Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop Under Dry and Humid Conditions in Flat-Tube Heat Exchangers With Plain Fins

Flat-tube heat exchangers could be an interesting alternative to make indirect cooling of display cabinets more energy-efficient. This application involves low air velocities in combination with condensation of water vapor on the air side, so plain fins could be suitable. Two different heat exchangers having flat tubes and plain fins on the air side were evaluated experimentally. One of the heat exchangers had continuous plate fins, and the other had serpentine fins. The performances during dry and wet test conditions were compared and related to theoretical predictions for different assumptions. The influence of air velocity, air humidity, and inclination angle was investigated. The results show that, in most cases, the heat transfer performance is somewhat reduced under wet conditions in comparison with dry test conditions, and that wet heat transfer surfaces lead to an increased pressure drop. At the lower air velocity range that was investigated, the heat exchanger having continuous plate fins drained better than the one with serpentine fins.