The effect of ionisation of spray in cooling air on the wetting characteristics of finned tube heat exchanger

A major concern when introducing a water spray to pre-cool the air flowing into a finned tube heat exchanger is that wetting of the heat exchanger surface may cause corrosion. In an attempt to prevent droplets from impacting and wetting the heat exchanger, the use of an electrostatically charged spr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied thermal engineering 2005-12, Vol.25 (17), p.3129-3137
Main Authors: Esterhuyse, B.D., Kröger, D.G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air pre-cooling
Air-cooled heat exchangers
Applied sciences
Devices using thermal energy
Droplet evaporation
Electrostatically charged spray
Energy
Energy. Thermal use of fuels
Evaporative cooling
Exact sciences and technology
Heat exchangers (included heat transformers, condensers, cooling towers)
Heat transfer
Theoretical studies. Data and constants. Metering
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Summary:A major concern when introducing a water spray to pre-cool the air flowing into a finned tube heat exchanger is that wetting of the heat exchanger surface may cause corrosion. In an attempt to prevent droplets from impacting and wetting the heat exchanger, the use of an electrostatically charged spray was investigated. Experiments were performed whereby electrostatically charged spray was sprayed on a heat exchanger with an electric charge having the same polarity as the droplets. The results indicated that droplet deposition decreased significantly as the charge on the droplets was increased. However, total prevention of deposition could not be achieved, since the equipment used could not produce high enough voltages. This concept shows some promise, and it is recommended that further research be performed on it.
ISSN:1359-4311
DOI:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2005.04.002