The long-term performance of fin-and-tube heat exchangers with different fin structures will decay when covered with dust particles. In this paper

a visual experimental rig was established to investigate the effects of fin structures on particle deposition and air-side pressure drop. The fin types of test samples covered plain fins

wavy fins and louver fins

and the fin pitches ranged from 1.3 mm to 1.8 mm. The results show that

louver fins are most beneficial to particle deposition; the maximum particle deposition weight on wavy fins and louver fins increased by 25.6% and 52.8% respectively compared with that on plain fins

meanwhile the increment of pressure drop increased by 44.4% and 165.6% respectively. Small fin pitch can promote particle deposition and increase pressure drop; the maximum particle deposition weight on louver fins with fin pitch of 1.5 mm and 1.3 mm increased by 26.2% and 43.2% respectively compared with that on louver fin with fin pitch of 1.8 mm

meanwhile the increment of pressure drop increased by 24.1% and 49.4% respectively. The air-side pressure drop firstly increased then tended to be stable with the increase of particle deposition weight.