Heat Exchanger to cool temperature of compressed air.

[PaulLag]

Hello everybody

always complex questions.

This time I have to calculate an heat exchanger that cools compressed air.

The main problem I can see is that there are at least two cases

1) case with air dehumidification
2) case without air dehumidification.


I tried to google and looked in the past posts, but I haven't found a satisfactory answer, nor to find a correlation, nor to find a calculation example.

Please, can anybody help me ?

Many thanks

 

[zdas04]

Dehumidifying suction air is really expensive (huge water load that will condense after the after cooler if you leave it alone). Most systems that I see have the drier installed after the after cooler and the discharge scrubber. Generally, doing that will reduce the liquid load by at least one and often two orders of magnitude. The only case I'd run is the without dehumidification.

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

Law is the common force organized to act as an obstacle of injustice Frédéric Bastiat

 

[MintJulep]

Unless you are designing the heat exchanger yourself typically you would provide the inlet and desired outlet conditions to an aftercooler supplier and let them do the calculation.

This

http://www.kaeser.com/Images/P-2010-ED-tcm8-6752.pdf

looks like a reasonable reference.

 

[PaulLag]

many thanks to all, Mr. adas04 and Mr. MintJulep

Unfortunately you are right, I have to calculate the heat exchanger by myself.
This is the reason why I am looking for the correlations and the calculation method.

If someone could help me I would be definitively grateful

Many thanks

 

[willard3]

This sounds very much like a homework problem.

 

[zdas04]

That's why I dropped out, looks that way to me as well.

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

Law is the common force organized to act as an obstacle of injustice Frédéric Bastiat

 

[PaulLag]

Hello

I am afraid this is not an homework problem.
It is a job problem.
All in a all, which school or university can give such problems ?
Please, can anybody help me ?

 

[Anthonycrf450r]

If this is a real world problem, look at vortex coolers.....no heat exchangers required.

 

[crshears]

If this is a job problem, it might make sense to politely ask those in authority over you why they wish to have you do the calculations yourself, likely at greater expense, than would be incurred if this work were outsourced to a firm that specializes in this sort of thing.

If you cannot provide cogent reasons as to why you are making this request, it will become very difficult for this to be regarded as anything other than homework / student posting.

I'm not saying it is; I'm just saying you have to be able to understand why others might think it is.

 

[goutam_freelance]

As user of air compressors I can inform you that usually inter/after coolers are shell and tube type.

You can refer any relevant handbook for formula etc.

 

[zdas04]

Goutamaim,
What industry are you in? I've tried to introduce shell and tube heat exchangers (with produced water as the cooling medium) in Oil & Gas several times and always met with insurmountable resistance. In O&G (onshore) we seem to use fin fan coolers nearly exclusively.

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

Law is the common force organized to act as an obstacle of injustice Frédéric Bastiat

 

[goutam_freelance]

Yes, there is an error. The water cooled air compressors are usually plate type.

Thanks zdas04 !

 

[goutam_freelance]

I mean the water cooled air compressor coolers are usually plate type.