SENSIBLE AND LATENT-HEAT TRANSFER TO A BAFFLED FINNED-TUBE HEAT-EXCHANGER

A straightforward heat exchanger thermal model is presented and verified experimentally. It may be used to predict the performance of a coil that has condensation occurring on the gas side. Experimentally determined heat and mass transfer coefficients are employed in the model. Sample data are presented for a wide range of surface wetting conditions. Partially wet heat exchangers are analyzed by employing an area weighting scheme to the dry and wet portions of the coil with moderate success. It is shown that employing a heat / mass transfer analogy in predicting the performance of a condensing heat exchanger may lead to a considerably undersized coil design.