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Air cooling

Air Cooling is one method of dissipating heat. This is done by causing an increased air flow over and object or creating a larger surface area or even both. To ensure an efficient heat transfer you can add fins to the surface of the object, by either by making them integral or by attaching them to the objects surface. The addition of fins adds to the total volume of material making a heat sink which makes for greater efficiency in cooling. In other cases it is done by using a fan blowing air in to the object which makes it cool.

In all cases the air has to be cooler than the object or surface due to thermodynamics stating that heat moves from higher to lower levels.

Industries

A large number of industrial processes use air as a cooling medium, either directly or indirectly. Air conditioning is more commonly used within an office block so as to create an ambient temperature that is comfortable for humans to work in. This is done by the air conditioning carrying away the heat created by body heat, kitchen and office equipment.

The air is generally cooled over water and sometimes brine and the heat transferred to that medium is transported outside the building were, often, a fan driven, water to air heat exchanging is again effected to reject the heat into the earth’s atmosphere.

Power stations use air cooling on a grand scale. You are able to see this by the steam being released form the large concrete towers.

Exceptions

Ships are one of the exceptions due to the fact they do not use air conditioning systems, as most of their heat goes directly into the water.