A Low Fin Tube is formed by passing a tube through a set of rollers that form the fins from the parent material of the tube by making it flow in the desired way.
This method of construction is very different from cutting grooves onto the tube as is often done by people who are on the lookout for a shortcut or who don’t know any better.
This type of tube can also be internally grooved.
Advantages:
- It can increase the area on the shell side to about 3 times that of a bare tube. This is especially useful when the shell side heat transfer coefficient is lower.
- It’s an extremely efficient configuration as the fin and tube are integral to one another.
Advantage in Condensing Fluid Applications:
Normally, a condensate forms a static film on a tube impeding further heat transfer. Think of a situation where you pour ice cold water into a tumbler. You’ll find that a condensate film forms on its outer surface. On wiping the film clean, one notices another film form shortly. So every time the film is disrupted, more heat transfer is allowed to take place. This makes a pretty good case for removing condensate film to increase the quantum of heat transfer.
Because a Low Fin Tube has a serrated surface, the condensate forms droplets which fall off intermittently (on account of gravity), repeating the process till the heat transfer objective is met, which wouldn’t be the case with a static film.
This self-cleaning feature makes a Low Fin Tube the automatic tube of choice for condensing applications as its resultant heat transfer capability by preventing static film formation is appreciably higher.
Possible Material:
- Copper
- Cupro Nickel
- Aluminium/ Admiralty Brass
- Carbon Steel
Fins per inch: 19 & 26 FPI
We have designed Low Fin Tubes in Carbon Steel for applications in Ammonia Condensers where copper tubes cannot be used.