Pressure Drop Across Finned Cylinders Enclosed in a Jacket

The pressure drop across finned cylinders in a jacket for a range of air speeds from approximately 13 to 230 miles per hour has been investigated. Tests were made to determine the effect on the pressure drop of changes in fin space, fin width, jacket entrance and exit areas, skirt-approach radius, and the use of fillets and a separator plate at the rear of the cylinder. The pressure drop across the cylinder increased as the fin space decreased, the increase being very rapid at fin spaces smaller than approximately 0.20 inch. Fin width had little effect on the pressure drop for the range of widths tested. The pressure drop across the cylinder was nearly halved by increasing the skirt-approach radius from 3/4 inch to 1-1/4 inches, but fillets and a separator plate at the rear of the cylinder had little effect on the pressure drop. The pressure drop across a cylinder with tapered fins was greater than that for a cylinder having rectangular fins with the same effective fin spacing.