AC-21 Development of Enhancements for Air-cooled Condensers
Under the sponsorship of the RAPID Institute, HTRI investigated the use of fluttering reed and acoustic actuation technologies to enhance the performance of air-cooled condensers. Performed on a “radiator-sized” brazed plate-fin test exchanger in the Scaled-down Air Cooler Unit (SACU), testing demonstrated that the fluttering reed technology enhances heat transfer despite imperfect flow passages. While HTRI recommends further optimization of the technology, fluttering reeds are ready for industrial implementation in selected applications. However, the acoustic actuator technology did not improve performance for a condensing application with mixed refrigerants. Additional work is needed to establish an operating envelope. Both technologies are worthy of continuing development for application to traditional geometries of process heat exchangers.