Sterling TT - Air Coolers
Air coolers to cool the air intake of your process. Air is used as an integral part of process arrangements. The temperature of the air supplied must be carefully controlled to optimise the efficiency of a process. We can cool your airstream to do so.
What you can expect from Sterling Thermal Technology
- Design expertise – We have configured a wide range of air coolers based on different process requirements and parameters. Our design engineers have a wealth of experience of cooling applications across all industry sectors.
- Considering the environment – Where cooling air is drawn directly from the surrounding atmosphere, we review environmental data of the site to recommend the appropriate materials for the individual application.
- Matching your requirements – We calculate a range of operating conditions. As a result, we ensure the equipment response is optimum, and we produce designs that respond to your process fluctuations.
A typical example of an air cooler is used in the power generation industry to cool the intake air for a gas turbine. A gas turbine draws combustion air from the surroundings through a filtered intake. The power generation capability of the gas turbine depends on the weight of the supplied air. Cooling the air increases its density allowing the turbine to generate more power.
Cooling is supplied via the chilled water supply. The finned tube cooling coil can be located either upstream or downstream of the filters. Upstream, we must consider the environmental conditions. The reason is that the airstream could contain insects or vegetable matter. These could foul the exchanger surfaces. With downstream positioning, the designer has more flexibility in configuring the most efficient finned surface.
In this application, an important factor is an even outlet temperature across the whole cooler face area. We consider this in the design phase by carefully configuring the coolant flow paths. Review using CFD has proved to be a useful tool in confirming appropriate temperature distribution on the downstream side of the cooler.