ABSTRACT
In many thermal energy systems, fluids are used to transfer energy between different fluid streams. For example, in an air-conditioning system, a cold fluid circulating through tubes can be used to cool warm air passing over the outside of the tubes. The energy transfer accomplished in this process is heat transfer. The heat transfer is accomplished by conduction through a metal barrier separating the two fluids and convection between the moving fluids and the metal interface. The device that accomplishes this heat transfer is a heat exchanger. In most heat exchangers, convection is achieved by forced flow. The flow can be inside of pipes or tubes, outside of pipes or tubes or between two plates. In a cross flow heat exchanger (CFHX) the hot and cold fluids never contact each other directly. One particular CFHX that is used extensively in many industrial applications is the finned-tube heat exchanger.
