AT-2486 (RP-155) -- Heat, Mass and Momentum Transfer Data for Five Plate-Fin-Tube Heat Transfer Surfaces PDF

The data presented has resulted from an ongoing study of the combined processes of heat, mass, and momentum transport. An earlier paper by McQuiston (1) reported similar work for a parallel plate exchanger which showed the general behavior of the processes. A paper to follow will develop general heat, mass, and friction coefficient correlations for both wet and dry surface conditions.

Experimental data for five heat exchangers with fin spacings of 4, 8, 10, 12, and 14 fins per inch are given. Each surface was tested with a dry surface condition using hot water and air; with a wet surface under film type condensation; and with a wet surface under drop type condensation. The air stream was flowing downward through the exchanger. The latter tests used chilled water and air.

The presence of moisture on the surface generally influenced all of the coefficients except at low Reynolds numbers where the j factors for dry and wet surfaces were in reasonable agreement. The trends were quite similar to the results for the parallel plate exchanger (1).