Finned tubes for
enhanced heat exchangers

Types of finned tubes

Each of the below products has its own strengths. Our Applications team would work with you to select the best for the job.

Elfin fins (Sterling TT’s proprietary technology)

Elfin offers a broad array of geometries and surfaces, making it ideal for refurbishment and upgrade. It’s also suitable for arduous environments due to the robust fin interference fit.

nElfin fins (Sterling TT’s proprietary technology)

nElfin fins are a technical improvement of a plain Elfin bringing higher thermal efficiency and capabilities to operate at extremely high temperatures.

HEI fins (Sterling TT’s proprietary technology)

HEI has limited geometries and surface enhancements but offers very economical solutions for a wide range of air and machine cooling applications.

LL-fins

LL fins, also known as low-finned tubes or longitudinal low fins, are a type of fins characterised by their low profile and extended surface area, which improves heat transfer efficiency while maintaining a compact design.

T-fins

T-fins have a T-shaped cross-section. This shape allows for greater surface area and improved heat transfer efficiency without significantly increasing the volume or weight of the heat exchanger.

Spiral and helical wound finned tubes

Spiral wound finned tubes feature fins that are spirally wound around the outside of the tube. Helical wound finned tubes are like spiral wound tubes, but the fins are wound in a helical (screw-like) pattern around the tube.

Integon

In these tubes the fins are rolled out from the wall of the tubes and are integral with the tube.

Finned tubes in heat exchangers

Sterling TT offers the integration of a range of extended surfaces to encourage more efficient heat transfer within a heat exchanger. We have developed our own technology, Elfin and nElfin finned tubes, to provide the most effective solution for your needs. We can combine any tube diameter and wall thickness, fin pitch, and a range of materials (e.g. copper-alloys, stainless steel, aluminium, and titanium).

Whether your objective is commercial, cost of ownership, lifetime, reliability, or any of the above, our heat exchangers are custom designed to help achieve it.

Call or email Sterling TT and tell us about your needs.

How we enhance our finned tubes

When designing a heat exchanger with extended fins, it is crucial to consider the thermal efficiency on both the tube side and the finned side of the unit and endeavour to balance the two. The designer will choose the surfaces carefully to ensure maximum heat transfer within the constraints of the available pressure drop allowed in the process design.

Our engineers would look at the specifics of your application and consider various factors, such as:

• heat transfer efficiency
• the impact of fluid viscosity under varying operating conditions
• potential for fouling

Benefits of finned tubes

• Increased heat transfer coefficient
  By increasing surface area, a fin increases conduction and therefore improves the efficiency of the heat exchanger.
  
  
• Reduced equipment size
  Enhanced surfaces lead to a larger heat transfer area being attainable within a smaller equipment footprint. Find out more about compact fin heat exchangers.
  
  
• Optimised surface temperatures
  One way to improve efficiency is to increase the temperature gradient. However, increasing surface area is an effective alternative where the cost and sensitivity of materials limit temperature manipulation. Fins, therefore, ensure that temperature-sensitive materials can be processed efficiently.
  
  
• Reduced fouling
  Our expertise of vortex clean air technology reduces pressure loss and fin fouling. This means lower maintenance costs and reduced energy consumption.

Applications

Finned tube heat exchangers suitable for most industries and applications. Whilst each design incorporates components of the highest quality, they are integrated into unique products – from small batches to significant manufacturing runs.

Extended surfaces are often incorporated into heat exchangers since thermal performance on each side of the tube is unlikely to be identical. One side or the other is treated with enhancements to balance thermal transfer. This is most notably required when there is an imbalanced flow, thermal capacity (particularly between fluids and gas), and temperature differentials are small.

A finned heat exchanger success story

The problem

A chemical production plant in the North of England wanted to replace the cores of their existing wire-wound fin air blast coolers. Because they were frequently fouling they needed frequent cleaning, which was damaging the fins and degrading the performance.

The solution: Elfin technology

The client chose Sterling Thermal Technology’s Elfin technology because it combines robust construction and high thermal performance.

We supplied new Elfin cores matching the original material specifications but with the alternative fin construction.

Leading performance and durability

Our customer reported that our units were performing very well and were highly effective. So much so that they compensated for the under-performance of the remaining original finned tube heat exchangers on the same system.

Most importantly, the integrity of the Elfin block eliminated the previous issues of fin damage that frequent cleaning for de-fouling had caused. Unlike many other fin types, you can clean Elfin blocks using a commercial high-pressure water jet.

Like this customer, we think a vast range of processes can benefit from our high-performance finned tubes.

Are you looking for a partner for finned tubes in heat exchangers?

Are you an original equipment manufacturer or an end-user of heat exchangers in your facility? We can help upgrade or replace existing heat exchangers with superior products that include enhanced fins.

If you want to take advantage of our enhanced, finned heat exchangers to improve efficiency, don’t hesitate to contact us.