FIN TUBE HEAT EXCHANGER

Objective

To determine the efficiency of a given longitudinal fin and compare it with the theoretical value 

Apparatus

 Tube with longitudinal fins

 Bare tube (tube without fins)
 Steam generator to generate steam at constant pressure. The steam generator is also provided
with a temperature indicator cum controller and a dead weight safety valve.
 Figure 1. Schematic of Experimental Setup

Theory

The heat transfer rate according to the Newton’s law of cooling is given as:

Q=h A Δ T

where, h = surface heat transfer coefficient.

A = area available for heat transfer (basically convection),
ΔT = change in temperature

Since it is clear from this equation that the rate of heat transfer must increase with the increase in
the total area accessible for heat transfer, the idea of enlarged surfaces or fins is used. Fins are
simply exterior surfaces that are affixed to a surface in order to increase the area accessible for
convection, which in turn raises the overall rate of heat transfer from an object's surface.

The finned tube heat exchanger's tubes, which are intended to lose heat to the ambient air,
continue to carry hot water. The rate of heat transmission in this scenario is determined by the
overall heat transfer resistance, which is influenced by the heat transfer coefficients of air and
water as well as the thermal conductivity and tube diameters.

1 1 X 1
= + +
U i A i hi A i K A h 0 A 0
 
where, Ui is the overall heat transfer coefficient for inner and outer surface.
hi and h0 are the surface heat transfer coefficients for inner and outer surface areas.
Ai and A0 are the inner and outer surface areas.
K is the thermal conductivity of the material of the tubes.
X is the thickness of the tubes.

When compared to the heat transfer coefficient of air, hot water will carry heat at a rate that is
substantially higher. When this happens, accelerating fluid flows to encourage convection has
little impact on heat transfer. Fins are added to the external surfaces of the tubes to increase their
outer surface area and boost the quantity of heat transmission, which is already relatively low, in
order to circumvent this. A tube can only have a certain number of fins; extra fins will alter the
tube's thermal resistance and may worsen rather than help heat transmission across the tube.
 The energy balance at the tube surface yields a differential equation which is solved by assuming
the fins to have an insulated tip, as a result to which the fin efficiency and the fin heat transfer

( )
1
tanh ( mL ) hP 2
rate are calculated. Fin efficiency is calculated by, η fin= , where, m= with the
mL K Ac
parameters, h = surface heat transfer coefficient, P = perimeter of the fin, and Ac = cross-
sectional area.

There are two common fin types: longitudinal fins and transverse fins. Transverse fins are used
when the direction of the fluid flow is across the tube, while longitudinal fins are used when the
direction of the fluid flow is parallel to the tube axis.

Procedure

1. Open both the drain valves, drain out the water from steam generator completely, and close the
valves again.
2. Charge required amount of water through charging valve.
3. Set the required temperature in the generator and wait for the water to reach the specified
temperature of 105 C.0

4. Empty out the condensate once again, and then reclose the valve.
5. Wait for 15 minutes and empty out the condensate from the finned tube completely and measure
the amount of water collected using a measuring cylinder.
6. After 15 minutes, completely empty out both the condensate from finned tube and bare tube
simultaneously, and record the amount of water collected.
7. Now repeat steps 5 and 6 above for one more time.

Observations

Latent heat of water, λ = 540 kcal/kg

Finned Tube - 
 Height of fin, L = 7.5 cm
 Width of fin, w = 50.0 cm
 Thickness of fin, b = 0.30 cm
 Number of fins, N = 4
 Diameter of finned tube, D = 2.5 cm
 Length of finned tube, Lf = 58.0 cm
 Thermal conductivity of fin material, K = 15 kcal/hr-m- C0
 Bare Tube - 
 Length of bare tube, Lb = 58.0 cm
 Diameter of tube, d = 2.5 cm
 Tambient  = 30 C
0

Finned Tube Bare Tube

Amount of Amount of
Obs. condensate collected Time for collection of condensate collected Time for collection of
no (m ), ml
1 condensate(t ), min
f (m ), ml2 condensate (t ), min b

1 93 15
2 82 15 60 30
3 78 15
4 78 15 53 30

Table 1: Recorded data

Calculations

1. Perimeter of fin, P = 2(w + b) = 100.6 cm = 1.006 m

2. Cross-sectional area of fin, A = 0.0015 m2
3. Fin area available for heat transfer, Af = PLN = 0.3018 m2
4. Tube area available for heat transfer in finned tube, Af = (πDLf) – Nbw = 0.0396 m 2

5. Total area of finned tube, AT = AF + Af = 0.3414 m 2

6. Area of the bare tube available for heat transfer, Ab = πdLb = 0.0455 m2

7. Temperature difference, ΔT = Tsteam - Tambient = 75.0 C0

Sample Calculations for reading no. 2:

Q2
1. Film heat transfer coefficient from bare tube, h= =18.99 kcal/hr-m2-0C
A b ΔT

2. m= ( )h P 12
KA
=29.14 m
−1

tanh ( mL )
3. Fin efficiency, η fin= =0.446
mL
4. Amount of heat actually dissipated by fin:  Qfin =Q 1 – ( A b h ΔT )=112.32 kcal/hr
5. Amount of heat that can be dissipated by ideal fin:  Qideal = A f h ΔT =429.82 kcal/hr
Q Actual fin
6. Observed value of fin efficiency: η obs= =0.261
Q ( Ideal fin )
 Obs. Heat Lost by Steam Amount of Heat lost Fin Efficiency
no
Finned Tube(q1) Bare Tube(q2) Actual Fin Ideal Actual Theoretical
Fin

1 200.88 0 200.88 0 NA NA

2 177.12 64.8 112.32 429.816 0.2613 0.4461

3 168.48 0 168.48 0 NA NA

4 168.48 57.24 111.24 379.671 0.2929 0.4711

Table 2: Calculated data

Plot 1: Theoretical and actual fin efficiency

Result

The actual efficiency of the given longitudinal fin was found to be 0.277, while the theoretical
value of fin efficiency was 0.459.

Conclusion

The experimental efficiency is almost half the theoretical efficiency and this could be due to the
other environmental factors and any other errors that might have occurred.

We learned more about heat transport via finned structures as a result of the experiment. It was
observed that the finned tube had far more condensate collected than the naked tube, and as a
result, had significantly more condensation or heat transmission. The experimentally determined
heat transfer values for the finned tube were about 1-2 times higher than those for the bare tube,
confirming our theoretical understanding. Furthermore, we observed the benefits of a finned tube
heat exchanger over a standard heat exchanger.

The waste recovery process depends on the fin tube heat exchanger, which also supports process
improvement. The natural gas industry, oxygen liquefaction facilities, air separation plants,
aviation engines, etc. are just a few of the businesses that use them.

References

https://www.ese.iitb.ac.in/sites/default/files/Finned%20Tube%20Heat%20Exchanger.pdf