Finned-tube and tube-in-plate designs that pack more heat transfer surface into a smaller, lower pressure-drop footprint — engineered for gas cooling, compressor inter/aftercooling, and process heat recovery duty.
An extended surface heat exchanger adds fins — longitudinal, transverse, or helical — to the outside of a tube, or sandwiches finned plates between tube rows, to multiply the effective heat transfer area without growing the shell. The result is a compact unit that moves the same thermal duty as a much larger primary-surface shell & tube exchanger, at a fraction of the pressure drop.
Fintelius fabricates both finned-tube bundle and tube-in-plate (plate-fin) designs, with continuous plate-fin support along the full tube length for a vibration-resistant structure, and integrated moisture separation where wet gas streams demand it.
Every extended surface unit follows the same disciplined path through the shop.
Process gas duty is rated and fin type, density, and tube layout are selected to balance heat transfer against allowable pressure drop.
Fins are wound, extruded, or punched onto tubes — or tubes are expanded through continuous plate fins for tube-in-plate construction.
The finned bundle is assembled into its shell or housing with multi-pass tube-side configuration where required.
Integrated or external moisture separators and nozzles are fitted per the process and maintenance access requirements.
Units are pressure-tested, ASME code-stamped where specified, and prepared for shipment.
Fin density (fins per inch) is the single biggest lever on performance — drag the slider to see the trade-off.
Click a construction type to see how it's built and where it's specified.
Tubes pass through a stack of continuous plate fins, which support the full tube length and resist vibration under high gas velocity. Fin spacing from 8 to 20 FPI is punched to the thermal design, in aluminum, coated aluminum, or copper. Integrated silicone rubber seals between passes prevent cross-mixing of inlet and outlet streams, and a built-in or external moisture separator handles condensate as gas cools below its dew point.
Typical envelope: 20″ to 120″ shell diameter, 3′ to 35′ length, 2 or 4 tube-side passes (any even number available), 3/8″ or 5/8″ tube diameter — in carbon steel, 304 stainless, admiralty, or 90/10 & 70/30 copper-nickel.
Individual tubes carry their own fins — wound, extruded, or embedded — assembled into a conventional shell-and-tube style bundle with baffles and support plates. This construction gives the most flexibility in nozzle placement and tube-side pass arrangement, and suits retrofit or replacement bundles matching an existing shell.
Materials span stainless steel, carbon steel, cupro-nickel, copper, and brass tubes with aluminum, coated aluminum, phenolic-coated aluminum, or copper fins — selected against gas composition, moisture content, and corrosion risk.
Fin orientation is chosen for the flow regime: helical (spiral) fins promote turbulence and are common in cross-flow gas cooling; longitudinal fins run parallel to the tube axis and suit double-pipe or annular-flow designs; transverse (circular) fins maximize surface area per unit length for cross-flow bundles in ducted or forced-draft service.
Six standard fin geometries at 16mm, 12mm & 9.5mm tube diameter (smooth or turbulent pattern) cover the majority of gas compression and process cooling duties without a custom tooling charge.
Toggle to see why extended surface wins on footprint, pressure drop, and operating cost for gas cooling duty.
Fin forming, tube expansion, and testing equipment sized for extended surface fabrication.
Helical and longitudinal fin application onto tubes across the standard fin geometry library.
Continuous plate-fin stacks punched to the required FPI and mechanically expanded onto the tube bundle.
Multi-pass tube-side layouts fabricated to the thermal design's flow arrangement.
Cylindrical and rectangular housings fabricated in carbon steel or 304 stainless steel.
Built-in or external moisture separator assemblies fitted for wet gas and condensing service.
Silicone rubber seals and pass partitions preventing cross-contamination between tube-side passes.
Code-qualified welders across carbon steel, stainless, and copper-alloy materials.
Pressure-test stations verifying shell and tube-side integrity before code stamping.
Surface preparation and protective coating applied to specification before dispatch.
Shell and tube-side hydrostatic testing verifies pressure-boundary integrity before dispatch.
Fin bond, spacing, and surface finish inspected to the approved design package.
ASME code stamping and full material traceability documentation where specified.
Centrifugal and reciprocating compressor inter/aftercoolers for large-volume air, nitrogen & process gas cooling.
Gas coolers, dehydration support, and solvent recovery cooling across upstream and midstream facilities.
Compact cooling and dehumidifying coils for process HVAC and industrial refrigeration systems.
Economizer and waste heat recovery duty where footprint and pressure drop are tightly constrained.
Extended surface condensing sections for smaller turbine and process steam condensing applications.
Hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, ammonia condensing, and biogas dehumidification service.