There are dozens of commercially available refrigerant options on the market today, including numerous refrigerant blends, which aim to replicate the effectiveness of former workhorses like R22, the production of which was made illegal as of January of this year. Two popular examples of refrigerants developed in the last 30 years or so that are used in the HVAC industry are R-410A and R-407C. These two refrigerants are often used for similar applications, but they have some marked differences that should be understood and considered when deciding between them.

Want to learn more about some of today's popular refrigerants? Check out the brand new, free SRC Refrigerant Guide!

Systems designed to cool air, whether for HVAC, industrial facilities, or manufacturing operations all have to address it. Failure to address it can lead to botched processes, reduced production, ruined equipment or uncomfortable building occupants. It can be expressed in percentage, lb./lb., wet bulb temperature, or other metrics. The silent “it” is humidity. Put simply, humidity is a measure of the amount of water vapor in the air, and while overlooking this simple measure can be costly, it can also be readily addressed during system design.

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We serve a diverse customer base at Super Radiator, one segment of which are what’s known as original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Though we classify them together, OEMs and their respective industries all operate differently. Some customers are recurring business – they need coils every week consistently over a given timeframe – we’ve seen this with commercial HVAC or datacenter OEMs. Other customers need us to supply coils for projects that may arise infrequently over a period of years, which describes industries like transit cooling.

Oftentimes, using stainless steel components seems like a simple solution to corrosion on coils. You may see fins or tubes or other parts of the system show signs of corrosion, and it seems that the best option is to change the coil to stainless steel, solving the corrosion problem permanently. While this seems like a simple solution to a significant problem in the HVAC, industrial, and commercial systems where coils are found, the answer to the question “should I make an all-stainless coil?” is far more complex.

In plate fin heat exchangers, the fins themselves play a critical role. They provide the extended surface area needed to achieve effective heat transfer between a gas on the finside and a fluid on the tubeside.

An 800MW 2x1 combined-cycle power plant in Alberta, Canada was experiencing consistent frost issues on anti-icing coils in their gas turbine inlet filter houses. The purpose behind these coils is to bring the temperature of the air up to just above the dew point, to prevent the condensation of water (which can cause serious damage through icing if introduced into the turbine.)

This article has been updated. It is accurate as of 9/23/20.

For commercial operations that rely on effective heat transfer, external corrosion of heat exchanger components is a major concern. When left unchecked, corrosion can significantly reduce a coil's effectiveness, but sometimes it’s difficult to know which anti-corrosion option best meets your needs.

It was long thought that a spiral fin design was the only option for use in environments that demanded heavy materials, long life span, and overall sturdiness. Plate fin coils were thought to be too fragile for the rigors of many industrial applications. But over the last few decades, it's become more common to see plate fin style heat exchangers used for a bevy in industrial applications. 

We get asked a lot of questions about the passivation of stainless steel welds. Oftentimes, customers want to know what passivation is. Others ask if it’s necessary. Given the number of factors that such a decision hinges on, Super Radiator wants customers to understand the benefits of passivation, and also understand what’s involved in the larger process of treating stainless steel surfaces.  

Stainless, copper, E-coat, Heresite, or CuNi?

When Super Radiator Coils engineer coils for customers, materials are among our most important considerations. Things like applications, environments, and coil lifespan must all be factored in to the coil’s design. So too must price and industry standards, making material decisions all the more crucial.