Air cooled heat exchangers (ACHE) are used to reduce the process fluid temperature by transferring the heat from process fluid into the ambient air.

ACHE are commonly used in industrial applications where a reliable source of water is not available as a cooling medium. Even if water is available, in some cases, air cooled exchangers are favored for economic or operational reasons – because dedicated cooling water circuits, pumps, water cooling systems and water conditioning systems add complexity and capital requirements, as well as operating and maintenance costs.

CHE are used throughout the entire oil & gas industry from upstream production to refineries and petrochemical plants, under conditions including high pressure and temperature, as well as corrosive fluids and environments. Common applications include gas re-injection, gas lift and pipeline applications, cooling and condensing of hydrocarbon gases, and cooling of machinery oil and heavy hydrocarbons. Air cooled steam condensers are a special type of heat exchanger employed to condense steam at the exhaust end of steam turbines for both power generation and mechanical drive applications.