OPTIMAL PROFILE FOR A FIN OF CONSTANT CROSS SECTION WITH MODELATION OF THE THERMOPHYSICAL PROPERTIES

Abstract

The dependence of the temperature and composition on thermal conductivity of steel, and its influence in the optimal profile for a fin of constant cross section to be used in air cooled condenser is presented. In Air Cooled Condensers (ACC), air is used as refrigerant, which forces the need for fins to improve the heat transfer process leading to appreciable increments in the costs of the installation. Therefore, developing better fins profile will allow optimizing the operation, maximizing the heat transfer and minimizing the manufacturing cost of the fins. To this objective, in the present paper, three geometric parameters, thickness, height and surface of heat transfer of the fin, this parameters influence directly the optimal obtained profile for conditions of maximum heat flux and optimal Biot number. The study was accomplished for fins of constant cross section. In a future work, fins of variable cross sections will be considered.