Fouling adversely affects the efficiency of heat exchangers and
can lead to the premature failure of the heat exchanger. By
selecting appropriate fouling factors at the design stage, an
extra margin of capacity can be provided. Utilizing a smaller
heat exchanger for capital budget reasons, by not taking in to
account fouling factors at the design stage, can represent a
false economy. The effects of reduced heat transfer capacity,
low process yields and more frequent outages, to accommodate
cleaning and extra maintenance, will increase life cycle costs
beyond any initial savings.
The importance of experienced heat exchanger design and a good
understanding of unit failures is paramount to extended product
life.
Significant damage to heat exchanger blocks can then occur as a
result of cleaning by pressure washing, where very often the fins are flatten by contact or the action of water if power washing is used. To rectify this requires hours of manual straightening of the fins to ensure thermal efficiency is not impaired.
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ElfinBlock is assembled without heat, preventing the fins and
tubes from softening during the manufacturing process. The Elfin manufacturing process also supports
harder materials of a thicker gauge should the design requirements call for them.
The very nature of swaging fins onto the tubes means that the leading edge is always of hard fin material protecting tubes from impact damage. It is
therefore perfectly viable to power wash ElfinBlock either in situ or removed from site to clear the fins of any air-side fouling without
significant damage.
The flatness of the fins and the accuracy of their spacing enable the use of vortex generators as fin enhancers. These have the advantage of increasing thermal efficiency with little effect on air-side pressure drop, facilitating less fins per inch and less chance of clogging. This reduces the need to clean the fins and hence the possibility to cause damage. |
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