided by means of one
or more fans.

 The Air Coolers are usually

mounted on top of pipe rack or at
a higher elevation
 AIR-COOLED HEAT EXCHANGER
INTRODUCTION

• Forced draft or Induced draft.

• Forced Draught: Air is pushed
through the Tube Bundles. The
Fans are located below the tube
bundles.
• Induced Draught: Air is pulled
through the Tube Bundles. The
Fans are located Above the Tube
Bundles.
• The space between the fans and
the tube bundle is enclosed by a
plenum chamber which directs
the air.
• Tubes can be of Carbon steel,
Stainless steel, or Admiralty
brass.
 AIR-COOLED HEAT EXCHANGER
INTRODUCTION

HEADER BOX

 These are welded rectangular

boxes.

 Majority of the header boxes are of

plug type.

 The other common type of header

is the Cover plate or Bonnet type.

 These headers are usually

constructed by Carbon steel or
Stainless steel.
STANDARDS USED FOR AIR-COOLED
HEAT EXCHANGERS

 All Air coolers are built to

Section VIII of the ASME
code, Since they fall under
the category of pressure
vessels.

 API 661 (Air- Cooled Heat

Exchangers For General
Refinery Service).
Modeling Of An Air Cooler
Procedure:
 Get the vendor drawing.

 Identify your nozzle location.

 Find the fixed side and sliding side of the equipment.

 Get the empty Tube bundle weight ,from the vendor drawing.

 Calculate the Tube bundle weight with fluid density for that process using the formula
(Density = Mass/volume).

 Get the weights of the both Front and Rear Plug header.

 Total weight of Bundle = Tube bundle weight +Front Plug Header box weight +Rear Plug
Header box weight.

 Loads at each corner= (Total weight of bundle)/(No. of support points)

Tube Bundle
Front header box
Rear header box
Modeling of an Air cooler…(contd)

 Model the bundle as a Rigid element with, Diameter = 100” and

Thickness = 10 mm (or more), and feed the Temperature as Average
temperature of Inlet and Outlet temperature of process fluid. (If Inlet and
Outlet are on opposite sides)
 Then model a Rigid element of 1mm from the point were the bundle rests,
and give the distributed weight at the end of that rigid.
 Fixed side of the Tube bundle is arrested by Rest +Stop +Rotation (Rx or
Rz) about the axis in which the Header Box is oriented.
 The sliding side is arrested by Rest alone.
 Both the Rests of fixed side and sliding side of the air cooler are to be
provided with sliding plate.
 The nozzle can be modeled as a Rigid Element to get the force and moments.
Modeling Of An Air Cooler –
Inlet / Outlet Nozzle on Opposite Side
 If the Inlet and Outlet nozzles fall on the opposite side (Single pass).
then it is necessary to model the entire Air cooler bundle , as discussed.
Modeling of Air Cooler
Modeling of Air Cooler

Rest +Stop(X)+ Rz

Rest
Modeling of Air Cooler
Modeling Of Air Cooler –
Inlet / Outlet Nozzle On Same Side
 If the Inlet and Outlet nozzles fall
on the same side (Double pass).
then it is not necessary to model
the entire Air cooler bundle.

 Only the header box needs to be

modeled along with the nozzles.

 However, the weight given at the

support points will be as follows:
Load at each support point =
(Total Weight of Air-Cooler) / (Total
No. of Support points)
Modeling of Air Cooler – Fixed Inlet and
Floating Outlet
 If the fluid temperature difference between the inlet and outlet of a multi-pass bundle
exceeds 110’c,Air cooler is constructed as U-tube.
 The inlet and outlet will be on same side, but on different header boxes.
 The inlet header box is fixed, while outlet header box is floating.
Modeling of Air Cooler – Fixed Inlet and
Floating Outlet

Tube Bundle
Modeling of Air Cooler – Fixed Inlet and
Floating Outlet
For Inlet
 Total no. of tubes = 123
 Dia of each tube = 31.75mm,Thickness of each tube (t) = 2.413mm
 Moment of Inertia = pi x R3 x t
 For single tube = pi x (14.6685)^3 x 2.413
= 23925.68 mm4
 Moment of inertia for inlet tube bundle = 23925.68 x 123
= 2942858 mm4
= 0.2942 x 107 mm4
 This moment of inertia corresponds to a pipe of following details
Diameter = 5” pipe and thickness= 2.77mm
Modeling of Air Cooler – Fixed Inlet and
Floating Outlet
For Outlet
 Total no. of tubes = 41
 Dia of each tube = 31.75mm,Thickness of each tube (t) = 2.413mm
 Moment of Inertia = pi x R3 x t
 For single tube = pi x (14.6685)^3 x 2.413
= 23925.68 mm4
 Moment of inertia for outlet tube bundle = 23925.68 x 41
= 980952.92 mm4
= 0.0980952 x 10^7 mm4
 This moment of inertia corresponds to a pipe of following details
Diameter = 3” pipe and thickness= 3.76mm
Modeling of Air Cooler – Fixed Inlet and
Floating Outlet
Analysis of Air Cooler

The Analysis should be done considering for:

 Maximum operating conditions,

 Alternate operating conditions,
 When fans are not operating.
 The nozzle loads can be solved for API 661 standard nozzle
allowable ’s.
 The nozzle loads should be solved by considering With-Friction
as well as Without Friction of the piping system.
Analysis of Air Cooler

• If the inlet and outlet nozzle are at same side of the header
(Double pass) as mentioned earlier, header check as well
as bay check should be done.
• This can be done using an Excel sheet.

Excel sheet
for
Header Check
Thank you