The secret to Wire Wound Fin Tube superiority lies within the periodic table.
Copper has a huge leg up over other metals on its thermal conductivity.
The reason Wire Wound Fin tubes are so popular is because they are the most inexpensive way to get Copper on Copper fin tubing as equivalent L Fin Tubing in Copper would be too heavy and hence super expensive as Copper raw material rates are way higher than stainless steel.
The reason they’re lighter is because the wire loops have a lot of free surface area.
The reason they perform so well is because those same wire loops turbulate the air and the solder bond between the loops and the tube conducts heat super efficiently.
We can also make Stainless Steel Wire Fin on Stainless Steel/Carbon Steel Tube or Carbon Steel Wire Fin on Carbon Steel Tube but the performance derating off of Copper is substantial.
Design Capability:
Our design team can rate exchanger performance using Wire Wound Fin Tubes but it’s done with legacy methods outside of regular software which can then be inputted into software through some bridge calculations.
| Copper Wire Wound Fin Tube | L Fin Tube |
|---|---|
| The weight of an L Fin Tube in a Copper-Copper cong is 1.25 times more than a wire wound n tube in Copper. That would result in a more expensive n tube. And as a double whammy performance of the wire wound n tube is up by 7-8% on the Copper L Fin Tube. | The weight of a Copper Wire Wound Fin Tube would be 2.140 kg in a standard 1 inch config which is about 80% of the weight of the L Fin Tube if it were with a Copper Fin and Copper Tube. Plus, weight aside, it also offers about 7-8% more performance for the equivalent Copper L Fin Tube with 11 FPI. |
| Temp limit maxes out at either 180C or 280C depending on the solder used. | Temp limitation is 130C. |
| If you take a Copper Wire Wound Fin Tube and compare its performance with a conventional Carbon Steel Al 11 FPI Fin Tube the performance improvement is in the range of 30-40%. | A conventional L Fin Tube with Carbon Steel Tube and Al Fin would have a much lower performance than a Copper Wire Fin Tube. |
| The Tube and Fin Contact is both metallurgical and mechanical and all fins are in perfect contact with the tube. | Since Fins are stapled at both ends, they’re susceptible to loosen up in operation due to vibrations and other operating conditions. |
| Good corrosion and erosion resistance. Perfect for desert and offshore conditions. | Not great in the corrosion and erosion resistance department. |
| Plot space requirement would be super low. Almost 50% that of an L Fin Tube Cooler. | Much more area needed as compared to a Copper Wire Fin Tube. |
| Tube and Fin joint is way stronger than an L Fin. | Much lower Tube and Fin joint. |
| Super rigid. Can withstand vibration levels up to 7G. | Good for 3G vibration levels max. |
| Heat transfer capacity is tremendous. | Average heat transfer capacity. |